Last Days
Hi Everybody,
Outside School is no longer accepting applications due to business expenses having outrun enrollment income. Thank you to all of those who supported this endeavour over the years!
Bandana Bear and Outside School Nature Helpers are still going strong, and I have other projects in the works. Look for updates in my blog (i.e. this newsletter) and social media!
What you can expect:
Less frequent emails, but still including news, updates, and resources,
Updates on my projects including: Bandana Bear, Outside School Nature Helpers, and any other projects I'm working on. I'm hoping to work on some of my writing projects. Stay tuned!
Last Days
I realized as soon as camp started that this would be the end of Outside School. With this in mind, I notified the families and everyone made the most of everything. It was thoroughly perfect! I most appreciate the time we all had to have fun and mourn all at once. So often in life this isn't possible, so I relished every moment. Thank you to all the families who were a part of it!
Three ways to learn about the world:
I decided to wear a mood appropriate hat on the last day:
A lot of programs have a culminating event on the last day. Except for the occasional pizza or treats, a planned event isn't usually my way to go about things. As usual, the kids have way better ideas than adults could ever have, and asked if they could pretend to be birds and poop from the Sideways Upside Down Tree. Are you kidding?!?! Of course!!! (Go avian dinosaurs!) They rated it the top pooping experience of their lives. (Geez, People, yes they cleaned up after themselves! I carry my potty kit on purpose, you know!) I was glad to offer them the freedom to know they'd be safe with me in asking, and being certain that I'd agree to such an endeavour. It was perfect. My work here is done! 🤎🤎🤎
🚒 And now for something completely different. As promised- a resource: fire engines!!! 🚒
I recently made a connection on the Mark Rober/CrunchLabs set with Mark Hathaway from Hathaway Fire Services. Not only does he provide all sorts of testing for cities and businesses, but he has all the gear and five (!!!!!) fire engines for sets and even parties and weddings. Cooool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Totally not your run of the mill garage:
🪵 🪨 Loose Parts Nature Play! 🪨 🪵
Awhile back, I was invited by Carla Gull to be a part of her new book on Loose Parts Play, and this podcast about it. I really appreciate her guiding me back when I got off tangent, but I sure had a great time chatting about experiences. Have a listen and check out her links!
https://loosepartsnatureplay.libsyn.com/heather-teachoutside-taylor
Keep your sunny side up!
Heather
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Heather Taylor, California Master Teacher, NREMT
Founder/Director/Teacher, Outside School (www.outside.school)
Founder, Teach Outside (www.teachoutside.org)
Creator, Bandana Bear (www.bandanabear.org)
Connect
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About Bandana Bear:
Bandana Bear (they/them) is an American Black Bear (Ursus americanus) who loves having fun and making discoveries outside! Join in as Bandana Bear lives a healthful life exploring the East Bay hills, enjoys beautiful vistas, makes and eats healthy food, helps the environment, practices naturalist skills, and takes in various mindfulness practices.
About Teach Outside:
Teach Outside is an online resource site that includes articles, research, and lesson plans. It's purpose is to enable those who are interested in outdoor education to have access to a wide variety of quality resources to promote and inspire the work of outdoor education.
Feel free to forward to anyone you like!