Tap into your own curiosity and joy by connecting with peers, engaging with our farmyard, forest, lake, and wetlands, and learning practical activities and pedagogy you can easily employ in your own place. We’ll use hands-on activities, protocols, and shared learning to examine how the Big Ideas of Sustainability can instill a deep love and appreciation for the natural world in both you and your students.

We look forward to this week (July 10–July 14) every year because no program is the same and it brings together a wonderful community of learners from all over who share, inspire, and support each other.

Cultivating Joy and Wonder is best suited for practicing early childhood educators (PreK–2nd Grade level), though all educators working with young children are welcome.

While we use the farm as a teaching tool, we’ve crafted this experience to support you no matter where you’re located. You’ll learn ways to utilize your community—be it a city, the suburbs, or a rural area—as a vital resource in your early education program. We’ll use a variety of protocols and provide opportunities for rich conversations to enhance our shared learning and inspire your curriculum with fresh ideas.

• Build knowledge of developmentally appropriate place-based learning and gain tools and resources to use in the future.
• Cultivate a learning network with peers and facilitators. 
• Learn how to develop a curriculum that utilizes the natural world by exploring different ecosystems on our campus (farm, forest, lake, and wetland).
• Increase your capacity to integrate farm-to-early education and education for sustainability into your classroom curriculum.