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Vermont public schools from preschool to high school, offering year-long programs for students in inquiry-based outdoor learning for up to four hours a week. “We immerse ourselves in nature


with a 10-minute hike into the forest,” says program coordinator Melissa Purdy. Students first learn safety protocols and how to set up camp. Introducing skill-appropriate tools, preschoolers whittle sticks, third-graders build teepees and lean-tos, and high school students build bridges across streams.


NATURE’S CLASSROOM Outdoor Learning Engages the Whole Child by Meredith Montgomery


F


or youngsters at Tiny Trees Preschool, in Seattle, nature is their classroom—rain or shine;


tuition even includes a rain suit and insulated rubber boots. At Schlitz Audu- bon Nature Preschool, in Milwaukee, children use downed wood to build forts and fires. Students of Vermont’s Educating Children Outdoors (ECO) program use spray bottles of colored water to spell words in the snow.


Forest Schools Based on the publicly funded forest kindergarten model used by Scandina- vian countries since 1995, Tiny Trees encompasses seven urban park loca- tions throughout the city, ranging from 15 to 160 acres. With no buildings, playgrounds or commercially produced furniture and 30 percent less overhead,


“We can make exceptional education affordable,” remarks CEO Andrew Jay. “Most of the day is spent exploring


the forest. If children see salmon in the stream, we observe them from a bridge,


52 NA Triangle www.natriangle.com


and then search out the headwaters to see where they’re coming from,” explains Jay.


Nature Preschools The launch of Earth Day in 1970 and America’s nature center movement in the 1960s yielded another immersive nature-based model that includes indoor learning. The preschool at the Leadership in


Energy and Environmental Design-cer- tified Schlitz Audubon Nature Center includes three nature-focused indoor classrooms and three outdoor areas— two with manmade structures like a slide and picnic tables, and one left completely natural. Founding Director Patti Bailie says the children spend most of their day outside and teachers can take them beyond the play areas to explore 185 acres of prairie, forest, wetlands and lakefront beach habitats.


Public School Programs ECO currently collaborates with seven


Building Resiliency Sharing space with insects and plants requires special safety protocols and preparation, but the injury rate of out- door learning is no higher than that of indoor schools. “Children are building risk literacy—they climb trees, but only to safe heights; they step on wet rocks, but learn how to do so without falling,” says Jay. Classrooms without walls work because students have a sense of freedom within reasonable boundaries. “In winter, we dress warmly and do


more hiking to generate body heat. We use picnic shelters in heavy rains. Chil- dren don’t have anxiety about the future— rain means puddles to splash in and snow means building snowmen,” says Jay.


Developing the


Whole Child Outdoor learning naturally creates knowledge of local ecosystems, environmental stewards and a sense of place, but teachers also observe many other developmental benefits. At the Magnolia Nature School, at


Camp McDowell, in Nauvoo, Alabama, Madeleine Pearce’s agile and surefooted preschoolers can hike three miles. Located in a rural county with a 67 per- cent poverty rate, the school partners with Head Start to secure tuition-free opportunities for families. Pearce attests how exploring the 1,100-acre property fosters language skills. “With less teacher instruction, children have more time to talk freely with each other.” Instead of loudly calling kids


in, Purdy uses bird calls or a drum, which fosters a sense of peace and


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