Over the past two years the Mairtown teaching team has
worked hard to set up our successful Nature Programme. This is a programme that
is of great interest to other educators who are devoted to providing children
with nature based learning experiences. Because of this we decided to run a
workshop for other teachers to have a hands-on experience of what is like for
our children who are part of our Nature Programme.
A group of early childhood educators from all over the Whangarei
area came to join us at Mair Park for this workshop. We wanted to give them an experience
through the eyes of the child, taking them to places that the children visit on
our Nature Programme. This journey began as it does for our children when we
welcomed each other in a circle, reflected about how we began the programme and
went over some of the ground rules.
Now it was time to enter Mair Park and as soon as we did this
the reflective dialogue began. As we moved through the bush we soon came to the
‘Magic Tree’ where we stopped and reflected on how this space was making us
feel. A similar reflection was evident amongst the group; a sense of calmness
and peace. After this 'Rocky Mountain' was tackled; this was a great way to experience
the physically challenging environment that the bush offers. It created some thoughtful reflections
about how we as adults feel about these risk taking experiences and what they
mean to the children’s learning and development.
Next we discussed the natural resources that the bush offers
and how these are often used by our children to create ephemeral art (art that is made from things that
are in the natural environment, which will only last for a short time - things
that are transient, are temporary and will eventually disappear.) We gave our
workshop participants some string and asked them to create some treasures for
our bush. As they were involved in this experience there was a sense of engagement
with the environment and lots of deep concentration. This is behaviour that is
often displayed by our children on the Nature Programme. Here are some of the
wonderful creations.
The
following week our children found the treasures that were left behind. This
created a great sense of wonder and magic as the children reflected on what
they had discovered.
Part of the workshop was to also share worldwide research and information that
support and verify the importance of getting children out and into nature and
the opportunity to engage in reflective dialogue around this. We gathered
together for a picnic where there was lots of thought provoking questions asked
and discussion shared amongst the group. We were able to share in depth the
reasons why we do what we do and the benefits that we have seen for our
children since we started our Nature Programme.
We have received some wonderful feedback about the experience
from the teachers who attended.
“It was great to be
able to ask questions as they came up in the setting, and to hear the info
about setting up and running the programme after having experienced the
environment- much more relevant. It was wonderful to have all four of you there
sharing your different perspectives – made it a very rich experience.”
“Keep up the great
work. You are making a difference to each child’s life and how they look at and accept the world.”
We are incredibly passionate about the
Nature Programme and felt honoured that we could share this with other
educators. It was great for our own profession learning and development.
Networking with other educators with similar desires is always empowering and
reaffirming for us. At Mairtown Kindergarten we believe that by
providing children with a regular experience of being in nature we are
enhancing their learning and development in many ways, with one of the most
significant motives being that they will develop skills and a lifelong love and
interest in caring for their local environment.
"There’s no way that we can help children
to learn to love nature and preserve this planet, if we don’t give them direct experiences
with the miracles and blessings of nature." (Anita Olds)
We will be running some more workshops
in 2013 so if you are interested don’t hesitate to contact us on mairtown@nka.org.nz or 094372742.
Zair
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