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Under the Gingko Tree: How One Family Child Care Provider Created a Magical, Natural Play Space for her Young Learners

by Diann Gano
May/June 2021
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Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/under-the/5025970/

*Photos can be found in the pdf version of this article.

 

“Can we sleep outside today? Please, can we sleep outside? Can we?”

It is early March, and jumping up and down before me, on the first sunny, 50-degree day in Illinois, are a group of preschoolers, giddy at the thought of trading in months of snow pants, boots and mittens and returning to hours under the sun. The success of outdoor naps was more than a happy memory, it had become a part of our routine. 

When the pandemic struck a year ago, my family child care, Under the Gingko Tree Nature School, needed to do what many in the early childhood community found themselves doing: adapt, re-invent and take risks. Suddenly, all these skills that we hope to pass on to the children in our care became the skills early educators were using to meet the needs of our learning communities. 

Under the Gingko Tree first opened its doors in 1986. It was a career choice that was made easy when I needed an income and childcare at the same time. The children at my school spent long periods of time outdoors with their friends, developing social and emotional skills, practicing ...

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