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Getting back into the swing of the school year online with the ANBE community! This four-part series is packed with practical approaches to help inspire teachers and parents alike at the start of the school year! Join experienced practitioners during this inspiring (and useful!) virtual series. Classes will meet on select Wednesday nights September - December. Read on for detailed descriptions of each session! Can’t attend live? No worries! All sessions will be recorded and sent to all those registered in post.
Full Series tickets are available at a discount! Recordings of any missed sessions will be emailed to you!
A four (5.5) clock-hour certificate of completion will be issued at the conclusion of the course to any participants who attend all four sessions live. Check with your department of education to confirm if this course can be used toward continuing education hours in your state!
SESSION DESCRIPTIONS
"Celebrating The Natural Cycle - The Cold Season!" with McCadden and Honey Sweet Harmony
Wednesday, September 30th from 7-9 PM (EST) [2 hrs]
Celebrating the cycles of nature helps us synchronize ourselves with our nature neighborhoods. Join eco-connection mentors Honey Sweet Harmony to honor the coming of cold season! Participants will be guided through several ancestrally-rooted nature-connection activities, including learning songs particularly suited to multigenerational, community-style singing. You can then draw inspiration from participation in this gathering to design activities for your own household, educational programs, and community. These seasonal gatherings are highly experiential. With a focus on interactions among attendees, we highly encourage live attendance, even if you need to eat, drink, move/stretch physically, take a break from looking at the digital screen and just listen, have a youngster of your household present with you, or other forms of flexibility that will make live attendance possible.
"Weekly Routines & Rituals of Nature Connection" with Sherri Dauer
Wednesday, October 21st from 7-8 PM (EST) [1 hr]
Join us for a fun, practical workshop on simple ways to help kids—from babies to teens—connect with nature all year long. You’ll leave with easy weekly and monthly rhythms you can use at home, school, or in a nature program.
"Seeing Math Everywhere" with Andrea Manka
Wednesday, November 18th from 7-8:30 PM (EST) [1.5 hrs]
Participants will explore how to use their natural surroundings to teach student-centered mathematics across a range of ages and developmental levels. Drawing on Andrea’s experience teaching fully outdoors with learners from toddlerhood through fourth grade, participants will consider how to adapt mathematical concepts and topics for outdoor learning, including for older students. Together, we will explore how to scaffold lessons in nature, determine which materials are needed, and create opportunities for students to discover mathematics through observation and exploration. Most importantly, participants will learn how to move beyond simply taking math outside to revealing the mathematics already present in the natural world.
"Adventurous Nature Play: Helpful Safety Routines and Approaches to Assessing Risks and Benefits" with Monica Weidel-Lubinski
Wednesday, December 9th from 7-8 PM (EST) [1 hr]
This session invites nature‑based educators to explore how adventurous play helps children flourish when safety is woven seamlessly into daily practice. We’ll dig into practical routines for setting clear yet flexible boundaries, monitoring children with confidence, and recognizing the subtle cues that tell you when to step in to guide play... and when to step back to let learning unfold. Participants will learn simple, effective tools for assessing risks and benefits in real time, supporting developmentally appropriate risk‑taking, and creating outdoor environments where children feel both free and well‑supported. This session is designed to strengthen your everyday safety practices while preserving curiosity and wonder at the heart of nature‑based learning.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
This series is ideal for anyone who facilitates nature-based education and outdoor learning, which may include: teachers, administrators, and guides in programs serving all ages; naturalists, environmental educators, or outdoor educators; wilderness survival enthusiasts; parents and more!
MEET YOUR PRESENTERS
Week #1: McCadden (ki/kin) - Honey Sweet Harmony
Honey Sweet Harmony is an interspecies creativity-catalyzing mentorship constellation. McCadden holds a MA/ABD in cultural anthropology of theatre from the University of Chicago, and BA with honors in Comparative Literature from Hamilton College, as well as mentoring from indigenous elders of Turtle Island. Ki collaborates with many helpers such as animals, plants, trees, and stones! Together kin* are committed to remembering regenerative cultural patterns with all ages from infants to seniors. Deep nature connection mentors and ancestral skills facilitators, kin specialize in stories, music, and movement, eco-connective healing arts, ceremony facilitation, and grief / peace tending. For nearly 30 years kin have taught experiential enrichment programs in a diverse range of public and private schools, camps, community centers, spiritual-based and nature-based organizations. Kin have facilitated many forms of multigenerational community events inspired by nature’s rhythms, and have served as helpers at indigenous peace treaty renewals and peace tree plantings. Kin also offer private mentoring and eco-healing sessions for individuals, families, and organizations.
Week #2: Sherri Dauer (she/her) - Executive Director of Forest Time Kindergarten
Sherri Dauer is the founder of Forest Time Kindergarten & Homeschool and a Level 3 ANBE educator and trainer. She has traveled to Switzerland, Spain, and France to learn from different forest schools and loves traveling, spending time with her two granddaughters, and sitting around a good campfire.
Week #3: Andrea Manka (she/her) - Teacher at Starchild Nature School
Andrea Manka, MEd, is an educator with a passion for supporting learners at every stage of development, from toddlerhood through adulthood. She draws inspiration from the natural world and enjoys integrating her background in mathematics and curriculum development with nature-based learning. Andrea currently teaches 6-7 year-olds at Star Child Nature School, a fully outdoor nature school in New Jersey.
Week #4: Monica Wiedel-Lubinski (she/her) - Executive Director of ANBE
Founder/cofounder of three nature preschool programs in Maryland and consultant to countless others starting forest and nature schools in the U.S. and abroad, Monica brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to help you jump-start your own nature-based program! She is the coauthor of award-winning Nature Play Workshop for Families (Quarto, 2020) and recently released Nature-Based Early Childhood Education (NAEYC, 2025). Monica earned a Bachelor’s degree in Art Educ. (K-12) and Master’s degree in Early Childhood Ed. from Towson University, Baltimore, MD and completed year-long graduate fellowship with UMBC/UMASS in 2024. Monica is deeply engaged in the Outdoor Preschool Licensing pilot, enacted in 2023 in Maryland as she advocates for more equitable access to nature-based education. She is a wife and mother of two and enjoys spending time in nature with her family.
*If you are unable to make a session, don't worry! We will record each session to share with all registered individuals.
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