Kindergartenoutside?Yesindeed.It’spartofagrowingworldwidetrendtowardoutdooreducation.Theschoolsarecalledforestkindergartens.ThenumbersaresmallsofarintheU.S.buttheideaiswellestablishedinEuropewithschoo
Kindergartenoutside?Yesindeed.It’spartofagrowingworldwidetrendtowardoutdooreducation.Theschoolsarecalledforestkindergartens.
ThenumbersaresmallsofarintheU.S.buttheideaiswellestablishedinEuropewithschoolsinScotlandEnglandandSwitzerland.ByfarthemostsuchschoolsareinGermanywhichhasmorethan400forestkindergartens.
Someschoolsfeatureseveralhoursofoutdoorschooling.ThisiscertainlythecasewiththeWaldorfSchoolofSaratogaSprings.ChildrentherewillbeventuringoutonthenearbyHemlockTrailtolearnmoreaboutthenaturalworld.Somelessonsarefocusedonnature;othersareacademictopicsdeliveredinanaturalsetting.Inallcasesstudentsareactive-notsittingatdesksoronmatsonthefloorbutwalkingrunningjumpingsolvingproblemslikehowtogetthemudoffthebottomsoftheirshoesbeforetheirparentsfindout.
Seriouslythefocusisonactivityattheseschools.Studieshaveshownthatchildren’simmunesystemsactuallygetstrongerafteralloftheoutdooractivityandthatgraduatesofforestkindergartensshowahigherabilitytolearnwhentheyprogressthroughtheiracademiccareers.
Otherschoolsarealloutdoorsallthetime.ThisisthecasewiththeCedarSongNatureSchoolonVashonIslandWashington.Studentsatthisschoolspendtheirwholethree–hourdayoutdoorsinaprivatefive-acreforestdoingallkindsofphysicalactivities.
Attheseforestkindergartensstudentslearnsciencebyobservinganddoingitlearnmathbyapplyingittothenaturalworldaroundthemlearnlettersandwordsbyputtingthemtogetherusingsightsandsounds.Thesestudentslearnhowtogetalongwithoneanotherindividuallyandinagroup.Theyalsodevelophealthylevelsofself-confidence.
Nowadaysmanychildrenbecomeobese(肥胖的)becauseofsedentary(久坐的)activitieslikewatchingtelevisionandplayingvideogames.Theseoutdoorschoolsgivechildrenchancestolearnjustasmuchifnotmorefromopeningtheireyestotherealworldaroundthem.
【小题1】Whatdoweknowaboutforestkindergartens?
A.ThefirstonewascreatedinEngland.B.TheyareverypopularinGermany.C.Thereare400allovertheworld.D.The