Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/outdoor-classrooms-childrens-perspectives/5026522/
*Photos can be found in the pdf version of this article.
Damian, a 3-year-old child from Brooklyn Early Education Center, notices two ripe tomatoes on the vine in the garden are ready to be picked. He runs to get his teacher’s attention and takes her to the garden to show her the ripe tomatoes. She asks him why he wants to pick the tomatoes and he states, “It’s red and it’s ready to be picked!”
He touches both of the red tomatoes and then concludes only one is ready, because the other one still needs some time on the vine. Ms. Denise asks him how he knows the other tomato needs more time and he replies, “It’s hard. This one is soft so we can eat it.”
He pulls the tomato off the vine and says, “Let’s go inside and cut it to share with my friends. I think we can give them two slices of the tomato!”
In this moment, Damian’s teachers can note a range of skills he is developing: close observation, communication and language including colors, critical thinking, mathematical skills including estimation, and not least of all, empathy and sharing.
On any given day in our outdoor classrooms, you can see children digging, ...