{"id":76330,"date":"2016-12-24T04:49:32","date_gmt":"2016-12-24T09:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=76330"},"modified":"2016-12-23T22:56:20","modified_gmt":"2016-12-24T03:56:20","slug":"natures-nursery-encourages-outdoor-learning-and-exploration-for-pre-schoolers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=76330","title":{"rendered":"\u201cNature\u2019s Nursery\u201d encourages outdoor learning and exploration for pre-schoolers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\u201cNature\u2019s<\/a>
\u201cNature\u2019s Nursery\u201d students enjoy sledding after an early snowfall. Winter sessions begin on Jan.\u00a06 at Rogers Environmental Education Center in Sherburne. Photo courtesy Friends of Rogers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the second year in a row, Friends of Rogers hosts \u201cNature\u2019s Nursery,\u201d a specialized early childhood education\u00a0program designed to cultivate outdoor exploration among children ages 2, 3 and 4.<\/p>\n

Throughout the academic year, sessions are held at the Visitor Center in Sherburne on Friday from 9:30-11:30\u00a0am. Coordinator Jenni Larchar leads young explorers in a variety of fun and engaging educational activities.<\/p>\n

Barring extreme weather, classes will include outdoor activities, so children should dress for the weather.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to nurture a love of nature and encourage curiosity,\u201d Larchar said. \u201cEven an ordinary trail walk\u00a0becomes an adventure when seen through the eyes of young children.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the Early Head Start National Resource Center, \u201cresearch in the past 10 years, (shows that) young\u00a0children are spending less time outdoors engaging in active play and exploring the natural world. \u2026 There is\u00a0growing consensus among educators, health and mental health professionals, and other child advocates that\u00a0this trend has significant adverse effects on young children\u2019s health and development.<\/p>\n

\u201c(This) contributes to a rise in obesity, depression, and attention disorders, and as young children spend less and\u00a0less of their lives in natural surroundings, their senses narrow, physiologically and psychologically. Childhood\u00a0obesity is of particular concern.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very excited that \u2018Nature\u2019s Nursery\u2019 is returning this winter,\u201d said Simon Solomon, Friends of Rogers\u00a0executive director. \u201cOffering early childhood environmental education means the fulfillment of our mission in a\u00a0unique way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The winter session of Nature\u2019s Nursery begins Jan. 6 and runs through March 24. To register, download forms at\u00a0www.FriendsofRogers.org, call (607) 674-4733 or e-mail kidscoordinator@FriendsofRogers.org.<\/p>\n

Rogers Center is operated by Friends of Rogers\u00a0Environmental\u00a0Education Center, Inc., a nonprofit organization\u00a0that offers educational programs for people of all ages. Seasonal hours are from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.\u00a0Wednesday through Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the second year in a row, Friends of Rogers hosts \u201cNature\u2019s Nursery,\u201d a specialized early childhood education\u00a0program designed to cultivate outdoor exploration among children ages 2, 3 and 4. Throughout the academic year, sessions are held at the Visitor Center in Sherburne on Friday from 9:30-11:30\u00a0am. Coordinator Jenni Larchar leads young explorers in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23816,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ff","category-top-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/12-23-Natures-Nursery.jpg?fit=1836%2C3264&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p43meu-jR8","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=76330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/76331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=76330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=76330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=76330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}