Nature Kindergarten

After focusing on creating floor books such as the bird book,  Lisa and I (Erin) wondered what other ways the children could demonstrate their learning… so we asked them how they would like to teach others what they know about spring.

“We could tell people” a child suggested “Like write it in a letter”.

“We could write a poem or a song” Another thought.

“We could make a poster and read it to everyone”

“We could do a play, like a show”

After brainstorming these ideas, we split into 2 groups and talked about planning techniques and how to work together on the planning stages. The children were given clip boards, pencils and markers and told that they needed to do some planning and idea exchanging so that everyone had a role in the planning and the presentation. The children then split themselves into groups determined by what they wanted to work on. Many children chose to create a play, while some decided to make a poster, write a song, or write a letter to the school.

Lisa and I supported them in through answering questions and encouraging them to work together so that everyone was a part of the effort. After practicing for many days, we wandered around listening to the ideas that were coming from the groups, and I was the practice audience for some of them.

First, I visited two children reading off their clip boards and asked if I could listen in. They agreed and told me where to sit. They both stood up on the log and started to read off their paper, at the same time they began.

“Introducing _______ and ________. What spring is about, by _______________ and ____________.”

Their paper read:

 “Spring, Spring, I like Spring,

Spring, Spring, I love Spring.

Spring, Spring Sun

Spring, Spring animals

And bees and tree”.

As I clap one of the children turns to the other and says “we need to practice more I think”. I looked at their page and it is three pieces of paper taped together, with the words to their song written down them.

I move to the next group who are creating a poster about the butterfly life cycle. They have drawn a diagram and labeled it. They have also drawn up “what they are going to say” on separate pages. After they tell me about the life cycle, they tell me that they really want to tell everyone about how our butterflies in the classroom drink Gatorade. (This is True!)

The next group has written out the script to their play and is busy practicing it. It is about bears waking up, eating berries and enjoying the sun. Then out of nowhere a deer appears, it is night time and the owls are out. In case they forget what happens next they have written out the script, and it place it against the tree so they can keep looking at it.

I looked around and notice two children sitting under a Douglas Fir tree, clip boards in hand talking to each other about what they are going to do. I also hear the sounds of the bird group, and look over and see pictures of nest forming.

Another group is a family of bears, waking up from hibernation and another is writing a letter about what they know about spring, it starts: “To Sangster school…” and has mixture of words and pictures. 

My favorite part about this is that each child had a role in the planning and production. The children are exploring leadership, collaboration and compromise within this activity. They are using their creativity to think up how THEY want to show their learning. They are planning, and writing what they want to convey. The learning here is in the conversations, not with the teachers but with each other. They are sharing what they know, and creating something from it. They are helping each other to write and spell. We believe that giving the children the opportunity to create their own representation of learning engages them and inspires them. The structure we provided was concepts of planning, creating and presenting and the rest was theirs.

Tomorrow they will present their learning and teach our grade four buddies what they know about spring. What a powerful moment I expect that to be.

(Written by Erin Van Stone, Nature Kindergarten ECE)

Every day we are astonished by the sense of community within our class. This really shouldn’t come as a surprise as our Nature Kindergarten’s beginnings stem from broad collaborative relationships with a broad range of community members. Also, the children are out exploring, connecting and experiencing various parts of their community every day.

Within the program, Lisa and I are focused on fostering a strong connection to our community and have community members out with the class almost on a weekly basis. These connections range from older “buddy” classes to local elders. It also includes plant, tree, fish and nature specialists, local college classes, first aid specialists, artists, retired teachers, early childhood educators, parents, and of course our class friend Werner who has an endless offering of knowledge and resources. The children have also visited the Goldstream Nature House and the library and have gone swimming at the community center. Often on windy days we won’t go into the forest and instead go on community walks or walk to the beach.

The past two weeks are a great example of how the program and community are intertwined. We recently participated in a wonderful presentation by “Growing Solutions” about the importance of growing food locally, which reinforced the importance of taking care of our class garden. This past week we had our Principal Maureen Lauren and parents out with us exploring. Also joining us one day was a grade four class from our school; together we built shelters and did a nature scavenger hunt. The kindergartens were so excited to share all they know with the older buddies! Later in the week we participated in a school wide beach clean-up, and learned how to curl from the Rocks and Rinks program! Ms. Muriel our Aboriginal Support worker brought her drum and taught us the Coast Salish national anthem. Then on Friday, as usual, we had Ms. Enid join us in our quest to be nature
detectives! Wow what a week we had!

This past Monday we had two parents out with us again in the morning, they went with us to explore at the beach. They helped us find seven red spiders, and also helped keep the swans from enjoying our snacks! Parent participation is very important to Lisa and I, and we feel so fortunate to be able to have to have so much parent involvement within the class. On Tuesday, we had Shirley a First Nations Elder come into the forest and teach us Sencoten. It was wonderful to have her with us in the forest; we learned the Sencoten word for bear, squirrel, eagle and how to count to ten. Thursday we visited our grade seven buddy class at the nearby middle school, Dunsmuir. They have visited us in the forest many times, and have built art, shelters, and done scavenger hunts. This time we had the opportunity to go to their school to make cedar book marks with them led by Linda and Terry Ermineskin. On Friday, we usually have the wonderful Ms. Enid join us, but this time we had Jeannie a professor at Camosun College join us for the morning.

We feel very fortunate to be able to have these connections with our community, and are so thankful for all the knowledge and support the community has given us.

(Written by Erin Van Stone, Nature Kindergarten ECE)

For our professional development day in April, Lisa, Enid, Jeanne and I (Erin) had the opportunity to spend time with Claire Warden
both in our forest here, and at a workshop in Vancouver. Claire is a forest educator from Scotland who speaks internationally about the forest school
movement and creating natural play spaces. She has developed the “floor book” concept as a tool to both deepen the children’s learning and assist in
assessment. This being our second time working with Claire, we were able to share with other educators our experiences using the forest floor books as well
as learn from other educators who are trying it out. The children at Nature K have already created a bird book, and are currently working on a plant/spring book. These books come out into the forest most days, and are a way for the children to document the progression of their learning. Thank you to the Port Coquitlam school district for having us again!

(Written by Nature Kindergarten ECE Erin Van Stone)

I had the great pleasure of joining the Nature Kindergarten class a couple of weeks ago as they ventured out to the forest with buddy students from their school.  This was the first time the older buddy students got to experience the outdoors, and what a grand time they had!  Everyone listened carefully as the Kindergarten students shared the three rules of being in the forest, and then out they went.  For the next hour, the Nature Kindergarten students shared their expertise with ease and confidence.

“You have to put nature back into nature,” remarked one Kindergarten student as they paused at the Royal Roads’ gate to dig holes in the sand before making their way into the forest.

“Invasive means [the plants] grow everywhere and take away other plants’ nutrients,” offered another Nature Kindergarten student after his teacher cautioned the buddy students about the dangers of the daphne plant.

The sharing of information continued as the students worked in pairs to complete a nature scavenger hunt.  The Nature Kindergarten students were able to identify Oregon grape, cedar trees, and sword ferns without difficulty.  Later, students used the items collected on the scavenger hunt to build structures together.  The structures varied from bat homes to fairy houses to play shelters.

Before buddy students returned to the school, they acknowledged the following highlights about their shared experience:

“We had a limbo game.”

“I loved building a sculpture.”

“I learned that daphne can paralyze you.”

The Nature Kindergarten morning continued with snack, check-in, and time to play.  I was touched by the warm-hearted comments children made toward one another, their educators, and me during the check-in.  This is a daily ritual where a student asks each of his classmates to respond to ‘how they are feeling’ and ‘what they are thankful for’.   As the check-in takes place, some students keep a tally of responses to ‘how students are feeling’ while others draw pictures in their Nature Detective booklets.

My morning in the Nature Kindergarten inspired me to think about how to provide students at my home school of Colwood Elementary with more opportunities to be in nature.  The Nature Kindergarten students displayed seemingly endless energy to be and play in nature …to create…to climb…to build…to swing…  What a treat for me to be there as an observer to witness their enthusiasm.

Finally, I was awed by the way in which Lisa, Erin and Muriel guided and supported the students to learn, to be safe, and to resolve their own conflicts.  In their own unique way, each of them encourages independence and critical thinking.  Imagine how empowering it is for a student to be asked …”Why do you think that?  Tell me about your thinking”.  Kudos to Lisa, Erin, and Muriel for all they do!

(written by Frances Krusekopf, Nature Kindergarten Project Manager)

Recently our walks have been full of observing the changes that the forest is making as it transitions into spring. This has provided very relevant opportunities to wonder and learn about plant life cycles, stages of tree growth, and types of plant species.  We have been making predictions about what different buds will turn into, what the leafless plants will be, and what will happen next. We usually start our walks asking the children to be nature detectives and find clues or signs of spring.

“Look, look something is different, it is new” a child commented as we walk around our special tree.

“What is that?” another child asked.

“It must be what a Douglas Fir branch looks like small” another added.

“No that looks like a snail” a child noticed.

“Gross, it reminds me of a brain” commented a child.

“I notice it has a long stalk and then a curl” I commented.

“We saw lots of those on the walk down, not on trees” commented a child.

“I wonder what it will turn into, I bet if we wait we will find out in a few days” I commented.

“It is going to be a maple tree, there is a maple tree up there, and the seed fell, the Douglas Fir is the nurse log” a child commented.

“A nurse log is dead” a child argued.

“No! Not all the time” A child demanded.  

“I know the real answer. The real answer is it is going to be a sword fern that is the real answer” a child said with authority.

 The children’s attention turn to a baby banana slug that is at the base of the tree. Two children find banana slugs, one small and one large. They hold them close to each other and they talk about how they have to stay close because one is the mom and one is the baby.

“Don’t put her near a Trillium, she will eat it” a child predicted.

The forest is very quickly turning changing, and the children are noticing plants, slugs, ants, and many new birds. The children’s conversations have been focused around growth stages, types of plants, what plants need to grow, pollination as well as what animals are doing at this time. Currently, they are working together to creating a book about what they are learning. To explore plant growth further we are also growing vegetables in our school garden, and the children also have their own garden to explore inside.

Beginning September 2013, a nature preschool will be offered at the Swan Lake Nature sanctuary in Saanich, BC (outside of Victoria).  Congratulations to Chris Filler, recreation programmer, for leading this new initiative.

Please follow this link for more information.  Saanich News – Saanich branches into nature education

consider registering for the next “Nature Kindergarten Experience” course at Royal Roads University in Victoria.  The course will be co-facilitated by Dr. Enid Elliot and one of the Nature Kindergarten educators.  Please follow this link to register.  NK link

“Ms. Van Stone, Ms. Van Stone listen, listen…” A child runs towards me with two small sticks; the group stops and waits. She hits the sticks together to make a sounds and everyone stands and listens intensely. The sound is so quiet children have to bend over to hear it more clearly. She then stops and then changes the sounds to make a different pattern. “Rub, rub, tap, tap, rub, rub, tap, tap!” a child says as he mimics the pattern with his hands.

Further down the trail another child finds a hollow branch. “Listen!” he hits a stick on either side of the branch. “If I bang it here, it sounds different then there. I could make a song” he says. This thought made me wonder if the child thought that two different sounds are needed for a song. I wondered what connections were made when he made this assumption. “I wonder why that made different sounds?” a child asks. “Because one is hollow and the other is full of water” a child suggests. “I think that it is because it is skinny on one side” another suggests.

Since September the children have been exploring the sounds of the forest, but more recently they have been intrigued about the sounds that they themselves can create in the forest. They use sticks, rocks, pinecones, branches, the ground, roots and trees to make many different sounds. It has been wonderful to listen to them create questions about different sounds, such as what makes sounds and what sounds is.  We have been aware of them really listening to sounds, and watching their ability to recognize tone differences and predicts surrounding sound. They are also connecting the sounds they are making to musical instruments. “This sound reminds me of a drum, and this one is a flute”.   

This growing confidence in creating sounds has transferred to the children being outstanding musical performers!  Many mornings you can find children practicing songs during play time, and performing them later in the morning for the whole class. Everyone has a role, there are performers, lights people, people handing out popcorn or drinks, introducers, drummers, singers, audience members and dancers. Everyday these roles change, and the children have a great ability to regulate who is doing what. Amazingly it is all different children who prepare and perform for the group. Even the quietest children are willing to belt out their favorite songs, while the other children cheer them on. I feel as though the forest allows these children to notice many different types of sounds and the being in nature provides the opportunity to freely explore, wonder and question what sound is all about.

(Written by Erin Van Stone, Nature K ECE)

An aspect of the Nature Kindergarten project is on-going professional development for the Nature Kindergarten team – including, most importantly, our teacher and early childhood educator.  For that reason, we recently invited US early childhood educator and author Ann Pelo to Victoria.  Thanks so much to the support of Success by Six funding for making this possible.

Last Thursday night, Ann presented to a crowd of about 65 individuals at the University of Victoria.  She spoke to us about developing an “ecological identity” in young children.  Consider the following practices for cultivating an ecological identity that Ann shared with us:

Walk the land

Practice silence

Learn the names

Embrace sensuality

Explore new perspectives

Create stories

Make rituals

Interested in learning more, look for Ann’s new book titled The Goodness of Rain. 

Please follow this link to read more http://blog.childrenandnature.org/2013/02/12/udeskole-in-scandinavia-teaching-learning-in-natural-places/