We are receiving some questions about the academic portion of our nature preschool program, and while teacher led lessons won’t be our focus, we will be exposing the children to tons of academic concepts. The majority of nature schools focus on “learning readiness” as opposed to “kindergarten skills readiness”. We believe that if children learn to assess risks, to trust themselves, to connect and cooperate with peers, and that they are part of a larger picture, then we have prepared them for a lifetime of learning.
We will be using an emergent curriculum when we are out in the woods on our daily explorations. We will allow the children’s interests to lead their learning, so we will not have predetermined lesson plans for each day. Research shows us that if a child is interested in a topic then they will internalize so much more about a subject. If the children become interested in a decaying log, we will explore it. We will ask questions about the process to get them thinking about what has caused the log to be in that state. We will make observations about insects that are present, if the log is wet or dry, and how long it takes the log to decompose, in order to extend their knowledge of natural processes. They will use engineering and problem solving skills to build structures for quiet or pretend play while out in the woods. We will sing songs and read books under the shade of trees. We will climb on fallen logs and swing from limbs to gain age appropriate motor skills.
For children who are interested in writing we will create activities in the dirt with sticks and stones to create letters or practice copying them. What the natural world gives us to expand knowledge is endless! This is an excerpt about math skills from the blog of Erin Kenny, the founder of the first “forest kindergarten” in the U.S.:
There are many ways we introduce math spontaneously in our forest explorations. We always encourage kids to count how many are going out on an adventure before we leave Main Camp. We always count the objects in our game of “What’s Missing?” We often count numbers of species we see in a day, such as how many towhees, how many mushrooms, and how many different kinds of leaves. We have made fir cone spirals and then counted how many cones we used. On several days, we counted the rings of a downed hemlock tree (18 years old) and the children learned about how the rings form and indicate how old the tree was.
These are only a few of the activities your child will be engaged in while attending nature school. We also have an indoor space that will be filled with natural opportunities to create art based on their inspiration from the trail, build with blocks, or examine items brought in from nature. As teachers we will be facilitators of learning, taking our lead from the interests of our students. We will also be creating learning spaces that expose the children to counting, letter/number recognition, and pre-writing concepts in a very organic way. We believe that all children develop at their own pace and that they learn through play, our program will be set up to meet those fundamental needs.
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