Program Much of the Nature’s Niños program takes place outdoors on the 81 acres homestead where my spouse and I reside. There are explorations of fields and forest, along with participation in maple sugaring, gardening and apple harvesting. The outdoors provides ample opportunities for an appreciation of beauty, inquisitiveness, a sense of wonder, creativity, physical, intellectual, social, and emotional development.
The indoor portion of the program takes place in two rooms of our 1840s farm house which are devoted to the children’s use and are equipped with an eating area, natural toys, art materials and picture books in Spanish. Nature’s Niños offers a bi-lingual Spanish-English program and a Spanish immersion program. (Niños means children in Spanish.) Recognizing that young children are ripe for language learning, it is an ideal time to introduce another language in a natural way. Spanish is incorporated in the rhythm of the day in much of the same way that one “learns” a language at home. Circle time includes songs, games and stories in Spanish. My background for teaching Spanish began with my first teaching position in a bi-lingual school in Cali, Colombia, South America where I taught second grade in both Spanish and English. Upon my return to Vermont, I was tested at Middlebury College and was found to have a “near native accent.” I have taught Spanish in several of the local elementary schools, Stowe High School, The Montpelier Senior Activity Center and privately. |