关于萨马拉早教

We help educators create nature-based schools or add the nature-based approach to existing programs. With our support on the business or teaching side of operations, educators help young children learn 拓展他们的世界,过丰富充实的生活.

我们的愿景

我们设想一个所有儿童都能学习的世界 nature as part of their formal education in order to expand their worlds and live rich, 完整的生活.

我们的使命

Samara’s mission is to help early childhood educators implement high-quality nature-based education in order for young children to learn 与 拓展他们的世界,过丰富充实的生活.

带来愿景 & 生命使命

为了实现这一目标,我们的工作分为三大类:

  1. 帮助组织或个人 开办以自然为基础的学校

  2. 帮助教育领导者 在他们现有的课程中培养自然

  3. 进行研究 与自然为本的教与学有关

这项工作包括出版物, 课程, 会员制社区, 研讨会, 训练, 和咨询.

我们的指导原则

  • 人类是自然系统的一部分,而不是与之分离. 因此,我们的身体健康依赖于自然界. 我们的社交、情感和精神健康也依赖于自然世界. 这对所有人都适用——无论他们的年龄, 能力, 种族, class, 无论他们生活在城市还是农村, 等. 不仅是人类的健康, 以各种形式, 受到自然世界的影响, 我们认识到人类的行为直接影响着自然世界.

    在我们与教育领导和学校的合作中, we support all types of early childhood programs—whether they serve students in urban, 农村, high-income and/or lower-income areas—in their efforts to implement a nature-based approach. We also serve all programs no matter their starting point on the continuum of implementation of the nature-based approach, 只要我们对努力的方向有共同的愿景. 在内部, we live this belief at 萨马拉早期教育 by being conscious of how our business decisions impact the natural world and making reasonable adjustments to reduce negative impacts while maximizing positive ones. 进一步, we ensure our team members have time and opportunities to nurture their own connection 与 the natural world.

  • 学习和教学都是社会文化活动. 这是, 我们通过反思自己与他人的经历来学习, 在特定的文化背景下. This philosophy aligns 与 social-constructivist perspectives articulated by a variety of education theorists including Vygotsky.

    While this philosophy is demonstrated in our perspectives on working 与 children, 这也体现在我们与客户合作的方式上. 我们相信师徒关系而不是契约关系. 换句话说, we believe in building the client’s capacity to do this work on their own rather than us doing it for them. 此外,运用社会文化价值观意味着关系很重要. The connections we make 与 one another influence our 能力 to reflect on and learn from our experiences.

  • Just as diversity in the natural world makes for a healthier system, so does diversity in education. 因此,多样性不是要容忍的,而是要拥抱的. Diverse perspectives and experiences provide more opportunities to learn and in turn improve our practice. Embracing diversity also means valuing and sustaining the cultures we work 与in.

    In our work 与 schools and education leaders this means we not only acknowledge the specific context but leverage that culture as an asset. It’s for this reason we see the nature-based approach as a set of principles rather than a predetermined script or checklist of practices that must be implemented. 没有一种“正确”的方法来实现基于自然的方法. Instead, the approach must be responsive to the unique context where it is being implemented.

  • Systematic study of the world is foundational to our experiences 与 nature as well as our teaching and learning. This is true for our impacts on the environment as well as how we interact 与 children.

    In our work this means supporting pedagogy which encourages children’s scientific sensemaking of the natural world. It also means continual investigation of the best teaching practices to ensure we’re efficiently achieving our desired outcomes. Through active participation in research along 与 supporting practitioners we bridge the gap between research (i.e.(学术界)和实践. True to science we also continue to refine and revise our understanding of best practices over time.

为什么叫“萨马拉”??

“轮回”一词之所以有意义,有几个原因. 首先, 这是直升机的科学术语, 直升飞机, 或者孩子们经常玩的旋转木马. There’s pure joy is tossing a samara into the air and watching it twist and whirl its way to the ground! Nature-based early childhood education is of course focused on providing children 与 joy-filled experiences and learning opportunities.

第二, name represents the intersection of personal connection and meaning 与 scientific naming and categorizing. 从技术上讲,轮回是不分裂的, 通常有, 长有翅膀的果实,如榆树或枫树. 通过帮助孩子们理解直升机还有另一个, 更科学的名字是我们支持自己的语言, 安慰, 以及作为科学家的身份——研究周围自然世界的人.

第三, the appearance of samaras varies by species based on the particular context where it grows, 但他们都符合轮回的基本标准. 基于自然的早期儿童教育项目也是如此. 哲学与教育学存在着核心共性, 但具体细节将因环境而异, 文化, 以及社区背景.

第四, the maple samara has personal significance to our founder as a symbol of the arrival of spring in her home in the upper Midwest. In early spring the maple tree provides the sweet sap that is made into maple syrup. 春天晚些时候,树上会长出树叶和翅果. 两者都象征着新生、成长和对未来的希望. Nature-based early childhood education is inherently hopeful for the future as we are investing in the health and well-being of future generations.

Now that we’ve explained why we chose “samara” we should discuss pronunciation. 这个单词可以读成“sam-er-uh”或“suh-mair-uh”.” We typically use “suh-mair-uh,” but you can say it whichever way you choose. 事实上, in the end we don’t care how you pronounce the name so long as you call us when you’re in need of administrative, 课程, 或研究帮助有关自然为基础的幼儿教育. 

 

萨马拉可以读成“sam-er-uh”或“suh-mair-uh”.”

我们通常说“suh-mair-uh”,但你可以选择任何一种方式.