PENFIELD – Parker Dam State Park will be hosting a free continuing education workshop for early childhood educators called Growing Up WILD. Growing Up WILD is a curriculum developed and written specifically for children ages 3-7, that builds on children’s sense of wonder about nature and invites them to explore wildlife and the world around them.
Growing Up WILD provides an early foundation for developing positive impressions about nature and lifelong social and academic skills, while also supporting developmentally suitable practice for children to learn at levels that are individually, socially and culturally appropriate.
Workshop participants will receive a copy of the curriculum/activity guide, as well as 4.5 continuing education hours (Act 48 hours for certified teachers and DPW hours for pre-school/day-care instructors). The full-color, 11” x 17” Growing Up WILD guide features 27 field-tested, hands-on, nature-based activities, which include crafts, art projects, music, conservation activities, reading and math connections, and much more.
The guide is correlated to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Standards and the Head Start Domains. These correlations involve social, emotional, physical, language, and cognitive domains to help foster learning and development in all areas. Besides the Growing Up WILD guide, participants will also receive several other resources for the classroom.
The workshop will be facilitated from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18 in the park’s Environmental Education Classroom, annexed to the Park Office. Participants are encouraged to bring a lunch and to be appropriately dressed for several outdoor activities. Pre-registration is required, as only 15 seats will be available. To register, contact the Park Office at (814) 765-0630, or email the park’s Environmental Education Specialist at cahuber@pa.gov.
