MiniMonos
Rosie Emery
We’re honored to feature the amazing Rosie Emery this week, an international singer/songwriter, environmental educator and new media producer specializing in teaching children about life’s interconnectedness. Rosie has so many talents, it is hard to know where to start but we’re giving it a go! We just love how Rosie is bringing the messages of caring for nature and sustainable living to children through music and education and we’re totally enthused by her positive, happy outlook, so she made for an easy fit as this week’s Friday Featured Friend.
Rosie grew up wandering freely among nature in the renowned Sherwood Forest, a magical place that has inspired Rosie’s strong passion for the environment ever since. Concerned about the decline in global environmental health and the disconnect that has arisen in our understanding of how our well-being is completely tied up with the well-being of our planet, Rosie became involved in environmental protection in the 1980s. Since 1989, she has been writing and performing meaningful songs, stories, and activities for children that awaken a sense of wonder for the Earth and celebrate the beauty of nature.
Rosie loves to build on children’s innate curiosity, in order to encourage children to find their own pathways to unearthing an inherent desire to care for and nurture living beings and nature. She stresses that it is more important than ever to get across the message to children about the importance of nature in their lives, given that the majority of us now live in urban centers. While making it clear that it is our responsibility as parents, guardians, and teachers, to provide children with plentiful opportunities in which to discover and cherish “this awesome place in which we live”, Rosie isn’t here to preach; she’s keen to provide the tools to help all of us nourish children’s love for nature, to make it easier for us to guide children in finding their own ways to protect the environment as befits their unique skills and talents, and she states emphatically that: “It also has to be fun! Ideally all kids would get to spend time out in the forest, on the river, in a swamp, by the ocean or just playing in their backyards and parks! There is no doubt that first hand experience in nature is the best!” With gentle and consistent guidance and encouragement to enjoy their time in nature, Rosie believes that children will continue to protect and care for the environment as they grow into adulthood.
Underpinning much of Rosie’s efforts is the key principle of interconnectedness. She believes that it is vital to help children understand that effective earth stewardship is dependent on eliminating global poverty because the two are inextricably linked. She also helps children to see interconnectedness as requiring us to view all species as intrinsically relevant in the community of life. As Rosie sings, “We’re All Interconnected”!
One of Rosie’s principal concerns is that many children miss out on wandering around freely in nature, directly experiencing the bond we have with nature and learning about the interconnectedness of the community of life. Rosie believes that all of us must do our best to ignite a sense of responsibility toward the Earth in our children. Referring to the concerns raised by Richard Louv in his book, Last Child in the Woods, Rosie worries that children don’t get the freedom to “explore the edges” and that this creates a disconnect with the Earth that can prevent children from understanding the intrinsic value of nature. Rosie doesn’t just signal this concern though; she finds constructive means for overcoming it through her creative talents, teaching young children that the Earth is precious and in need of our care. To this end, she motivates children’s sense of social responsibility through her music and TV programs. For example, Rosie is about to record a new CD called “I Saw Butterflies Kissing Today!”, a musical journey that will encourage children, parents and grandparents to get out and discover the wonders of the great outdoors, even if it’s just the backyard!
Keen to help children learn about the interconnections between environment, culture and health, in partnership with WGCU Public Media (PBS) in Fort Myers, Florida, Rosie has developed and produced their Curious Kids TV/Web programs, including the Curious Kids Nature Club and Get Up, Get Out, Get Active. This summer, Rosie will begin producing a half-hour Kids TV series that will be hosted by Kids for Kids. Culturally themed to highlight how we all belong to both a local and a global community, the show focuses on the environment, wellness, and the arts. Under development also is Rosie’s program “My World, My Self”, a collaboration with the Montreal Women’s Y. This early childhood educator’s program aims to synthesize environmental education with wellness education to help children understand how our own well-being is intricately linked with that of the environment.
And as an overall means of “giving back”, Rosie creates a weekly Environmental Education blog to inspire both teachers and parents with class ideas. Rosie finds that writing this blog serves as a form of inspiration for herself at the same time because she discovers new stories, websites, resources, and fabulous articles while creating it and shares these with the rest of us for free!
So, if you think all that is great, we also learned that Rosie has created and produced with her partner, JC Little of Little Animation Inc., an incredible resource: The Little Earth Charter (LEC). Rosie’s dream is that all children around the world will grow up learning the principles of the LEC. Rosie and JC consulted with the educational team of the International Earth Charter to synthesize its 16 principles into the eight principles of the LEC, so that they could be more easily conveyed to young children. Rosie and her partner are optimistic that the program will spread as more and more people discover it. Already there are schools in Australia , the UK, Portugal, and Belgium using the LEC to inspire their learning activities. This is a truly astounding achievement.
From here, Rosie is brimming with hope and plans for a busy future. She will continue providing workshops for educators around the world and will continue to put her all into environmental education. Rosie says that: “For me it is my life's work and as long as there is breath in my body I shall be doing what I can to create fun and inspiring resources.” It is clear that Rosie’s energetic media creations make the most of relying on creativity to instill the values of earth stewardship in children; this caring and guiding approach is something that we at MiniMonos believe is essential to enable children’s own self-discovery about living sustainably and ethically. We are in total support of Rosie’s enthusiasm and proactive educational activities and we’re proud to be interconnected with Rosie too. Thank you for letting us get to know more about you Rosie!
You can follow Rosie’s activities at her website We’re All Interconnected, listen to more of her music on MySpace, become a Fan on Facebook, play some fun interactive games at Earth To Rosie, and follow her on Twitter @RosieEmery.
Rosie Emery
We’re honored to feature the amazing Rosie Emery this week, an international singer/songwriter, environmental educator and new media producer specializing in teaching children about life’s interconnectedness. Rosie has so many talents, it is hard to know where to start but we’re giving it a go! We just love how Rosie is bringing the messages of caring for nature and sustainable living to children through music and education and we’re totally enthused by her positive, happy outlook, so she made for an easy fit as this week’s Friday Featured Friend.
Rosie grew up wandering freely among nature in the renowned Sherwood Forest, a magical place that has inspired Rosie’s strong passion for the environment ever since. Concerned about the decline in global environmental health and the disconnect that has arisen in our understanding of how our well-being is completely tied up with the well-being of our planet, Rosie became involved in environmental protection in the 1980s. Since 1989, she has been writing and performing meaningful songs, stories, and activities for children that awaken a sense of wonder for the Earth and celebrate the beauty of nature.
Rosie loves to build on children’s innate curiosity, in order to encourage children to find their own pathways to unearthing an inherent desire to care for and nurture living beings and nature. She stresses that it is more important than ever to get across the message to children about the importance of nature in their lives, given that the majority of us now live in urban centers. While making it clear that it is our responsibility as parents, guardians, and teachers, to provide children with plentiful opportunities in which to discover and cherish “this awesome place in which we live”, Rosie isn’t here to preach; she’s keen to provide the tools to help all of us nourish children’s love for nature, to make it easier for us to guide children in finding their own ways to protect the environment as befits their unique skills and talents, and she states emphatically that: “It also has to be fun! Ideally all kids would get to spend time out in the forest, on the river, in a swamp, by the ocean or just playing in their backyards and parks! There is no doubt that first hand experience in nature is the best!” With gentle and consistent guidance and encouragement to enjoy their time in nature, Rosie believes that children will continue to protect and care for the environment as they grow into adulthood.
Underpinning much of Rosie’s efforts is the key principle of interconnectedness. She believes that it is vital to help children understand that effective earth stewardship is dependent on eliminating global poverty because the two are inextricably linked. She also helps children to see interconnectedness as requiring us to view all species as intrinsically relevant in the community of life. As Rosie sings, “We’re All Interconnected”!
One of Rosie’s principal concerns is that many children miss out on wandering around freely in nature, directly experiencing the bond we have with nature and learning about the interconnectedness of the community of life. Rosie believes that all of us must do our best to ignite a sense of responsibility toward the Earth in our children. Referring to the concerns raised by Richard Louv in his book, Last Child in the Woods, Rosie worries that children don’t get the freedom to “explore the edges” and that this creates a disconnect with the Earth that can prevent children from understanding the intrinsic value of nature. Rosie doesn’t just signal this concern though; she finds constructive means for overcoming it through her creative talents, teaching young children that the Earth is precious and in need of our care. To this end, she motivates children’s sense of social responsibility through her music and TV programs. For example, Rosie is about to record a new CD called “I Saw Butterflies Kissing Today!”, a musical journey that will encourage children, parents and grandparents to get out and discover the wonders of the great outdoors, even if it’s just the backyard!
Keen to help children learn about the interconnections between environment, culture and health, in partnership with WGCU Public Media (PBS) in Fort Myers, Florida, Rosie has developed and produced their Curious Kids TV/Web programs, including the Curious Kids Nature Club and Get Up, Get Out, Get Active. This summer, Rosie will begin producing a half-hour Kids TV series that will be hosted by Kids for Kids. Culturally themed to highlight how we all belong to both a local and a global community, the show focuses on the environment, wellness, and the arts. Under development also is Rosie’s program “My World, My Self”, a collaboration with the Montreal Women’s Y. This early childhood educator’s program aims to synthesize environmental education with wellness education to help children understand how our own well-being is intricately linked with that of the environment.
And as an overall means of “giving back”, Rosie creates a weekly Environmental Education blog to inspire both teachers and parents with class ideas. Rosie finds that writing this blog serves as a form of inspiration for herself at the same time because she discovers new stories, websites, resources, and fabulous articles while creating it and shares these with the rest of us for free!
So, if you think all that is great, we also learned that Rosie has created and produced with her partner, JC Little of Little Animation Inc., an incredible resource: The Little Earth Charter (LEC). Rosie’s dream is that all children around the world will grow up learning the principles of the LEC. Rosie and JC consulted with the educational team of the International Earth Charter to synthesize its 16 principles into the eight principles of the LEC, so that they could be more easily conveyed to young children. Rosie and her partner are optimistic that the program will spread as more and more people discover it. Already there are schools in Australia , the UK, Portugal, and Belgium using the LEC to inspire their learning activities. This is a truly astounding achievement.
From here, Rosie is brimming with hope and plans for a busy future. She will continue providing workshops for educators around the world and will continue to put her all into environmental education. Rosie says that: “For me it is my life's work and as long as there is breath in my body I shall be doing what I can to create fun and inspiring resources.” It is clear that Rosie’s energetic media creations make the most of relying on creativity to instill the values of earth stewardship in children; this caring and guiding approach is something that we at MiniMonos believe is essential to enable children’s own self-discovery about living sustainably and ethically. We are in total support of Rosie’s enthusiasm and proactive educational activities and we’re proud to be interconnected with Rosie too. Thank you for letting us get to know more about you Rosie!
You can follow Rosie’s activities at her website We’re All Interconnected, listen to more of her music on MySpace, become a Fan on Facebook, play some fun interactive games at Earth To Rosie, and follow her on Twitter @RosieEmery.