"Come on come on, we have to go to kindergarten." Mum and dad get the kids ready, jacket, booties and off to school. Waiting for them, however, there will not be the usual concrete building but a school in the woods, an open space where the little ones can play, learn, have fun, run and why not, even get dirty. We are a stone's throw from Bologna, where thanks to the initiative of some farsighted mothers / professionals and lovers of the environment, the kindergarten in the Pianoro wood was born
Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerous
"Come on come on, we have to go to kindergarten." Mum and dad get the kids ready, jacket, booties and off to school. Waiting for them, however, will not be the usual concrete building but one school in the woods, an open space where the little ones can play, learn, have fun, run and, why not, even get dirty. We are a stone's throw from Bologna, where thanks to the initiative of some farsighted mothers / professionals who love the environment, the kindergarten in the Pianoro wood was born.
The aim of the special school is to encourage children to observe carefully and ask questions, spurring their curiosity and attention. What better help than that of Mother Nature? For this reason, the little pupils of the school in the woods spend many hours in the open air, followed by the teachers of the forest. The educator-child ratio will be maximum 1 to 6, precisely to ensure great attention to each child.
“Living every day outdoors in close contact with nature will give them the opportunity to experience the rhythm of the seasons and natural phenomena. Thanks to constant movement, both the locomotor and immune systems are strengthened ... but above all, they have a lot of fun! " explain the teachers.
What do you do in the kindergarten in the Pianoro wood?
First of all you play. And the game is also free. The child decides what, with whom and where to play. In this way, interest, motivation and curiosity benefit from it, but also the relationships with the companions since together the other children develop new ideas and learn to relate to each other.
Certainly, environmental education cannot be missing. Every day there is space for stories and information on the environment, themed days with the involvement of experts, and outdoor activities, guaranteeing children a first-hand experience in contact with Nature.
And what's better than a nice and relaxing reading in the woods? On a daily basis, in Pianoro, children leaf through an illustrated book or a story is read to them, set in nature.
A school inspired by the pedagogical theories of Friedrich Fröbel, Maria Montessori, Mauricio and Rebeca Wild and Rudolph Steiner.
And this is just a taste. To reveal all the secrets of this special school is Maddalena,
How did the idea of a kindergarten in the woods come about?
The forest has found us. We are two mothers with children of the same age and we have been talking for some time about our desire to see children grow up in nature, even at school. In the meantime, it happened that we found a very suitable place for an outdoor school (in terms of distance from the city, environment and accessibility), so we moved to understand how to open it. After more than a year of courses, observations in other kindergartens, presentations and resolutions of bureaucratic issues, we did it!
What is a typical day like in the kindergarten in the woods?
A typical day does not exist. That's why we sometimes organize a Saturday morning in the woods for adults so that even the grown-ups can experience this non-programming. 90% of the time in kindergarten is free play, that autonomous time that today's children so badly need. They organize games themselves, invent situations, climb, dig, sing or idle. This is also their right and it does them so much good. We have two fixed moments (in addition to lunch) at the beginning and at the end of the day that take place in a circle, all together. We count, sing, tell something and make proposals for the day. These are two important moments, in which children do not have great difficulty sitting and listening to others, because they are aware that the rest of the morning will be able to move as much as they want and their needs will always be listened to.
What / how does a child who goes to kindergarten in the woods learn instead of a “traditional” kindergarten?
Lots of things. First of all to get to know each other and to listen. Learn to run, to fall and get up, to help those in difficulty, to face unexpected events, to know nature (how it changes and how it can be wonderful but also hard). They learn to take care of their backpack and its contents, to save water in the summer and to keep warm with the fire in the winter… The adults in the project only have the role of carers; master Bosco and nature teacher already teach them a lot. From direct experience curiosities are born, adults have the difficult task of relaunching their questions, stimulating reasoning, new questions, solutions. they are attentive observers, able to be amazed and amazed, always alongside children to encourage and support them, without intervening. The child has the potential and ability to evaluate, face and overcome risks and difficulties tailored to him.
What are the advantages for children, both from an educational and relational point of view?
They have direct experience. This is one of the many benefits, but perhaps the most significant. It is the responses to their actions that teach something, they are not prepackaged formulas dropped from above by some adult. Their self-esteem grows dramatically in an environment where they have the freedom to explore and interpret. By being outside, they learn to relate to the world and to others. The relationship that is established with the group is very strong, living free experiences every day together. We like to call it our little herd: they wait for the morning and run to meet each other, they help each other in times of difficulty (especially physical but not only), they organize social games in nature as if they were (and in fact they are) baby animals that they experience reality to prepare for life.
And for the parents? Do grownups also return to kindergarten?
Parents see children transform. Happy and balanced as they had never been. For them, the logistical organization in the family is not always simple (in particular passages and timetables), in addition to the many washing machines that they have to take into account, but so far they are all enthusiastic and very happy with the choice made. Maybe it's not for everyone, but we prepare them very well in advance, with ad hoc days in the woods and several interviews. It is they, now, who are managing us there fund campaign to buy an Indian tent as a new refuge, after the snowfall a few weeks ago that destroyed the camping tent used up to that moment. They are at the forefront therefore, and we feel honored to have found them!
Why should a parent go down to a kindergarten in the woods instead of a "traditional" school?
A parent chooses the kindergarten in the woods because he wants his child to recognize and respect the trees, to be stretched out on a lawn as much as he needs, not to be forced to learn things he has no interest in, eat what they know is good for him, prepared with love, to develop his physical, character and mental skills. They choose the forest so that they stay outdoors and therefore get less sick, because they know that they will stay for many hours, days, months, closed within 4 walls and think it is too early and unnecessary. They choose it for many reasons, but basically, to be happy.
Can you tell us the funniest anecdote you lived with the children? And what touched you the most?
We laughed a lot (obviously secretly from the children) when two children played with pieces of pumpkin. One accidentally hits his friend's head, who feels the blow, gets angry and starts crying. The other child then, worried, apologizes to him, agitated, tells him he didn't want to and to prove it he also throws a blow on the forehead. But he hits too hard and starts to cry too ... making his friend burst out laughing, and they return happy to play together.
The collaborative episodes strike me a lot; to move a heavy stone, to find an effective way to cross a stream, to open the backpack. One thing that we are noticing a lot in this first period of activity is the discovery of one's limits. One child in particular, comes from a very urban context, has never had the opportunity to experience himself much and here, to keep up with the older ones, he climbs climbs, climbs trees and puts himself to the test a lot. The first days he didn't know how to move in the natural context, but he devoted himself a lot to these activities, which inevitably made him very nervous, but he insisted and insisted and insisted. The first period after a while he gave up, angry, claiming to be small. Alone, however, over time, he has found the skills to succeed in his exploits and I will never forget his smug smile and his liberating scream from the first peaks reached. Now he climbs without problems, like a spider, full of self-esteem and in search of new goals.
READ also:
- 10 GOOD REASONS TO SEND YOUR CHILDREN TO A KINDERGARTEN IN THE WOODS
- THE KINDERGARTEN IN THE WOODS: THE NEST THAT EDUCATES CHILDREN IN THE OPEN AIR
- THE WOOD OF CHILDREN: THE OPEN-AIR KINDERGARTEN WHERE CHILDREN LEARN TO BE HAPPY
- NATURE TEACHES TO BE HAPPY IN FINNISH SCHOOLS
- 10 SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN THE WORLD THAT EDUCATE CHILDREN BEYOND CONCEPTS
There are already numerous schools in the woods, from nursery school to elementary school, from the mountains to the sea but we would need more and more, don't you think?
Francesca Mancuso
