The NatureKids Model:

What guides our work?

At NatureKids our work is guided by the belief that we are all interconnected and that when we work together we are always more productive and joyous than when we try to go it alone.

In our schools we believe deeply in including parents and grandparents in the learning process of their kids. We ask families to do homework together. We encourage parent-teacher relationships. We invite parents to community meetings and we work directly with our students and their families to create a curriculum that meets the local needs of the dynamic communities we serve.

With our teachers we encourage dialogue and exchange. We sponsor the attendance of teachers at national and regional conferences. We run an innovative program of teacher-training workshops, bringing the NatureKids staff together on a regular basis.

We believe learning extends far beyond our curriculum, and that much of what students learn is not written or taught. It is picked up on from the experience of being a student. In recognition of this, we strive to reach each child on a personal level, bearing in mind that the learning environment, classroom experience and interpersonal relationships formed at our schools are just as valuable as what is being taught during class.

The community experience is also a vital piece of our methodology. We teach English as a second language from the base of our students' actual lives. We connect lesson plans to personal, family, community and environmental issues. We take our students into nature to learn language in the place they know best-their villages.

As we cultivate hope, we include principles of sustainability and ecological literacy so that NatureKids students can grow up to be educated citizens of the earth and can use their language skills to create positive change in their communities and beyond.