GUILFORD — In August, 18 local early-childhood teachers joined environmental educator Joan Carey of Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center and Guilford Central School teachers Emma Hallowell and Karen Duggan to learn about ways to expand the nature-based learning in their preschool and kindergarten classrooms.
The popularity of nature-based education, outdoor learning, and forest classrooms is on the rise, as educators push back on the “academicification” of early childhood, according to a news release.
A movement that developed in Europe decades ago, nature-based preschools and forest kindergartens offer students opportunities for self-directed play and exploration, problem solving, and the development of crucial social and emotional skills, while also connecting children with their local natural environment.
Recognizing this burgeoning trend of outdoor classrooms and wanting to contribute solid solutions and resources to the community, the Center met with local kindergarten and Pre-K teachers to explore the Center's role in supporting the movement's growth in Windham County.
The first step in meeting this goal was to find a partner school to collaborate with to create a model to support teachers in moving beyond “just playing outside in the woods” to connecting intentional teaching of natural history topics to the exploration and inquiry that happens naturally among young children.
Guilford Central School has long been a champion of outdoor education, with teachers taking advantage of the nearby woods.
Sixth-graders have hiked to the nearby Weeks Forest one day every week for the past seven years, kindergarteners have spent extended time in the woods adjacent to the school, and in the 2017-2018 school year, Guilford School started a nature-based pre-K program, free to 4-year-olds living in the town.
Guilford has been expanding its commitment to getting kids outdoors, with two “outdoor classrooms” and teachers dedicated to spending time in the woods with their students.
In the same spirit, pre-K and kindergarten teachers collaborated with Carey to apply for a grant through the Henderson Foundation in late 2018.
Thanks to the Henderson Foundation's support, Carey was able to visit the pre-K and kindergarten classes for two hours every week, modeling environmental education content lessons and providing support to the growing nature-based focus of each classroom.
The grant culminated with a day of professional development for area early childhood educators. Covering topics from curriculum and resources to nuts and bolts like schedules and routines, the workshop provided an overview of the collaboration between the Center and GCS.
Teachers shared songs and stories, and had important conversations about the difference between a risk and a hazard. When asked about what steps they would take after participating in the workshop, teachers said they would be bringing their students into more natural spaces - aside from the playground - for extended times.