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NatureStart 8 Core Competencies educators from the Mary Crane Centers and El Valor,
both of which operate Head Start programs in several of
Professionals who complete NatureStart training are able to: Chicago’s underserved neighborhoods.
FPDCC, one of the first and largest districts in the
1. Plan and implement nature play activities that are U.S. boasts more than 69,000 acres of natural spaces
sensitive to and reflective of the individual and cultural and reaches more than 40 million visitors each year.
characteristics of young children and their families. The District operates six nature centers, providing
interpretive programs for a variety of audiences including
2. Plan and implement nature play activities that help school and community groups and the general public.
young children develop empathy for living things. Sites participating in the NatureStart Network include
Little Red Schoolhouse in Willow Springs, River Trail
3. Invite active engagement with the natural world in Northbrook, Sagawau Environmental Learning
through enhancing, enriching, and facilitating Center near Lemont, and Sand Ridge in South Holland.
sensory-rich indoor and outdoor playspaces. Combined they serve 45,000 to 50,000 people monthly.
Recognizing that early childhood science learning
4. Interact with young children (verbally and helps children make important discoveries about their
nonverbally) in a positive social environment while world and improve their perception of it; deepens their
supporting their play, creativity, and learning. vocabulary and peer relationships; and stimulates their
curiosity and willingness to learn has prompted the
5. Engage parents and other family members in development of state-licensed preschools housed at
connecting children to nature. nature centers. This approach is becoming increasingly
popular among nature center directors, with over 20
6. Engage in reflection, open inquiry, and skill- nature center preschools open in 2009, and more each
building activities for their work in nature play with year. Nature center preschools bridge the early childhood
young children, their families, and caregivers. and environmental education fields, integrating child
development and environmental education goals.
7. Develop a plan for establishing or strengthening a However, many nature centers are far from urban
family nature play program in their institution that areas, so this model may not reach the children who
is relevant to its geographical, ecological, physical, could benefit from it most. In addition, many nature
and social circumstances and has built-in supports centers lack resources or expertise to open a preschool.
for sustainability. NatureStart Network addresses some of these constraints,
piloting a new model based upon partnerships developed
8. Actively participate, as a learner and contributor, within a shared learning community of early childhood
in a professional learning community focusing educators and environmental educators.
on developing and strengthening nature play
opportunities for children and families. The NatureStart Network as a Professional
The NatureStart Network Learning Community
Just as NatureStart grew from our experience at Hamill
Family Play Zoo, the NatureStart Network is an offspring Over an 18-month period, environmental professionals
of the NatureStart Professional Development Program. and early childhood professionals participated in a shared
Led by CZS, NatureStart Network is above all a professional development based on the CZS NatureStart
partnership. It’s a regional group of formal and informal Professional Development Program. An important
early childhood and environmental educators working feature of the program was an emphasis on peer learning
collaboratively to support family nature play, exploration, and participation in a professional learning community.
and learning within urban neighborhood homes, schools, Between each training workshop, participants
and recreational spaces. The network shares professional maintained contact with each other and continued to
development, cross-program activities developed learn together and collaborate. CZS staff conducted site
through collaborative action planning, and ongoing visits to each of the participating El Valor Centers, Mary
communication with each other and the field at large.
The NatureStart Network was launched through
a pioneering two-year pilot project funded by the
Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The
current network includes 85 professionals comprised
of informal educators from the Forest Preserve District
of Cook County (FPDCC) and formal early childhood
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