Nature-Based Education
At The Harmony School at Beth David, we choose to use a nature-based approach for our preschool. We believe that nature is a child’s first classroom, and that all children have a right to ample time to explore the natural world, both inside and outside the school. In nature-based early childhood programs, children build confidence, curiosity, and resilience through daily experiences with the natural world. They learn to take risks, believe in themselves, build resilience, test theories, and make discoveries that can’t be recreated with coloring pages or screens.
These meaningful experiences support language development, early mathematics, social and emotional development, and a lifelong sense of responsibility to the world around us.
In the Reggio Emilia approach, we believe that children express themselves in the 100 languages, and it’s our responsibility as educators to shine a light on what children are communicating.
The natural world offers endless invitations for these language stories to emerge. A stick becomes a paintbrush, a bridge, a magic wand, or a writing tool in the dirt. A puddle becomes an experiment, a tool with which children can observe cause and effect as they toss stones into it. A feather becomes a story as the children wonder how it got there, who might be missing it, and the adventures the feather must go on as it travels back to its original owner. When children are free to explore outside and use nature as their studio for thinking, they also become aware of the seasons in a way that becomes deeply experiential. Instead of learning about snow inside the classroom, children feel it every day, understanding how it looks, feels, smells, and even tastes when there is fresh snow on the ground.
"Knowing that you love the earth changes you.” — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass
When children build a relationship with the natural world from their earliest years, they don’t just learn about nature; they begin to see themselves as part of something larger: a community that includes people, plants, animals, and the land itself. That sense of belonging is one of the greatest gifts we can offer your child and something we deeply value.
Lastly, in Judaism, we teach children that the world is a gift, and it is our shared responsibility to take care of it. The value of Tikkun Olam, or repairing the world, begins with small, everyday acts of kindness that make all the difference. When children plant seeds, care for a garden, watch a butterfly emerge, or pause to notice the leaves falling, they are building meaningful relationships with the world around them. They learn that the earth isn’t something we use, a commodity, but something we belong to and take care of.