Hidden Villa's Environmental Education Goals

Hidden Villa's goals follow a progression beginning with awareness and leading to action. While these goals are manifested throughout the curriculum, the emphasis for each group depends on the developmental level and background knowledge of the group.

The goals of the Hidden Villa Environmental Education Program are:

• To support the development of children's sense of comfort and self-confidence in nature.
• To awaken a sense of discovery and wonder toward the natural world (including its diverse human populations).
• To introduce basic ecological concepts leading to an understanding of the interdependence of all life with an emphasis on the interconnection between human social systems and natural cycles.
• To instill a caretaker ethic towards life and raise awareness of the consequences of individual and community choices and actions on living things.
• To provide program participants (children and adults) with tools and information to make choices that will positively affect life on earth.

Research has demonstrated that to successfully educate children to become environmentally active citizens, they first need the opportunity to form strong bonds with their local, natural surroundings. They need to develop an understanding of the interdependence between the natural cycles of their own environment before they can adt to solve global environmental problems. There is a developmentally appropriate progression for teaching environmental literacy just as there is for teaching math, writing, or reading.

In addition, all of Hidden Villa's programs strive to honor the 75 year legacy of Hidden Villa's founders, the Duveneck family, by continuing to promote social justice and environmental stewardship.