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Dr. Rachel Larimore is a champion for children learning with nature for the health of individuals, communities, and the planet.  As the founder and Chief Visionary of Samara Early Learning, her work focuses on helping early childhood educators start nature-based schools or add nature-based approaches into their existing program.

Dr. Rachel A. Larimore is a champion for children learning with nature for the health of individuals, communities, and the planet. She is the founder and Chief Visionary of Samara Early Learning, an organization focused on helping early childhood educators start nature-based schools or add nature-based approaches into their existing program. 

For more than 30 years, in roles such as educator, preschool director, and researcher, Rachel’s work has focused on supporting young children’s holistic development by learning with nature to expand their worlds and live rich, full lives. As a thought-leader in the field, she is constantly evaluating what is best for children, best for nature, and where educators can leverage the common ground between those two sets of needs.

A popular keynote speaker and author, Rachel’s books include Preschool Beyond Walls: Blending Early Childhood Education and Nature-Based Learning, Evaluating Natureness: Measuring the Quality of Nature-based Classrooms in Pre-k Through 3rd Grade, and her newest book Reimagining the Role of Teachers in Nature-based Learning: Helping Children be Curious, Confident, and Caring. These titles and more are available at the Samara Early Learning shop.

Rachel was raised on a vegetable farm in Central Illinois where she played in the dirt and woods. Today, when she’s not working with educators, you can still find her wandering in the woods, playing in the dirt in her garden, filling her birdfeeders, or knitting her latest creation.

Dr. Rachel Larimore is a champion for children learning with nature for the health of individuals, communities, and the planet. As the founder of Samara Early Learning, Rachel helps early childhood educators start nature-based schools or add nature-based approaches into their existing program. 

Rachel’s passion for early childhood education began in her own childhood where she played in the woods on her family’s vegetable farm in Central Illinois. Over the past 30 years her work has focused on the intentional integration of nature into learning to support young children’s holistic development and rich, full lives. Rachel’s on-the-ground experience  includes more than a decade directing one of the earliest nature-based preschools in the U.S. of which she was also the founder. A popular speaker and author, Rachel’s books include Preschool Beyond Walls, Evaluating Natureness, and her newest book–Reimaging the Roles of Nature-based Teachers. Be sure to check these and other resources out at Samarael.com/shop.