by Stephanie R. Lewis
Rachel Parker, Ferncliff Nature School Director and the 2024 AEEA Outstanding Formal Environmental Educator, grew up in Arkansas. Her father took her hunting and fishing. Mom cultivated beautiful yards wherever they lived. Grandma and Grandpa took the family to Arkansas state parks. They had family float trips and days out on lakes. She showed pigs at the fair and participated in floriculture while in Future Farmers of America. She even detasseled corn during college. Rachel remembers always being outside.
“We moved when I was older to a house surrounded by farmland and a beautiful view. If there was stress in life, just walking around and spending time outdoors around my house relieved it.” says Rachel.
Inspiration
During eight years of working with special needs preschool students, she began to think about how she could give the children experiences outside of the school building. A small garden was the first idea she and colleagues implemented. They watched how something as simple as growing a garden enriched students’ daily experiences and contributed to their growth and development. Then she began to wonder about developing an outdoor classroom. Her research led her to the Forest School model, which according to the Forest School Foundation, is “a progressive, alternative education model held almost exclusively in the outdoors. It is also commonly known as forest kindergarten, outdoor nursery, or nature school. Whatever the weather, children are encouraged to play, explore, and learn in natural outdoor spaces. This provides dynamic and varied learning conditions to challenge and empower students to discover in deeper and more holistic ways than a traditional classroom environment.”
As she did more research and interacted with other educators, she became connected with Ferncliff Camp & Conference Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization west of Little Rock. In 2016, Rachel founded the Ferncliff Nature Preschool, the first licensed nature preschool in Arkansas.
Favorite Activity
Rachel says “I love teaching young children how to start and tend to a fire. The perseverance it takes to get that magic spark and the confidence and joy on their faces as they accomplish it. It’s so special to get to share that with them.”
Lesson from Nature & Biggest Challenge Teaching Outdoors
Flexibility is key when interacting with nature. Weather is such a challenge. Rachel commits to finding joy in all weather and rolling out of bed on a cold wet morning and putting on all the layers. She says, “Whatever I think I’m going to teach or learn usually goes out the window and something even more special presents itself.”
Favorite Activity and Memory
One of her favorite memories is from the second year of Nature School. Single-digit temperatures dominated the week. The creek by the school froze. Everybody had the most amazing time, sliding and laughing, all experiencing something that most in the South don’t get to experience very often or at all.
Advice for Exploring
Rachels says, “Start with just sitting daily in the same spot, getting comfortable, seeing what you notice, what piques your interest. Get interested in what is in your own backyard and then branch out from there.” You just might start taking a yearly backpacking trip with others like Rachel does.
Technology & Outdoor Education
She says that it’s a tool and one that is here to stay. If it connects kids to the outdoors or helps them gain access to information then we should use it.
Creating Inclusive Outdoor Learning
Rachel offers various learning and play opportunities. In the Nature School classroom space, you can take the time to sit quietly with a magnifying glass and look at a leaf or be up moving and building a leaf little shelter. It’s up to the kids to know what their bodies need and what they want to learn. Individualized learning, as much as possible, is the goal.
She has seen children with communication delays improve their language skills. Students with sensory dysregulation have experienced better balance and control. A child kept inside is limited by familiar objects and interaction. The opportunity to go outside invites freedom and new experiences.
Career Advice
Rachel emphasizes not worrying about learning objectives so much. Be flexible and open to what nature has to teach us. Look to the children to find out what their interests are and what they want to learn, they will be so much more engaged. See yourself as a facilitator instead of a rigid educator.
She says, “I sometimes struggle, a little bit because I’m an early childhood educator and environmental education is this other thing that exists with what I do…I work with littles, which means I don’t always feel I go as in-depth with lessons and activities like so many others do.”
An unexpected reward Rachel received, one day, was an email from a parent where they expressed that they had been anxious about letting their child play in the rain. After watching the joy of their child
splashing puddles and getting wet, the parent said, “I did not realize the (positive) effect it would have on me!”
Looking Forward
Rachel hopes to see more professional development training and conferences for environmental and outdoor education. For early childhood education, she hopes that the children will lead the environmental experience with free play.
“I see a large push in our state for outdoor recreation, I hope that pushes down into our school curriculum because we will need young people who want those jobs to lead that push and we have to plant that seed at various stages of their childhood.” says Rachel, “I feel really honored to be a part of and hopefully, add to this field.”
