The Eagle Fall 2014

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THE EAGLE’S NEST FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER

Inside this issue:

FALL 2014

1

The Outdoor Academy and Montessori Education: Two Approaches to Student-Centered Learning

Updates on Our Land Conservation Project

2

By Molly Chapman Wheeler, Alumna of Eagle’s Nest Camp, OA, and Camp Staff

Notes from the OA Director’s Desk

3

Spotlight on Craft

4

Forest Magic

5

OA and Montessori Ed

Home is Where the Hart Is Centennial Priorities 6 Your Gift. Your Choice. Big Impact .

7

Fledgling Flight

8

The Core Values at Camp 9 Fall Recipes

10

My Call to the Wild & Remembering What is Important at the Holidays 11 Alumni Gratitude Project

13

Ask Kyle

14

Experiential education for young people, promoting the natural world and the betterment of human character Visit our website at www.enf.org to make a donation, apply to a program or learn more about Eagle’s Nest.

Anyone who has navigated their teenage years knows the complexity tangling them. At fifteen, I felt no one knew who I truly was, and, as it turned out, neither did I! I regularly count my blessings that I was able to attend The Outdoor Academy, a school designed around the specific needs of the adolescent. At the time, I was unaware that over a hundred years prior in Italy, Dr. Maria Montessori (1870-1952) created a revolutionary educational model, based not on what was widely presumed students needed in order to succeed, but rather on what she observed fueled students’ development and love of learning. As a Montessori teacher for the preschool years, my aim is to drop enticing bread crumbs in front of children as I watch them journey along, adjusting the path based on what excites and challenges them. I also do my best to know when to get out of the child’s way, recognizing that children of this age absorb their surroundings arguably more than they take instruction from an adult. Dr. Montessori believed that even from a very young age, a person is attempting to gain functional independence. This is just as true for the toddler repeatedly attempting to tie his shoe as it is for the teenager frustrated with his perceived lack of freedom, financial independence, or

engagement with his education. In both cases, Montessori was certain that parents and educators could intentionally and respectfully assist in a young person’s quest for self-discovery. Surprisingly to many, Dr. Maria Montessori was not an educator; she was a medical doctor who tended to mentally disabled children in Rome. Because of this background, she approached design of the learning environment as a science, dismissing materials that did not engage children and further developing materials that did. She did not build a classroom; she built the children’s house, a fully-functioning space where children tended to their everyday needs with joy and fulfillment. While most of her life's work was focused on young children, she began to design an educational framework for adolescents Continued on Page 2

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The Eagle Fall 2014 by Eagle's Nest Foundation - Issuu