Sitting With Nature: An Educator’s Guide to Sit Spots

Pre-orders now available! Anticipated shipping date: October, 2024

This handy resource book for primary and intermediate level educators includes 20 weeks’ worth of themed sit spot activities for students of all ages – plus additional downloadable resources – to explore outdoor learning with students all year-long and in all weather conditions.

Written by a seasoned certified teacher with all educators in mind, it’s perfect for all comfort levels with teaching outdoors!

• Are you an educator wanting to take your learners outside, but aren’t sure where to start?
• Do you have a sense that your students learn best beyond the walls of a classroom, but are worried about classroom management when those walls disappear?
• Are you eager to guide curious young minds in meaningful nature experiences, but feel lost with authentic assessment associated with place-based pedagogy?
• Or perhaps you feel the benefits of outdoor learning deep in your bones, but don’t feel you know the research well enough to stand up to those who don’t see the value of it?

If these sound familiar, you’re invited to take a seat – in fact, take a sit spot – because Sitting With Nature: An Educator’s Guide to Sit Spots was made with you in mind!

In this accessible resource book that the outdoor learning community has been waiting for, certified teacher Lauren MacLean – Host of the Teach Outdoors podcast and YouTube Channel and author of the picture books Me and My Sit Spot and Finding Common Ground – helps to deal with the deep-seated worries that so many educators face on a daily basis. Drawing on her seasoned career as an elementary school teacher and outdoor learning consultant, this brand new resource takes teachers by the hand and leads them outdoors to find comfort and confidence in their practice.

Organized into three parts, this handy field guide begins by introducing The Framework beneath sit spot pedagogy, grounding this work in the literature. It then builds on this foundation, blending theory with practice in a step-by-step Getting Started process to set up successful sit spot experiences with a wide-variety of learners, including connections to the First Peoples’ Principles of Learning. Educators will especially love the third part of the book with its Sit Spot Series to challenge students seasonally across 20 weeks’ worth of learning. Each week is complete with:

1. A list of materials
2. Key learning skills
3. Themed sit spot prompts for every day
4. Elaborated lesson plans with options for differentiating instruction
5. Strategies for assessment
6. Prompts for student discussions and teacher reflections
7. Resources for extending learning

Weekly themes are rounded out with tips from tried-and-true practitioners and/or an additional downloadable resource to support your practice. Ultimately, if you or your students want to break out of the traditional indoor classroom, then this book will encourage you to find a better way to learn through sit spot pedagogy!