Interested in connecting with fellow educators?

The Early Childhood Hoosiers Outdoors (ECHO) Network is designed to support education practitioners wanting to get students into outdoor learning settings.  We meet on the second Monday of odd months at 4 pm by zoom.

Join us at ECHO Network in September to hear from Jodie Jordan, Kindergarten teacher at Central Noble Primary School (Albion, IN).  Jodie along with Tiffany Parker, a parent volunteer, will share with us their version of Kinderforest held at a public school.  Kindergarten students with Mrs. Jordan spend around 15 hours a month outside in their outdoor classroom.    

Our September speaker Jodie Jordan has been a public school teacher for 22 years.  She began learning about nature based education in college, but started learning more about it in 2016 as they launched their Kinderforest program and even took a trip to Tennessee with the Forest School Teacher Institute to learn more.  She is very passionate about getting students outside and loving the natural areas around them and will share some good tips and tricks for getting outdoors with her students. 

The purpose of this network includes:

• A group of peers: Connecting educators and administrators for support, guidance, encouragement, troubleshooting, etc.
• A common space for sharing resources and best practices
• Opportunities for professional development
• Shared advocacy and continuing education around nature-based programs
• Program observation
• and more!

The network was inspired by a surge of interest in program formats such as Nature Preschools, Forest Kindergartens, and Forest Schools; however, it is an inclusive group for those working with young children in any format. Our interests center on developmentally-appropriate educational opportunities for children in outdoor settings, whether in the woods, on the prairie, or in the schoolyard.

We want this network to be dynamic and responsive to emerging needs of participants. We encourage you to join us on this journey of mutual exploration and learning!

If you are interested in knowing more, sign up below to join. Participants will be added to a Google group to get email updates for monthly meeting times and to post question to others within the group. If you have previously registered for any other ECHO Network sessions, you do not need to register again as you will automatically receive the zoom link via the Google group.