Halfway Point Reflection | Welcome New Members | Join the Google Group

Like many, we have taken Hunters Woods Cooperative Preschool outdoors full time this year. We were already moving toward nature-based education the year before the pandemic and spending lots of time outside, but were not really contemplating a move to a full-immersion experience. We decided to roll with it because the option of virtual preschool seemed like the antithesis of our play-based educational philosophy.

For the most part it has been a great experience, and watching the incredible growth in the children both in their physical and social skills has been a joy. Parents take turns helping out in our "classroom" one at at time each day, so they are able to get a first-hand look at how it all works, and they are consistently amazed at what they see. The majority have been enthusiastic about reading and learning more about the positive effects that spending time in nature and having time and space for unstructured play have on children. Parents are incredibly grateful for the experience their children are having.

The move outside has not been without challenges, but that was true of everything in 2020, right? We just face them as they come, make adjustments, and carry on.

Our outdoor space is not really ours, but neither is our rented indoor space, now just used for bathrooms and as an emergency shelter. We have gently laid claim to the community playground that we have been using for many years but for far less time each day, and to a piece of untamed common area behind our school. We didn't ask anyone, we just did it. So far no complaints.

Because our outside school is in a public place, people walk by (and sometimes through) our play all the time. Sometimes they stop to talk, mostly to share their amazement that we're out there every day, and to say how great they know that is for the kids. Sometimes other adults come to let their kids play on the playground while we're having school, which we don't love for Covid exposure reasons, but we can't control. We just smile, keep some space between us, and keep doing what we do.

When you're outside in the same place every day, you start to see the patterns in nature and in community life. A huge puddle stays in the same spot in the grass for a full two days after every rain. The same birds show up to sing to us at the same time each day. The same people walk their dogs on the same route every morning. The wind picks up at noon, so all paper needs to be secured at that point. The trash truck always comes at 9:45am on Tuesday, and the driver smiles and honks at the cheering kids as he lifts the dumpster with giant claws. Only the leaf blowers have no regular routine, and we are hoping they've made their last noise-polluting visits for the year.

As teachers, we do far less planning each day than we ever did indoors because nature has taken on a big part of the workload. Insects, shadows, wind, rain, ice, deer, leaves falling, water flowing, dirt for digging, trees for climbing, or whatever surprise appears is what drives our days. I've been teaching for a long time, and while I am trying to give myself over to accepting that there will always be something unexpected that sends us off in a new direction, I feel a small but real knot in my stomach each day not knowing what direction that will be. Maybe that knot is excitement and anticipation, not fear.

When we started the year, our biggest worry was rain. We don't have a covered space and we agreed as a community that we really don't want to go inside even wearing masks. We had many, many weeks of perfectly warm and sunny days, but we knew it couldn't last forever. And when the rain finally came, we learned a few things: full body rain suits are totally worth the money; put your pant legs outside your boots or your boots will fill with water; two changes of clothing are better than one. But we also learned that being outside in the rain is great fun if you're properly dressed.

Next on our worry agenda was (and is) the cold. We know about layers, snow suits, hats, mittens, scarves, wool socks and winter boots. We know to keep moving. We've now spent several weeks outside in 35-40 degree temperatures with a wind chill in the 20's, and it looks like this will be the status quo for the next few months. The kids are out in the cold for three hours at the most, and they are learning to adjust their clothing as needed. The teachers are out in it for eight hours each day, and we are learning to add more layers and always have hot soup for lunch. We dream of having a fire, but are pretty sure that wouldn't fly in our suburban surroundings. So instead we are experimenting with recipes for hot tea, which the kids love to critique, and we're on the hunt for good, affordable, re-useable hand warmers for everyone. And when the sun does shine down on us, we look to the sky and offer words of thanks.

Being a preschool teacher is fun, but it has always been the most fun when I am learning right along with the kids. I believe I will look back on this year as the pinnacle of fun because I have never learned as much about child development, teaching, and the place I live as I have since school opened outside in September.

We'd love to hear how your school year is going! Drop a note to PCPInews@preschools.coop to let us know.

We'd like to give a warm welcome to our newest member school. We look forward to getting to know you better!

Watertown, MA

A new PCPI Members Google Group has been created to give us another avenue to share ideas and information. This has replaced the Yahoo Group which is no longer active.