By Tara Israelson –Nikau Teacher, Preschool
For many, the outdoors holds a special place. The wide open spaces, the ability to get lost in nature, the many scientific discoveries to be made – these are all unique in the outdoors. I want to share with you how we are extending our Montessori vision into the outdoor environment in the preschool.
Years ago here at Wā Ora Montessori School, we made a conscious decision to do away with a traditional lunchtime recess and to rather have children be free to move between the indoors or outdoors as they felt the need. As we made the shift to the ‘indoor/outdoor’ flow we began to notice a sense of calm come over both the tamariki (children) and the kaiako (teachers) as we began to find some purpose in our activity outside.
The space was changed to give way to more purposeful activities, often to assist with physical development. We set up these activities like the ones inside, so that each activity met with a specific purpose. Each activity was created to allow a beginning (the choice to engage), a middle (getting lost in activity) and an end (satisfaction and leaving the activity ready for the next person to use).
Since we have made this shift we have developed a productive garden that the tamariki are incredibly involved in. How thrilling is it that a child who plants the carrots in December gets to harvest and then eat them in February? We have introduced activities to care for animals, as well as activities to care for the space itself. We have given the children space to just “be” outside. We have searched our own childhood memories for games to teach the tamariki such as “Mother may I?” and “Duck, Duck, Goose.” Sometimes they come up with their own games and we watch and learn from their enthusiasm and joy.
It is lovely to see the calm, satisfied nature of the children who use our outdoors every day. I believe that we can see this because we have decided to treat the outdoors with the same respect as we do the indoors.
When we, as parents, decided to send our children to a Montessori school it is likely that we loved seeing how peaceful, happy, kind and helpful the children were. So often one of the comments made by observers is, “I can’t believe how peaceful it is and how independent the children are!” This peace and independence is afforded by the prepared environment that the children manage and we are now seeing this evidence outside too! It is due to the consistency that we are allowing now, as the children do not have to deal with two sets of expectations.
The child in the 3-6 classroom is desperate for order and needs to trust that the environment (and the people in it) will uphold the order. I am pleased and honoured to say that with the dedication of the kaiako (teachers) and the trust from the community, we are well on our way to achieving our goal of a seamless indoor/outdoor flow.