Carrie Thordarson, Toddler Connections Teacher

Carrie is a lifelong New Englander who loves the outdoors in every season, fall most of all.  She loves to bike, hike, swim and experience the wild places of Massachusetts.  Carrie grew up in Watertown and Belmont, spending lots of time exploring the local woods, meadows and streams of nearby conservation land like reservations, forests, and hills.  Now, living in Medford, she enjoys taking her own young kids for similar adventures in the great outdoors.  While she loves the forest, her favorite places in New England are the rocky coasts of Cape Ann and down east Maine.

After more than 15 years of teaching outdoors and in classrooms, Carrie's favorite part of working with young people is the way each child connects the dots between what they already understand and what they are beginning to uncover.  She loves the kind of learning that is experiential and hands on, driven by children's natural curiosity.  Her favorite way to teach is to immerse children in a rich experience and step back to see what inquiries and discoveries emerge.

Carrie has a BA in Environmental Studies from Middlebury College and a Master's in Education from UMASS Boston.  Prior to joining BOPN, she has been a facilitator for Free Forest School, a naturalist and youth program coordinator at Mass Audubon's Drumlin Farm, and a teacher at The Ecology School, Save The Bay Narragansett Bay, Pali Mountain Institute, and Cambridge and Boston Public Schools.  She is currently a stay at home parent and a BOPN Toddler Connections teacher.