nature kindergarten

Madrona School Alphabet (Q)

At Madrona School, ‘Q’ stands for quesadillas…and peppermint tea in enamel mugs, good rain pants and boots, and a healthy dose of fresh air. Everything that makes outdoor kindergarten a pure joy! Children need time outdoors -- time to explore, problem solve, work hard, get dirty, lay quietly watching bugs or clouds, run, yell, chase, climb…. Each day, our kindergarteners do just that and more, at school and in nearby parks and beaches around the island. And, Friday’s class also enjoys an additional day out hiking and exploring on “adventure Fridays”. Experiencing the outdoors is an integral part of our curriculum, and represents a whole and healthy childhood. Rosy cheeks and the muddy boots are wonderful things! In our society at large, today's children spend an average of over seven hours (!) each day engaging with media of some sort, according to one study by the Kaiser Family Foundation -- and this was after data collection three separate years showed steady growth in that time. The National Wildlife Federation offers a list of recent research studies, many of them concluding that children's outdoor time is shrinking, and stands at well under an hour a day. Follow the link here to download their report entitled "Whole Child Report: Developing Mind, Body and Spirit Through Outdoor Play". Sound familiar? It's an excellent read. What a gift we give our youngest students, who can prepare for grade school with a healthy dose of movement and imaginative, nature-rich play. Engaging the whole child is a basic principle of Waldorf education, and one that ideally prepares our children to be resilient, hardy contributors to the world around them, and to find pleasure in the "great outdoors". We believe a Waldorf kindergarten education is beneficial to your children, your family, and to the wider world!

— adapted from our school newsletter

Early Childhood at Madrona School -- Salmonberry Kindergarten

“To young children, of course, nature is full of doors — is nothing by doors, really — and they swing open at every step. A hollow in a tree is the gateway to a castle. An ant hole in dry soil leads to the other side of the world. A stick-den is a palace. A puddle is the portal to an undersea realm. To a three- or four-year old, ‘landscape’ is not backdrop or wallpaper, it is a medium, teeming with opportunity and volatile in its textures.” — Robert Macfarlane, Landmarks

The early childhood programs at Madrona School are full of the magic of outdoor exploration and imaginative play. Our students demonstrate their kinship with doorways to other worlds on a daily basis!

This past summer, our Salmonberry Kindergarten teacher, Isaac Kemsley, offered an overview of his classroom to other early childhood educators, and we thought you might find parts of it interesting too, as it illuminates some of why we do what we do in our early childhood classes:

In the Salmonberry mixed-age kindergarten, we believe that each individual child comes to us with their own unique destiny and purpose. Though we can’t know what that might be we task ourselves, as educators and facilitators, with availing them the opportunities to build their skills and strengthen their foundational senses. We also know from experience that by our modeling expected interactions and successful techniques, we show them a path to impulse control and higher executive functioning. Through repeated rhythms and routines, we foster the sense of connection and relationship to people and place…and we are blessed to witness building confidence within the children to engage in their learning with a lifetime of interest and wonder.

We educate through the will, offering opportunities to engage each child’s fine and gross motor dexterity, proprioceptive system, sense of touch, vestibular system and ability to work in a group, among many other things. In class we:

  • Bake Bread (measuring, scooping, pouring, stirring, kneading, sculpting)

  • Build Fires (choosing/carrying logs, hammering, stoking fire)

  • Hammock and Swing (swinging, rocking, hanging upside down, cuddling, resting)

  • Explore Trees and Trails (running and walking on uneven ground, exploring out of sight, imaginative play)

  • Play in the Sandbox (digging, scooping, sifting, imaginative play)

In each of these activities, the children wait their turn and practice patience. This is so very important. Patience is exercised in the children anytime you have an activity working together. It is a gift to learn to wait. Each child is unique in their starting place with this skill and all will grow if given the opportunity! These activities also offer opportunity for learning safety rules and for practicing those rules each and every time.

Children at this age learn new skills through their engagement, interest, and wonder in the world they see. Through imitation of those around them, they find meaning. Thus it is important that we, as educators, be worthy of imitation in our actions and words. If we are sparing with our word and action, imbuing each with thought and feeling, then we will see the fruits of our work in the children’s repeating familiar phrases, verses and songs as they go about their work and play. If they see us doing the good, important work of caring for our space and each other, we see it reflected in the children’s treatment of one another and the environment.

Kindergarten at Madrona School

This year, we plan to highlight each of our early childhood classes and grades in our weekly school newsletter -- a chance for parents and our broader community to glimpse inside each classroom. First up, kindergarten!

Sometimes cozy and calm, sometimes rough and tumble, kindergarten at Madrona School is all about learning to love coming to school, with regular and predictable rhythms, connections with teacher, and all the social and emotional learning that happens with play in a classroom full of friends. Our two classes, taught by veteran early childhood teachers, share space both at Madrona School in the Eagle Harbor Congregational Church, and our Lowery Farm property in Rolling Bay. Friday adventure kindergarteners visit parks and beaches around the island. The school year is off to a sweet start, and with mixed-age classrooms, we welcome returning and new students each fall and slip quickly into a familiar daily and weekly rhythm. Let's take a look:

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The morning begins outdoors even on days when the class is not up at Lowery Farm, and when the children arrive, they need to prepare for the day. The children look to see how Sally Sunshine dressed for the morning's weather...Does Sally have rainboots on? Then we will put ours on too!

Opportunity for play is at the core of what we offer in kindergarten -- a chance for imaginations and bodies to grow and develop. Play lays a foundation for executive functioning and creative, flexible thinking. The kindergarten play is varied and vigorous and ever changing. In free lay, some children watch for a bit, some ask a teacher to turn a jump rope or get out the whittling knives, while others are off and planning games that can go on for many days. In one recent game, pine needles became both gold and hay, and many wheelbarrow and wagon loads were happily transported around the yard. In another game, climbing led to both roosters crowing and pterodactyls crying at the top of the sandbox structure.

We offer structured group play options too, with bread baking, painting, woodworking and walks, all opportunities to gather together for an activity.

Walks, for example, offer a chance to explore beyond the school grounds and strengthen and integrate young bodies. Both classes visit the Ted Olson Nature Preserve, just up the road from Lowery Farm. The paths, fairy houses, fallen logs and towering trees offer infinite fodder for further play!

Interspersed with periods of play and exploration, the class comes together -- for circle time, for snack and for story. Children delight in learning songs, poems, games and in hearing stories. Teachers know that the children are developing literacy with comprehension practice and inner picture work, as well as developing their attention spans too.

A nourishing kindergarten experience also includes nutrition. And, from mousie treats of seeds and fruit, to huckleberries picked high off the bush by a helpful teacher, to gathering around the table together for warm, organic food and conversation, there are many opportunities for good food in kindergarten!

By the end of the morning, a kindergartener has rosy cheeks from time spent outdoors, time immersed in imaginative play, joy in singing and games, and wholesome food. They are engaged with their classmates and teachers too. These kindergarten rhythms are laying a sturdy foundation for the academic learning to come, and it is just so much fun!

Looking Towards Our Future: Lowery Farm CUP

In a letter sent out to our school community on May 24, 2017, we were excited to announce that we've cleared one step in the process towards a new campus. This represents a lot of work on the part of many, and we are grateful! As we've lived in to the Lowery Farm property a bit over the last few years, we've grown to love the land and what it might represent for the future of our school. 

Dear friends and fans,

I am delighted to report that this morning we received the Hearing Examiner's favorable judgement on our CUP application.  As you can read below, Phases I and II of the project have been approved (with a host of conditions, most of them exactly as we had expected) and with phase III being "remanded to the City for further investigation of the traffic impacts of the operation of the proposed auditorium." 

We were particularly pleased to be acknowledged in a couple places for our thoughtful design:
"The Hearing Examiner takes notice that schools are more often than not located in residential areas.  The plans presented go to considerable length to assure that during normal hours the new school will fit in.

The proposed school development is part of an overall pattern of growth.  In the larger development picture, the school actually represents the retention of open space, as compared with standard residential development.  92.5% of the property will remain open.  This applicant, a Waldorf school, is particularly sensitive to concerns for preservation of natural conditions because nature plays an important role in its instructional program."

Thank you to all of you who have supported this (lengthy) application process! You wrote letters that became part of the testimony considered by the examiner; you attended meetings; you spoke up in favor of this project.  I hope that you feel as pleased about this as we do!

I will be communicating more about next steps soon.

Sincerely,
Missi, on behalf of the board and campus committee
 

Read the Hearing Examiner's ruling in its entirety here!

Madrona School is a non-profit, tax exempt public charity organization incorporated in the State of Washington. Madrona School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender expression or identity, national and ethnic origin, sexual orientation, or religion in any of its programs, classes or activities.