Hi, I’d like to comment on this. I’m in Salt Lake City, a fair sized urban area that abutts a lot of natural area. I’m also an entomologist working in a museum. I used to work with the kids brought to the museum for our (somewhat pricey) summer camps. I still do but I realized that I what I really wanted to do was reach out kids who weren’t getting those opportunities. So I started a small nonprofit and started partnering with organizations that had kids in programming already (you might think Boys and Girls Clubs, after school care, kids in domestic violence shelters). What I found is that children in deeply stressed families (new to the country, very low income, trauma impacted for a variety of reason) do not have the ability to give their kids nature experiences. Though in SLC we are a 15 minute drive from some great trails, families are just not taking these kids out and they really need it. I’ve had some astouding experiences: with 9 year olds who had never seen a ladybug in real life, with many kids who didn’t know what the word “creek” meant, with kids who were terrified of bears and wolves just a few minutes outside of the city. Once these kids feel comfortable, and relax, it’s amazing to see them feel free to explore and play in nature. I go without a curriculum but just give kids a vocabulary for what they are interested in while we are there - flora, fauna and processes. And sometimes I do bribe them with candy to learn the names of trees - lol.
Anyway, I’d be happy to tell you more about our work. My non profit email is paloutside@gmail.com But in summary my advice is: #1 - partner with organizations that already serve your demographic and #2 - actively recruit educators that reflect the community you want to serve. They may be non-traditional environmental educators but for kids to see nature educators from their community is more important than a deep knowledge base.
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