Our Story
"A practice of life lived in natural rhythm through the seasons."
We are Brenda and Jill, the creators of the Oriolus Kids Early Childhood Nature Program. We both grew up in and still call Wisconsin home.
Some of Brenda's fondest childhood memories of growing up in the Driftless area of rural southwest Wisconsin were created as she immersed herself in the natural world. Having experiences in and exploring nature has become a way of life and has continued to create her fondest lifetime memories.
Jill grew up on a dairy farm in central Wisconsin, where the cycles of nature were a part of everyday life and created the core of who she is. The woods, fields, and rock piles were her playground.
As young adults, we came to live together in Madison, WI, not knowing each other, yet having an instant connection which has turned into 35 years of friendship. Jill started an in-home childcare business after receiving her Associate Degree in Early Childhood Care and Development then invited Brenda to work with her. Brenda accepted and began taking continuing education classes in Early Childhood Development.
We worked together for ten years and naturally developed an arts and sciences program located on Williamson St. We explored many city and county parks, natural areas, museums and cultural centers over those ten years.
Over the next twenty years, we maintained our friendship through life changes and pursued different avenues of work with children, nature, and the arts and sciences.
Brenda and her husband started their own business, designing and crafting baskets using the wild grapevines from their wooded property near Spring Green. Brenda also worked as the Children's Librarian at the Spring Green Community Library for nine years, where she created programming for children from infants through high school.
Jill continued her in-home childcare for four years on her own. Then she decided to focus on the foster children she and her husband cared for and being a mother to their child. She also became part of and worked in the Madison Waldorf School community as one of the founding families where her child attended school.
Together with our husbands, we experienced and explored State Parks, National Parks and Natural Areas in Wisconsin and throughout the United States. In these places and through our experiences over the last 35 years, our nature connections, knowledge of early childhood development, and beliefs and observations of the human/nature interconnection have helped to evolve the development of the program we now call Oriolus Kids.
Movement Specialist, Sabina Mapp, BA in Dance and MA in Dance Anthropology
Sabina is a choreographer, teacher and anthropologist.
They graduated with a 2.1 in both their Undergraduate and Masters. In their undergraduate studies, they trained in physiology and teaching dance to a wide age range of people, from toddlers to the elderly community. While shadowing at both Move, Dance, Feel, which provides dance therapy classes for people who have or have experienced cancer and CoDa Dance, who offer classes for people with neuro-disabilities, they worked with dancers with a wide range of movement abilities. With Oriolus, they developed the seasonal movement lesson plan incorporating their dance experience with earth science. They are passionate about teaching social studies and dance through the experiences of those who participate in the practice. They make a point in their practice to make the social sciences available and easy to understand for everyone, whether through traditional education methods, dance, martial arts or otherwise.
So, where does the name Oriolus come from?
Oriolus is the Latin word for 'little golden one', from which the oriole bird is named. The oriole is a symbol of childhood, bringing a sense of new sunshine and joy into the world. Its beautiful song teaches us to sing our own song, representing the inner child and our connection to all things in nature. By listening to your heart, you'll sing with the joy of many possibilities. This is the spirit we aim to instill in every child with Oriolus Kids.
Our Program Philosophy
“Everything in nature invites us constantly to be what we are.”
Our vision in creating Oriolus Kids is to share a practice of life lived in rhythm and kinship with nature, believing humans are embodiments of the natural world.
Because of our connection with nature and our interest in the arts and sciences, Oriolus Kids was created as a seasonal, nature-based arts and sciences program for early childhood. We have created this program through our experiences working with children, studies of established early childhood educational philosophies, and lifelong observations of the human-nature interconnection.
At Oriolus Kids, we understand that children experience their lives through seeking, creating, moving, building, problem-solving, communicating, and meeting their needs. That's why we've designed our program to be a series of developmentally appropriate activities in the arts and sciences to facilitate these practices. These experiences support children’s awareness of themselves and encourage the development of lifelong learning skills.
In our program we have developed the role of an engaged adult as one who acts as a guide to conscious connections with nature and as a facilitator who observes, listens to and interacts with children as the individuals they are. These observations are then used to provide activities that are hands-on, open-ended, and child-focused for indoor and outdoor environments. In these environments children feel welcome to experience, explore and express, each in their unique way, with opportunities for building social skills through interactions in self-directed, side-by-side and cooperative play.
Oriolus Kids is inspired by the essence of the seasons. In this four-season program, we recognize a progression through each season. Seasonal changes are observed as a gradual process over three months rather than a sudden change on a particular day. Because of this, our program's seasons are divided into three distinct phases. Our experiences and activities reflect the essence of, and human-nature interconnection with, each phase.
With Oriolus Kids, a child's inherent cyclical nature is recognized through experience, exploration, and expression, reflecting an embodied relationship with the natural world. A world that is ever-changing and ever-evolving.
