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Ann Corcoran Wethersfield, CT United States: Share on Facebook Share Twitter

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Outside Art Lessons

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Place-based Education

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Best practice on using t…

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Ann Corcoran replied to Juliet Robertson's discussion Outdoor activities for very young children with either a hearing impairment or a visual impairment. Please help! in the group Natural Teachers Network

"OK - 2 blocks of 3 hours each. Sense of touch, sense of hearing, sense of taste is working in both groups. So that seems like a starting point. Then there's movement.... How do their current teachers communicate w/ this group of young mixed…"

May 11, 2010

Ann Corcoran left a comment for Eric Gyllenhaal

"Eric, just in case I never thanked you, I want to apologize for that and THANK you for your generosity in giving me so much information!"

May 11, 2010

"What a fun challenge! I'd love to let my brain work on this tonight. In general, what are the kids and their teachers expecting to experience? Is this from 8-3, including lunch and a resting time? I"

May 11, 2010

Ann Corcoran left a comment for Lindsey Brander

"Lindsey, can you send me the name of this nature center? Amazingly forward-thinking, isn't it? I wonder how they managed to pull everything together to make their classroom(s) meet Illinois state licensing regs. Just doing that can drive a new…"

Apr 25, 2010

Ann Corcoran replied to Yeshi's discussion Dance in Nature in the group DANCE MONKS

"Yeshi - I am of the same soul, and I am being led to form a program for adults. How can I keep in touch other than this site? Ann"

Apr 20, 2010

Ann Corcoran replied to Jodi Hiland's discussion Need ideas for nature center project in the group children's built environments

"If you can spring for more than a bench, I suggest you think of something more sensory, something that shows movement and/or sound. Rusty Keeler is a member of this CN&N Ning site, and on his own website, where he sells a book for preschool…"

Mar 10, 2010

Ann Corcoran commented on Ashley Wainwright Donahue's blog post slow laundry.

"Hanging laundry out to dry is one of my favorite activities - even in below-freezing weather (eventually it dries, and in the meantime we have the fun of watching huge solid boardlike sheets swinging back & forth). I'm so glad you…"

Mar 7, 2010

Yasmin Shaddox left a comment for Ann Corcoran

"Great job you have! Thanks for the contact and FB friendship ;) "See" you around!"

Mar 5, 2010

Ann Corcoran commented on Beth Akers's blog post Lead by example to your kids

"Suz & Beth, I'm right with you on that. So how can we get very busy single moms & dads to get outside in a way that they'll appreciate? That's what I think about."

Mar 3, 2010

Ann Corcoran commented on Yasmin Shaddox's photo

IMG_1826

"Sweet little boy! Lucky for him, his smart mom's got him outside right from the start!"

Mar 3, 2010

Ann Corcoran commented on Ernie McLaney's video

A Child's First Connection to Nature: The Back Yard

"Ernie, you were so smart to plan & to make your backyard a safe & beautiful haven. What a variety of birds! Beautifully done - great still shots, too. Where else are you posting or using this? I decided to look around this forum a bit today…"

Feb 23, 2010

Ann Corcoran left a comment for Chris Catterton

"Hi Chris, is Summit Street School a public or private school, and for what ages? (btw, my son lives in Burlington and I hope to visit him within a couple of weeks.... might like to take a look at what the playground looks like now.... ) I live in…"

Feb 19, 2010

Ann Corcoran joined Rafael Reyes's group

Nature Rocks

This is your group for learning more about how to use Nature Rocks for your work and sharing your successes!Nature Rocks is a national marketing campaign to bring families to you plus resources to help your outreach. Get your resources now!See More

Feb 16, 2010

15 Comments

amy pertschuk left a comment for Ann Corcoran

"Anne, I'm going to turn this "Natural Teachers Network 2010" group off and move to the new one. Can you copy and post your comment there as well? Had no idea that folks would be signing in and signing up so quickly."

Feb 16, 2010

Ann Corcoran left a comment for Elizabeth Renton

"Thanks, Elizabeth. It would be tough, I guess, to find hard data re longitudinal research, bec this trend toward children NOT in nature is a phenomenon mostly within one generation, which has not come fully into adulthood. It seems common sense.…"

Feb 2, 2010

Elizabeth Renton left a comment for Ann Corcoran

"Hi Ann, I saw your message about needing research that supports the mental health benefits of spending time in nature. The CNN website has a ton of useful research, collected into 4 volumes. I'm sure you'll find what you need! Good…"

Feb 2, 2010

Profile Information

Title or Role: Owner

Organization: Inner Oomph

Bio: I teach & coach men & women who are willing to develop their inner nature (their "Inner Oomph") to make an enormous, positive contribution to the world. My desire is to re-connect children & adults to their true nature. Experiences in nature are a gateway to that connection. My goal is for children - & adults - to have authentic, direct and unstructured experiences in nature on a daily basis! I am developing a spectrum of practices that will help educators, parents, other adults & teens to strategically create, plan & carry out those experiences of being intimately connected with nature.... so we can connect our children to the natural world, to themselves, to us, and to the entire planet. If we do NOT make a living relationship with nature, all is lost. If we do not take concerted action to that relationship, we will always regret it. Children are already increasingly divorced from nature. And if we do not reconnect ourselves and them, we will lose our souls & our consciousness. Future generations will suffer from our failure, because the world as we know it will end.

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Comment Wall (11 comments)

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At 6:11pm on October 7, 2010, jessica said…: Greetings dear,
My name is jessica,
and i just read your profile,
so i decide to express my feeling
that you might be of good person to me,
so please you can reply to me for me
to give you my picture
and more about me.(jessicaarona@yahoo.com)
Yours Truly Friends.
ms jessica.

At 4:16am on April 26, 2010, Lindsey Brander said…: Ann,

Surprisingly it's part of our park district in Joliet. It's new this year, it's called Little Sprouts. Here is a link to the brochure: http://www.jolietpark.org/images/stories/pdf/littlesproutstrifold.pdf

The teacher is working on developing the curriculum right now so I'm not sure how she will factor in the teaching standards.

At 1:04pm on April 2, 2010, Laurie Jeffries said…: Hi Ann,
I'm in Iowa. Ames to be exact at a Lab School for Birth to 5 children. Sooo many regs.

At 4:04pm on March 5, 2010, Yasmin Shaddox said…: Great job you have! Thanks for the contact and FB friendship ;) "See" you around!

At 8:43am on February 20, 2010, Chris Catterton said…: Hi Ann: Summit Street School is a public elementary school k-3. It's located on Summit Street in Essex Junction; the playground can also be accessed from behind on School St and is walkable from the five corners and the Brownell Library. Have a look-- but it's
not so pretty right now. I'll be happy to hear your comments and suggestions! Burlington is a great city. Does your son enjoy living there?

At 5:30pm on February 16, 2010, amy pertschuk said…: Anne, I'm going to turn this "Natural Teachers Network 2010" group off and move to the new one. Can you copy and post your comment there as well? Had no idea that folks would be signing in and signing up so quickly.

At 1:02pm on February 16, 2010, Chip Donahue said…: Thanks so much for the invite! Very nice to hear from you, and I would love to hear more about your findings.

Best to you,
Chip

At 7:57am on February 2, 2010, Elizabeth Renton said…: Hi Ann,
I saw your message about needing research that supports the mental health benefits of spending time in nature. The CNN website has a ton of useful research, collected into 4 volumes. I'm sure you'll find what you need! Good luck!

http://www.childrenandnature.org/research/

At 6:57am on January 31, 2010, Eric Gyllenhaal said…: I do a lot of literature reviews in my role as an evaluator/researcher/consultant for museums and other places of informal learning, so I had the references handy (and had even incorporated two of them into a report I'm working on). So, I'm glad I could help your work, as well!

At 4:50am on January 30, 2010, Eric Gyllenhaal said…: Hi, Ann,

I got the e-mail version of your question about nature and children's life long mental health, but couldn't find where to post an answer except right here.

So, here's an article that comes to mind. It's not "life long," but it's a start:

Wells, N. M., & Evans, Gary W. (2003). Nearby nature: A buffer of life stress among rural children. Environment and Behavior, 35(3), 311-330.

You might want to contact the lead author, Nancy W. Wells, who has done lots of work in this area: http://gradeducation.lifesciences.cornell.edu/faculty/individual23777

There is also the the Human Environment Research Laboratory at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, has produced a number of studies on the important roles that living vegetation plays in the lives of residents in urban settings, contributing to the healthy development of children (Taylor et al, 1998) and even ameliorating attention deficit symptoms in children diagnosed with ADD (Taylor et al, 2001).

Taylor, A. F., Wiley, A., Kuo, F. E., & Sullivan, W. C. (1998). Growing up in the inner city: Green spaces as places to grow. Environment and Behavior, 30(1), 3-27.
Taylor, A. F., Kuo, F. E., & Sullivan, W. C. (2001). Coping with ADD: The surprising connection to green play settings. Environment and Behavior, 33(1), 54-77.

They are also online, and worth contacting with your question: http://lhhl.illinois.edu/

Good luck!

Eric Gyllenhaal