Our Nature School guides children in their development as capable and confident individuals by focusing on the whole child. We are committed to empowering children to have their own voice and develop a life-long love of learning. Using a curriculum that’s reggio -inspired and nature based that supports children’s interests and passions, educators facilitate child’s development in areas including literacy, math, science, and social studies. Teacher-supported independent and group learning experiences encourage social and emotional development and our children learn in small groups of 12 students.Children learn and play outdoors as much as possible. Time each week is spent at our Bear Den, Fox Den, Tipi Area, Fairy Land, on our nature playground or on our nature trails. We have three small nature classrooms for our age groups and we spend most of our meal times eating outdoors at our picnic areas!
This position requires the ability to work with a small educating team. The teaching assistant is a hard-working, enthusiastic, flexible, and confident teacher and learner for a school which strives to be a region inspired, nature based school that models the benefits of child-led environments.
Be passionate about educating children in nature.
Be self-motivated and self-directed with the flexibility to work independently and collaboratively as part of a team.
Have strong leadership abilities and excellent interpersonal skills, organizational, and time-management skills.
Be a skilled communicator, guided by a desire to listen to and speak compassionately with both children and adults.
Feel comfortable and confident about meeting the needs of children outdoors in all seasons.
High school diploma or GED required
Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree in education or related field preferred
Experience in an educational or childcare setting preferred
Strong written and spoken communication skills
Strong collaboration skills; able to work well with a team
Strong organizational and effective time-management skills
Foreign language and/or music education experience a plus
Certification in child first aid and CPR
Must pass background check and finger printing clearances from the State of Maine.
Physical Requirements:Regularly sit, turn, bend, reach, stand, walk, talk, hear, and interact with students and others. Must have the ability to understand and present materials and communicate effectively with a wide range of people in a diverse community. Must be able to lift 50lbs. Must be able and willing to spend most of the school day outside.
Work with the lead teachers as a partner to implement an engaging, developmentally-appropriate program to meet social, emotional, cognitive and physical needs of 3-8 year old children drawing on a variety of educational philosophies.
Assist the lead teachers with setting up in the morning and throughout the day, daily lessons, the rhythm of the day, help with events and celebrations, outdoor adventures, and clean up throughout the day both inside and outside classrooms.
Help students change clothes and use the restroom as developmentally appropriate.
Supervise students in various settings including classrooms, outdoors, and with their peers.
Assist in developing nature-based activities that will integrate science, math, literacy, and the arts while encouraging cooperative learning and social skills.
Work with the lead teachers to:
Maintain strong interpersonal communication skills with students, parents, and colleagues.
Attend staff meetings, professional development, and training sessions as requested. KGE is committed to addressing issues of social justice, diversity, equity, and anti-bias education in our curriculum and in our community. Employees must be willing learners and participants in supporting this work.
Manage materials and equipment; set-up/break-down for learning experiences, invitations to learning, provocations, and maintain an open, clean, and organized learning atmosphere.
Assistant educators respect the property of kge and learning materials and are responsible to help teachers and children learn how to utilize materials in the manner they should be used. Educators are responsible to help children learn how to respect classroom materials indoors and outdoors and to guide them to organize their indoor and outdoor classrooms.
Assistant Educators attend one Saturday for Orientation Day and one Saturday for Graduation each year.
Assistant Educators need to maintain 20hrs of required training hours per year if candidates work under 18hours per week. If a candidate works over 18hours the required training hours per year is 30 hours for professional staff development.
All educators must be registered on the Maine Road’s to Quality website. All educators MUST complete the Health and Safety Training Course and Mandated Reporter Training on the MRQT website https://mrtq-registry.org/Account/CreateAccount
This is an hourly position with pay rate between $16.00-18.00 hour based on experience.
We have small incentives, small bonuses, approved paid professional development, team building experiences, educators are valued and appreciated and viewed as professionals, and working in an environment where hands-on training can benefit any candidate looking to enter early childhood education or nature-based education.
We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We recruit, employ, train, compensate, and promote regardless of race, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity (including gender nonconformity and status as a transgender or transsexual individual), age, physical or mental disability, citizenship, genetic information, past, current, or prospective service in the uniformed services, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law. Persons from Indigenous, Latinx, African-American and other diverse racial or cultural backgrounds are encouraged to apply. If you have a disability and require accommodation or assistance with our online application process, please contact us so we can help.
As the proverb illustrates, it takes a village to raise a child and for a small independent school it takes the thoughtful efforts and creative resources of the community to educate the village’s children.We are deeply grateful for your willingness to support our nature school, whether monetary, contributions of classroom supplies/equipment/furniture, kind words of encouragement, lifting our educators spirits with a special thank you, or your own unique offering. Your donation makes a difference and with your generosity and thoughtfulness, kidz go eco is a very special place for all the children that attend our school. We want to thank you for all your in kind support!
