Nature’s Classroom offers a unique educational experience to students and their teachers. The goal of Nature’s Classroom is to create a living and learning community that integrates the social development of that community with academic experiences. Common goals that are woven throughout the experience are for the student:
· to improve his/her self-concept;
· to work together with others for the positive benefit of all members of the community;
· to recognize that the community is comprised of individuals with their own individual needs;
· to appreciate the individuality and uniqueness of each other; and
· to gain an understanding of what education can offer him/her.
The process begins when teachers volunteer to bring their students to Nature’s Classroom. Each Nature’s Classroom program is developed in consultation with the classroom teachers in order to create an experience that is connected to the school’s curriculum and goals.
Having spent a week at Nature’s Classroom living and learning together, students develop a sense of community, a confidence in themselves, and an appreciation for others that carries over to the school community. They see their classroom teacher as a person and as a friend in the learning process. The strengthened peer cooperation and expanded student-teacher relationships have an influence on the cognitive growth of the students throughout the school year. Together, they return to the classroom united through this shared experience to achieve the common goal of the pursuit of knowledge.