CEDARSONG PRODUCTS
The Cedarsong Way Therapy Track
We have been working for a long time on a new course that will focus on helping Forest School teachers that are interested in providing a greater level of support to kids with developmental challenges.
We know many of you have kids in your program who could use a little extra support, and some who are are actively offering what you might call Nature Therapy.
This course is intended to:
1. Help educators understand the difference between something that is “therapy” and something that is “therapeutic.”
2. Provide a specific framework for thinking about “therapy” and how to apply it in the context of Forest School programs
3. Understand the usage of the term “Nature Therapy” and how learning about nature therapy can enhance the experience of the teacher and student
4. Offer clear explanations and practice in goal setting, documentation and promotion when using the term “therapy” with their students and communities
5. Provide information and practice opportunities for working with sensory issues, physical differences, language based learning challenges, behavioral challenges and more
6. Create community and mentorship opportunities for skill building
You can see the overall plan for the course here.
We are currently working with our 9 Beta testers so we can offer you the best possible product! We are beyond thrilled to finally have this out, and to be able to offer it to all of you! It will happen just twice a year, and it is absolutely the only training of its kind.
This course investment is $1500 plus the cost of 4 group mentorship sessions at $45 each.
Trainings will begin in January and July of 2025. Each course series lasts six months so you have plenty of time to integrate the information.
We will be offering a series of info calls leading up to the training, If you register at the time of the info call, you will save an additional $100 off the early registration deadline in November.
Info calls: Thursday, August 1, 5 – 6 pm Puerto Vallarta time (use this time converter for your time zone)
Thursday, September 5
Thursday, October 3
Thursday, November 7
Early registration deadline for January start date: Friday, November 15
The Cedarsong Way Residential Teacher Training!
Our Cedarsong Way residential trainings are an opportunity for you to study directly with one of our certified Cedarsong Way trainers.
While we now have a very accessible and wonderful online option for those not able to make it to an on-site training (see below), we are still very happy to be able to offer the option of learning the Cedarsong Way in the field.
To register for any of our teacher trainings, whether onsite or online, you must have completed the Cedarsong Foundations course.
The residential teacher training costs $1500, plus $35 for the Nature Notes Journal if you do not already have it.
If you need to buy the Nature Notes journal, please click here.
Our up-coming residential teacher trainings are:
October 13-17, 2024 Huckleberry Kids, Vashon Island, WA with Nicole Corbo and Aly Thatcher.
March 7 – 11, 2025 Wind Ridge Schoolhouse, Duluth, MN with Laura Whittaker and Wind Ridge Team.
The Cedarsong Way Online Teacher Training!
Folks, friends, forest lovers!
Online teacher trainings are an easy way to learn our pedagogy from home!
With the Foundations course as a basis and introduction, this teacher training allows you to dive deep into the pedagogy, ethical framework, sound educational principles and deep love of nature, with children as the earth’s stewards and future.
This robust training is packed with information, inspiration and opportunities to connect. It is a hybrid course, with much online content to move through at your own pace, three group zoom calls to connect with your cohort and create community, and three individual mentoring sessions to have your own questions addressed, your own work admired and uplifted, and to cultivate even deep roots with our Cedarsong community.
The entire teacher training costs $1190, plus $35 for the Nature Notes Journal if you do not already have it.
The initial purchase is $935 and includes all the course content as well as the three zoom meetings. You will pay an additional $255 ($85 x 3) for your individual mentoring sessions.
If you register and pay in full in advance (by August 14), you will receive a $250 discount.
If you register and pay in full by July 30 using the code “FALL” you will receive a $400 discount!
BIPOC folks always receive equity pricing. Please email us.
If you need to buy the Nature Notes journal, please click here.
Make sure to get these dates in your calendar to join! The calls are always at 8 – 10, PT, 10 – 12 CT, 11- 1 ET
Welcome call: Saturday, September 14 , 2024
Explorations call: Saturday, October 12, 2024
Closing call: Saturday, November 9, 2024
The Cedarsong Way Foundations Training
This introductory online course covers the basics of The Cedarsong Way Pedagogy: our educational philosophy, foundational principles, and the benefits of forest kindergarten and nature immersion programs.
It is a self-directed course that includes readings, videos, and experiential activities along with a Learning Guide containing critical reflection questions. Course progress is documented through online forms and culminates with a one hour individual Zoom session with a Cedarsong Way mentor.
The entire Foundations course costs $155.
You will pay $70 for the course when you register below, and you will also be required to pay $85 for a one hour mentorship, paid directly to the mentor on the date of your mentorship session.
In addition, you will need access to the books, Forest Kindergartens: The Cedarsong Way and Teaching The Cedarsong Way. If you do not have them already, when you make your purchase of the course, we will give you a promo code to order them at a discounted rate of $20 each. (A 20% discount)
The Cedarsong Way Foundations and Online teacher training bundle
Fast track your excitement for the Cedarsong Way by purchasing the Foundations training (approximately 10 – 15 hours self-directed work with a one hour individual mentorship) along with the September online Teacher Training (approximately 30 hours with self-directed work, three group zoom calls and three individual mentorships.)
You can bundle the discounted Teacher Training with the Foundations course for an even deeper discount! Register by July 30 and receive Foundations and the September teacher training for only $585. That is nearly a $500 savings!
In addition, you will need access to the books, Forest Kindergartens: The Cedarsong Way and Teaching The Cedarsong Way. If you do not have them already, when you make your purchase of the course, we will give you a promo code to order them at a discounted rate of $20 each. (A 20% discount)
Only good for September 2024 teacher training.
How to Start Your Own Forest Program
In this 45 minute video, Laura Whittaker, founder of Wind Ridge Schoolhouse, a neighborhood nature preschool in Duluth, MN following the Cedarsong Way, shares some of the best tips, considerations and foundations for beginning your own Forest School.
Laura has a Bachelor’s degree in English from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN, a Master’s of Science in Education from the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, MN, and is a licensed child care provider in MN. She is a founding member of the Duluth Nature Play Collaborative and a part of the MN Early Childhood Outdoor Learning Network Steering Committee.
45 minute video with handout. $18
Is it therapy or is it therapeutic?
Check out the first in our new video series based on our Cedarsong Conversations.
In this informative and engaging talk, Molly Lannon Kenny, SLP, discusses the difference between talking about nature therapy and nature “as therapy.”
She helps us to understand what we are implying if we say therapy, and what our responsibilities are if we suggest nature therapy to a parent.
Finally, she provides a quick overview of how to write goals and objectives, even out in the woods.
47 minute video with handout. $18
Talking to Kids about Death in the Context of Forest School
We are adding new short talks based on our most popular Cedarsong Conversations.
In this 30 minute video, Molly Lannon Kenny, Erin’s sister and a Grief Counselor and End of Life Care specialist, shares some ideas about how to normalize the subject of death and dying with children, especially in the context of the natural world.
30 minute video with handout. $10
Forest Kindergarten: The Cedarsong Way
Erin K. Kenny, spent twenty years designing environmental education programs for children with the goal of creating positive connections to the natural world that lead to lifelong activism. Erin had a BA in environmental education and a JD environmental law.
In 2007, Erin established the nonprofit Cedarsong Nature School and developed the first U.S Forest Kindergarten based on the German waldkindergartens. With 7 years of experience running the Cedarsong program, Erin was an internationally recognized expert in the Forest Kindergarten early childhood education model which is distinguished by its commitment to 100% outdoor time, interest-led flow learning, emergent curriculum, and inquiry-based teaching style. Erin’s heartfelt, exciting, and wonderful book is both profound and pragmatic. As she shares her own journey of learning about what it actually means to provide immersive preschool experience in an outdoor woodland habitat, Erin takes us deep into the rationale, philosophy, approach and day-by-day management realities of being authentically IN the outdoors.
Please note: If you are purchasing the Foundations course, please wait to buy the books until you are sent your discount code so you can apply it at the time of purchase.
$25.00
(Price includes US shipping and handling. For international postage, please contact us)
Teaching The Cedarsong Way: Lessons from an Award-Winning Forest Kindergarten
In “Teaching The Cedarsong Way: Lessons from an award-winning Forest Kindergarten,” Erin Kenny and Cedarsong co-founder Robin Rogers share the experiential, sensory-rich, child-led, free-flow, place-based education model that they have developed over the years, based on the original German Waldkindergarten principles and their own experience. The book is equal parts guide to the fundamental Cedarsong philosophy and practical handbook for nature-based preschools and educators.
Peppered with astute observations and real-life examples, Teaching The Cedarsong Way offers a unique behind-the-scenes peak into the program and explains how the teachers gently foster children to become good leaders, encourage imaginative play and deal with problem behaviors in the outdoors. The book challenges the prevailing preschool model with its intense focus on academics and lack of opportunities to build social and emotional skills, arguing instead that nature has everything a young child needs to learn and thrive. Insightful and wise, Teaching The Cedarsong Way will be a great resource for educators, parents and other caregivers to lean on as the interest in forest schools and other forms of outdoor learning continues to grow in North America.
Linda Åkeson McGurk, author of “There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather”
Please note: If you are purchasing the Foundations course, please wait to buy the books until you are sent your discount code so you can apply it at the time of purchase.
$25.00
(Price includes US shipping and handling. For international postage, please contact us)
Nature Notes Journal
This “Nature Notes Journal” is designed for anyone interested in observing and recording daily and seasonal changes in the natural world. It is especially useful for documenting the free flow learning of students and developing an emergent curriculum. It’s multi-year format makes comparisons and references easy as several years can be recorded on same page for each day.
The Journal is interspersed with journal prompts, photos, and newsletter excerpts inspired by ongoing journals of life at Cedarsong Nature School ‘s Forest Kindergarten program. By using this Journal throughout the year for several years, you can gain an intimate understanding of the seasonal changes that influence your activities and the recurring themes that emerge.
Please note: If you are purchasing the Foundations course, please wait to buy the books until you are sent your discount code so you can apply it at the time of purchase.
$35.00
(Price includes US shipping and handling. For international postage, please contact us)
Refund and Fee Policy
Books: There are no refunds for books purchased.
Online classes – Fully refundable within three business days of purchase, as long as the course has not yet begun. Students wishing to cancel after the 3 days, yet prior to the course start date will receive a full refund, minus an administrative fee of 25% of the course cost.
Onsite teacher trainings: You may, at any time prior to 45 days before the training begins, cancel your registration and receive a refund, less an administrative fee of $250. After that time, there are no refunds. However, you can reschedule for a future training session at no cost as long as you register for a session within the next 12-month period. No refund will be available if you attend a program and are dissatisfied with its presentation or content, or if you do not actively participate for any reason.
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