My lovely daughter is off to her first day at school and so begins a new and wonderful journey for her. After watching her walk up into a seemingly huge school bus like a champ, my husband and I began discussing all of the "learning" she has done this summer. She caught her first frog, watched Monarch butterflies go through their metemorpheus and fly away, made acorn stew at a park and spotted wildlife like a hawk. She has seemed to grow up so fast and we are not sure if we are ready for her to be a "Big Kid"!
During my time here at Kinark I have had the fortunate task of spreading the message about how important nature is to children. We know that nature enhances learning, stabilizes mood and behaviour, increases creativity and improves their sense of well-being. So I wonder, does my child's school know this? Are they incorporating nature in their classroom?
If you are a parent, like me, who wants to ensure that nature does not take a backseat to "learning" then speak up and pass along some resources to your child's educators. Let's not forget that we are our children's first and most important educators!
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Nature Photography
Good Morning all!
The nights are getting chilly and the sunshine is coming later in the morning! It's harder to get up moving, believe me I understand! But for all those who are photography minded, the conditions are beautiful for early morning, foggy, landscape shots. So drag yourself out of bed, put on warm clothes, get your camera set up and take some shots! Oh yeah and don't forget the coffee... lots of coffee! For added benefit, share them with us!
Enjoy!
The nights are getting chilly and the sunshine is coming later in the morning! It's harder to get up moving, believe me I understand! But for all those who are photography minded, the conditions are beautiful for early morning, foggy, landscape shots. So drag yourself out of bed, put on warm clothes, get your camera set up and take some shots! Oh yeah and don't forget the coffee... lots of coffee! For added benefit, share them with us!
Enjoy!
Monday, August 13, 2012
Summer's Not Over Yet!
Well, school starts in about 3 weeks, depending on where you are, and you are probably getting into back to school shopping and have essentially written off the summer. But wait! Summer's not over yet! There is still lots of time to get out and enjoy all that nature has to offer!
Whether it's hiking, biking, paddling or camping, there are lots of things to do in the last few weeks of August. Besides, it's one of the best parts of summer, less heat and less bugs means more adventure!
And don't forget to let us know how your adventure went!
Cheers KOC Fans and Happy Adventuring!
Whether it's hiking, biking, paddling or camping, there are lots of things to do in the last few weeks of August. Besides, it's one of the best parts of summer, less heat and less bugs means more adventure!
And don't forget to let us know how your adventure went!
Cheers KOC Fans and Happy Adventuring!
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Summer Fun!
Hello all of our KOC fans! This is a quick reminder that our Naturally Kids Discovery Day Camp is starting to fill up! But we do have some space so call us at 1-800-805-8252 to register!
This is a really great camp, filled with adventure, exploration and most importantly lots of nature! For those of you who were here last year will remember Jesse the intern... well, he is an intern no longer! He will be on deck with the day camp as full fledged instructor! If you are looking for more information about the camp click here to go to the Out To Learn website.
This is a really great camp, filled with adventure, exploration and most importantly lots of nature! For those of you who were here last year will remember Jesse the intern... well, he is an intern no longer! He will be on deck with the day camp as full fledged instructor! If you are looking for more information about the camp click here to go to the Out To Learn website.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Hello all fans of Kinark Outdoor Centre!
My name is Valerie Coleman, I am here at KOC as a Social Media Marketing Intern (so it stands to reason that I have picked up blog duty!). I am now 4 weeks new to this position and am really enjoying working here. If you have ever been to the centre then you would know that the staff here are the most amazing, positive and energetic people! I won't make this a terribly long post, but I'll let you know what I've been up to and what the plans are down the road.
So far I have been doing a lot of research on the concept of "Nature Deficit Disorder", which, sad to say, I hadn't heard of before. If you are like me then you will want to follow this link; Richard Louv ...go ahead take your time, I'll be hear when you get back... oh good your back... And that's just a start, when you aren't reading this anymore take a look at the Children & Nature Network. I could not believe that I had never heard of this before, although that being said my family and I engage with nature alot!
So, now the social media part comes into play. I am working on setting up, linking and updating several different social media sites to spread the word about KOC and how we are fighting back against NDD! So, you can find us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogger, e-Newsletter and coming soon YouTube. Please visit us everywhere and often to find out what is going on here at KOC and abroad.
I look forward to connecting KOC to even more people and creating great conversations! If you have any suggestions for content you would like to see more of, my door... well, internet window is always open!
Cheers,
My name is Valerie Coleman, I am here at KOC as a Social Media Marketing Intern (so it stands to reason that I have picked up blog duty!). I am now 4 weeks new to this position and am really enjoying working here. If you have ever been to the centre then you would know that the staff here are the most amazing, positive and energetic people! I won't make this a terribly long post, but I'll let you know what I've been up to and what the plans are down the road.
So far I have been doing a lot of research on the concept of "Nature Deficit Disorder", which, sad to say, I hadn't heard of before. If you are like me then you will want to follow this link; Richard Louv ...go ahead take your time, I'll be hear when you get back... oh good your back... And that's just a start, when you aren't reading this anymore take a look at the Children & Nature Network. I could not believe that I had never heard of this before, although that being said my family and I engage with nature alot!
So, now the social media part comes into play. I am working on setting up, linking and updating several different social media sites to spread the word about KOC and how we are fighting back against NDD! So, you can find us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogger, e-Newsletter and coming soon YouTube. Please visit us everywhere and often to find out what is going on here at KOC and abroad.
I look forward to connecting KOC to even more people and creating great conversations! If you have any suggestions for content you would like to see more of, my door... well, internet window is always open!
Cheers,
Valerie
Friday, January 7, 2011
Favourite Postcard Excerpts
Before the holidays we said goodbye (just for now!) to Messy Jesse who left us to embark on an adventure in a far away country. In the meantime, I will be taking over. Hi! My name is Jen Mac and I have been working at the Kinark Outdoor Centre for two years during the summers, off and on during the weekends last year and then joined the coordinating team full-time this fall to coordinate the Climate Change Program. I have a background in teaching and working with populations of different abilities. Two of my passions are outdoor pursuits and environmental education. I have witnessed first hand the transformative power of outdoor experiential education programs can have on people of all ages and abilities. Kinark combines all of these things very well and I have been proud to work here.
Over the next several weeks I will post blogs surrounding trends in the field, what is going on at the centre and the perspectives of a young teacher. Today, I will begin speaking of the Climate Change Program. To date, 44 classes have gone through our school program with a couple more scheduled to come up this month. At the end of our program students make a commitment to live lighter on the environment. To do this we have them sign a contract where they choose one of ten strategies which will reduce CO2 emissions. Each of these strategies has a number correlated with it determining how many kilograms of carbon will be saved if this activity is carried out. We send a copy of these contracts and postcards back to school with the teachers and then ask them to send them to us a few weeks after they attended the program to tell us if they completed the task and to give us details on their experience. This allows us to calculate the actual kilograms of carbon emissions were saved. We have received a lot of postcards back and these are some of my favourite comments:
“I promise to plant 15 trees. I will be planting trees until Christmas and I will have shorter showers for the rest of my life” - Teagan from Lady MacKenzie P.S.
“ I promise to recycle and compost. I have made this part of my weekly chores and I normally have a lot to go through” - Kristyn from Macaulay P.S.
“ I promise to plant a tree in my local environment. It was a very interesting experience. I even foun different types of insects while I was digging the hole. It has grown a little and I almost have a tiny apply tree” - Matt from Macaulay P.S.
“ I promise to not idle my car. I have talked my mom into going instead Tim Horton’s instead of going in the drive thru” - Ryan from Macaulay P.S.
“ I promise to plant a tree native to my community. I dug a hole in a pot and put in a pine seed and filled it in. Then I watered it. In the spring I will have a pine tree” - Evan from Rolling Hills P.S.
“I promise to choose organic foods. It tastes really goof and I don’t have to worry about chemicals” - Laura AKA the girl in blue from Muskoka Beechgrove P.S.
“ I promise to have showers shorter than ten minutes. I once tried to have a staggered shower by turning the tap on to wash soap off and then turning to off to put soap in my hair then turning it on again to wash it out. It was fun!” - Makaila from Muskoka Beechgrove P.S.
“ I promise to plant a tree. Well, I used my dad’s old boot and planted an acorn in it”
- Author unknown, postcard was not signed.
To date, students have saved 1 064 505 kg. Amazing! Great work everyone!
I keep getting distracted by the giant snowflakes falling outside my window. Happy New Year to you all! I hope you enjoyed the festive season. It was busy around Kinark this week as Greenwood College School had their grade 10’s here enjoying our winter programming, getting their year started on the right foot (or ski!).
Over the next several weeks I will post blogs surrounding trends in the field, what is going on at the centre and the perspectives of a young teacher. Today, I will begin speaking of the Climate Change Program. To date, 44 classes have gone through our school program with a couple more scheduled to come up this month. At the end of our program students make a commitment to live lighter on the environment. To do this we have them sign a contract where they choose one of ten strategies which will reduce CO2 emissions. Each of these strategies has a number correlated with it determining how many kilograms of carbon will be saved if this activity is carried out. We send a copy of these contracts and postcards back to school with the teachers and then ask them to send them to us a few weeks after they attended the program to tell us if they completed the task and to give us details on their experience. This allows us to calculate the actual kilograms of carbon emissions were saved. We have received a lot of postcards back and these are some of my favourite comments:
“I promise to plant 15 trees. I will be planting trees until Christmas and I will have shorter showers for the rest of my life” - Teagan from Lady MacKenzie P.S.
“ I promise to recycle and compost. I have made this part of my weekly chores and I normally have a lot to go through” - Kristyn from Macaulay P.S.
“ I promise to plant a tree in my local environment. It was a very interesting experience. I even foun different types of insects while I was digging the hole. It has grown a little and I almost have a tiny apply tree” - Matt from Macaulay P.S.
“ I promise to not idle my car. I have talked my mom into going instead Tim Horton’s instead of going in the drive thru” - Ryan from Macaulay P.S.
“ I promise to plant a tree native to my community. I dug a hole in a pot and put in a pine seed and filled it in. Then I watered it. In the spring I will have a pine tree” - Evan from Rolling Hills P.S.
“I promise to choose organic foods. It tastes really goof and I don’t have to worry about chemicals” - Laura AKA the girl in blue from Muskoka Beechgrove P.S.
“ I promise to have showers shorter than ten minutes. I once tried to have a staggered shower by turning the tap on to wash soap off and then turning to off to put soap in my hair then turning it on again to wash it out. It was fun!” - Makaila from Muskoka Beechgrove P.S.
“ I promise to plant a tree. Well, I used my dad’s old boot and planted an acorn in it”
- Author unknown, postcard was not signed.
To date, students have saved 1 064 505 kg. Amazing! Great work everyone!
I keep getting distracted by the giant snowflakes falling outside my window. Happy New Year to you all! I hope you enjoyed the festive season. It was busy around Kinark this week as Greenwood College School had their grade 10’s here enjoying our winter programming, getting their year started on the right foot (or ski!).
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Intern OUT !
As my internship comes to a close I would like to use this blog to reflect on my first nine months at the Kinark Outdoor Centre. I’ve had some amazingly fun experiences including being pulled 30 feet in the air on the Flying Squirrel in Challenge Course training, seeing Moose, Deer and Turkey right from the office window, talking about environmental issues with a great variety of people and joining a drum circle of over two hundred children at the Water Festival. One great memory is walking through the “Wacky Wetland Trail” (Fen trail) with my little green ukulele leading the day campers along the boardwalks while singing the Naturally Kids Discovery Day Camp Song.
Taking care of the Sustainable Living Centre (SLC) has given me good knowledge base around alternative energies and how to care for alternative buildings. This is not only a work asset but a personal one as I hope to build my home with similar principals. That type of thing happened with many duties during my internship. It also gave me an opportunity to network with businesses associated with alternative energies and sustainable living. Running events at the SLC also gave me an opportunity to network with local businesses and people who are involved in the environmental industry. Caring for the building presented some unique challenges that allowed me to expand my problem solving skills. The Naturally Kids Discovery Day Camp was an opportunity for me to engage children in sustainable living techniques and inspire young minds into positive environmental values.
The Climate Change Education program was the main educational component that I was a leader for and I enjoyed working in a fast paced classroom atmosphere. Teaching for school boards is different and important experience that I didn’t have before. The kids are very receptive since they are already in a educational setting and seem to be really engaged in the subject matter. Developing the program gave me valuable experience improving on games and activities for environmental learning. One challenge was finding the amount of CO2 saved by certain everyday actions which is difficult to gauge depending of a person’s lifestyle. This type of reporting is a common asset in environmental education since it is important to calculate how much of a difference is being made through these programs. My favourite part of the program was engaging kids in discussions and seeing them come up with ideas on their own. Those nuggets of inspiration are what make programs like this so important and effective.
Being the Intern gave me an excellent perspective of this organization since I was able to work with all facets of the outdoor centre. This made me aware of what type of work I truly enjoy and want to pursue. I’m very glad to say that the Kinark Outdoor Centre has offered me a seasonal contract position in the spring and summer of 2011 as an Outdoor Educator which I will use as an opportunity to engage in more environmental programs.
Thank you YEIP and Kinark Outdoor Centre for providing me with my dream job.
Thank you for reading my blog and I'd like to introduce Jen Mac the Climate Change Program Coordinator who will be updating readers on Kinark Outdoor Centre happenings!
"Messy" Jesse the Intern... Over and Out!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)