I recently received the newsletter from the Milwaukee LifeWays Early Childhood Center and was so impressed with the articles written by their caregivers that I asked permission to share them with you. The last of these articles focuses on their Forest Kindergarten, the program for the older chidlren. --Cynthia
Thoughts on Forest Kindergarten
Lori Barian, Kindergarten Teacher,
Milwaukee LifeWays Early Childhood Center
For us in Forest Kindergarten, nature determines our experience and contributes greatly to each day’s “lesson plan.” We sing, “What shall we see there? What shall we hear there? Into the forest. Into the forest,” and then go out the door to see what surprises the forest holds, what it wants to teach us, and what the weather will contribute.
When the river was frozen, we “ice skated” close to the shore where the ice was thickest. One mild day, we walked to Kern Park and played at the playground and had our snack at a picnic table. Another mild day we hunted for different kinds of mushrooms and fungus and were not disappointed with the variety and number that we discovered. When we had wet snow, we made snow people, snow animals, snow boulders, or snow bowls that we used to hold birdseed to feed the forest creatures. When the forest was snow-less, with Hansel and Gretel as our story, we made a path of popcorn pieces that we found our way back on, knowing that forest animals would eat it later. When we discovered that wind (or old age) had knocked down a huge old tree across the path, we explored the new world created by its laying itself down.
Each day unfolds according to the gifts nature lays before us. We have learned to notice the little things, and that gets a grade of “A+” in the Forest Kindergarten book. Whether mushrooms and fungus, crystal patterns in the ice, or Jack Frost’s sprinkles on a leaf or some bark, the children seek and find what magic and learning the forest holds for them each new day.
Comments (2)
hello all,
i am doing MA research (and teaching an outdoor waldorf kindergarten) here in new mexico. my research done via a new program lead by bonnie river is focusing on the development of the vestibular system/sense of balance and movement as it is fostered through outdoor kinders.
i am looking for articles with research on forest kindergartens, and also info on any schools using outdoor kinder models so that i can interview the teachers. i know of outdoor kinders in seattle, MA, OR, the one mentioned in the article in WI, my own, and of course those in europe.
i would also like to interview helle heckman but am unsure how to contact her.
can you help?! thank you!
happy new year!
Posted by stephanie schantz | January 3, 2008 1:35 PM
Dear Stephanie,
Great topics! I don't know of any other schools than the ones you mention. A great source for research on children and nature is the Children and Nature Network's Research and studies (see www.cnaturenet.org)--perhaps they'll have something. I'll email you contact information for Helle Heckman (other readers, her book is Nokken, the name of an program in Denmark which has a great deal of outdoor time; it's available from the Waldorf Early Childhood Assocation of North America). --Rahima
Posted by Rahima | February 4, 2008 2:13 PM