JEWISH OUTSIDE
Bringing Nature-Based Jewish Learning to Your School
WHY JEWISH OUTSIDE?
​Makes for good learning
Outdoors learning builds the foundations for cognitive, motor, and social emotional development. When children learn outdoors, they use a greater variety of words, actively explore how the world works and ask more questions, and establish play relationships based on innovation, creativity, and collaboration.

Awakens our traditions and values
All ancient traditions, including the Jewish tradition, are rooted in the seasons of the year and our sacred relationship to the elements of water, earth, wind, fire, time, and community. When we experience Jewish life in relationship to nature, values such as community inclusion, caring for nature, and awe of creation become real.
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Builds a joyful, resilient community
Studies are increasingly showing that spending time in nature ameliorates the symptoms of childhood depression, anxiety, obesity, and attentional disorders such as ADHD. Learning in nature helps regulate children's nervous systems and builds internal resources to develop more optimally. When children play outside, they build stronger bonds of community and care with each other.
​Empowering Teachers​
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Teachers need to feel inspired, motivated, and supported to make changes in their classroom and in their teaching. Going on a field trip to a farm or outdoors can be inspiring, but shifting a learning culture and enhancing a curriculum or program site requires design thinking, skill-building, and on-going support.
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Jewish Outside learning sessions take your teachers on a journey through design thinking, skill-building, and deepening a nature-based pedagogy that can significantly impact the quality of learning at your school.
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When teachers are excited, students get excited too. When students get excited, teachers learn more about who they are and how they learn.
​What have YOU noticed about outdoors learning?
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Do you notice that your students collaborate, experiment, and engage in more inquiry while outdoors?
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Do you wonder how your school could develop the outdoors classroom into a richer environment for play-based learning?
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Are you hoping to inspire care and concern for the environment in your learners?
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Is there an outdoors area on your school site where you wish more learning could happen?
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How can you integrate outdoors and indoors learning?
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How can you bring Judaism to life through nature-based learning?
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