Justine Wilson, MEd
Founder and Educator “Fresh air, open paths.
Sticks not telling what to be. Acceptance knows love.” - By Joe Pounds (after an interview with Justine, Founder of Curious and Kind) |
Some of my best and earliest memories came before the nightly dinner bell would call all the neighborhood kids home. You could find us knee-deep in the muddy creek, as we worked together to build dams and bridges and whirlpools of imagination.
That sweet spot taught me many life lessons: water always reclaims, yellow jackets lived here first, the strongest dams are built with the most hands and nature always prevails. Time in nature showed us how to care for one another, and that each person had something to contribute. Without screens or helicopter parents directing our ways, time gave way to uninterrupted discovery. I fell in love with nature as a child. In college, freedom in nature came in the form of a backpack and extended hikes, eventually taking me to New Zealand for a year of ecology study. It seemed as though every Kiwi I met cared passionately about the environment and were connected to their place! I began to wonder how I might bring that sense of self and connection to my own culture back home. After a time working in outdoor education, I spent 15 years pushing boundaries in private and public schools in the US and abroad. I served as a teacher, a literacy coach, and an administrator. Though I loved the challenge, the children, and the distant lands, I knew it was time to return to what I first learned in that childhood creek.
Welcome to Curious and Kind Nature Play! |
Justine's Certifications and Credentials
Forest School Teacher Institute- Emergent Curriculum & Director Training
Masters degree in Education focusing on Integrated Place-based Education- Antioch University
Wunderled Approach Certified Educator
Multiple courses and trainings in literacy including Orton-Gillingham and Balanced Literacy
Teaching credential Birth- age 4 FL and Kindergarten- grade 5
Principal/Administrator credential in Florida and Colorado
Wilderness First Responder
First Aid/CPR infant, child and adult
Forest School Teacher Institute- Emergent Curriculum & Director Training
Masters degree in Education focusing on Integrated Place-based Education- Antioch University
Wunderled Approach Certified Educator
Multiple courses and trainings in literacy including Orton-Gillingham and Balanced Literacy
Teaching credential Birth- age 4 FL and Kindergarten- grade 5
Principal/Administrator credential in Florida and Colorado
Wilderness First Responder
First Aid/CPR infant, child and adult