TURNING SCHOOL INSIDE OUT
Nature-Based Education in a New Hampshire School
What happens when a school purchases a parcel of adjacent land and commits itself to figuring out how to use that land to improve student learning and well-being? ‘Turning School Inside Out’ is a documentary that tells the story of how one school is becoming extraordinary by transforming its curriculum and culture.
Set in a rural southwestern New Hampshire town, the film follows teachers, administrators, parents, and community members as they transform the curriculum for students in nearly every grade (K-8) by moving part of the instruction outside. The film captures faculty and community visioning sessions, teacher’s reflections on the value of using the natural world, parents’ support of outdoor learning, and students’ experiences on the land.
This film was made possible with the support of the George B. Storer Foundation and Antioch University New England. It was directed, written, and filmed by Chris Hardee and is a production of High Cairn Films.
Antioch’s Nature-Based Early Childhood program trains teachers, administrators, and founders of nature preschools and forest kindergartens.
Wood hood
A documentary short film addressing Nature-Deficit Disorder
Winner of Best Short Film at the 2022 Banff Mountain Film Festival, Wood Hood features DeVaughn, a 15-year-old kid from New York City who loves skateboarding and craves a “quiet place” to escape the chaos of his home, the city, and the kids that steal from him. The film follows DeVaughn on a weekend-long group camping trip with Camping to Connect, a BIPOC-led outdoor mentorship program for young men of color. One leader states: “These kinds of conversations are rare for men that look like us.” As the film weaves between the city and the woods, a place that is unfamiliar and historically inaccessible to these kids, we witness the joy and growth that is possible when kids have an opportunity to find that “quiet place.”
Learn more about Camping to Connect:
Website: https://www.campingtoconnect.com/
Donate: https://www.campingtoconnect.com/donate
About Camping to Connect: Camping to Connect uses outdoor recreation and nature immersion to address the diverse issues faced by young men of color in America’s cities. Led by and for people of color, Camping to Connect is elevating the narrative that the outdoors belong to everybody. Directed by Alex Cullen, Resonant Pictures: https://www.resonantpictures.com/
the best day ever
Forest Days in Vermont Kindergartens
“The Best Day Ever” takes you to two Upper Valley schools: Marion Cross (Norwich, VT) and Hartland Elementary (Hartland, VT). In the film, you hear from teachers, administrators, parents, and students, and get an intimate view of the hands-on learning happening in the forests beyond our local school playgrounds. See how dedicated teachers are changing the trajectory of public school Kindergarten by bringing joy and wonder back into education through the experience of playing in nature.
The film, made possible with the support of the George B. Storer Foundation and Antioch University New England.
Antioch’s Nature-Based Early Childhood program trains teachers, administrators, and founders of nature preschools and forest kindergartens.
school’s out
Lessons from a Forest Kindergarten
A year in the life of a forest kindergarten in Switzerland where being outdoors and unstructured play are the main components. No classroom for these kindergarteners. In Switzerland's Langnau am Albis, a suburb of Zurich, children 4 to 7 years of age go to kindergarten in the woods every day, no matter what the weather. This eye-opening film follows the forest kindergarten through the seasons of one school year and looks into the important question of what it is that children need at that age. There is laughter, beauty and amazement in the process of finding out.
The Beginning of Life 2 Outside
Scientific evidence indicates that a lack of contact with nature can contribute to physical and mental problems. In the new chapter of “The Beginning of Life,” leading experts on the subject show how this connection can be part of the cure for the biggest challenges facing humanity today and the construction of a happier life with a greater level of well-being.
Found in the forest
Exploring the Environmental School
Found In The Forest is a documentary that explores the Environmental School, a public school in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada which opened its doors in the fall of 2011. The Environmental School is a place where teachers, administrators, researchers, parents, and students are working together to develop a rich and unique learning environment while challenging conventional educational models.
Nature Play
Take Childhood Back
Nature Play features a surprising endangered species in the wild today - Our Children, and devises ways to save humanity's connection to nature in the next generation - Back from the brink of Extinction.
Played
Play Education
PLAYed is about change, clarity, commitment, sharing, bringing together children and their future. Includes experts in ECE from around the world about their views on the importance of play in early childhood development.
