A visit across the Pacific

Recently I returned from a three week teacher exchange in Arizona, where I visited several pre-k programmes.  I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I am very grateful for the warm welcome I received at the schools I visited.

Arizona has a very different climate from our lush green wet and windy Wellington in New Zealand. This was especially noticeable  in the different outdoor environments that I witnessed. The hot and dry desert climate creates challenges for most schools to establish and maintain a school garden or natural outdoor environment. However, this doesn’t mean it is not possible to create a beautiful, natural garden and outdoor playscape, as the Montessori Center School in Phoenix proved. They have a beautiful outdoor garden where the children and their families can learn and experience nature. It was a real pleasure to visit their beautiful sensory garden, designed to understand and enhance each of the senses - sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. The garden also includes art stations, vegetable gardens, a hummingbird- and butterfly trail and a compass garden. They made good use of plants that grow in their area naturally, including the one plant that thrives in the Arizona desert environment, the cactus.

But it isn’t the climate only that is an obstacle for schools to create more natural outdoor environments. The combination of strict law, regulations and high insurance premiums pushes many schools into creating “soulless” playgrounds with low maintenance plastic toys and meaningless equipment. Combined with, in some cases, an absence of rooms with windows, and I couldn’t help but question what this does to the spirit and soul of the young child. 

During early childhood the brain is shaped by our daily experiences, necessary for growth. If we keep our children away from nature, limiting their experiences with the natural world, stifling the development of their biophilia, which is their natural love for the Earth, we will create a generation that suffers from nature deficit disorder, a term introduced by Richard Louv, and biophobia, a fear for the natural world. If that happens, who will be our future Earth Stewards? How can we expect our children to take care of our planet if they themselves have not developed any empathy, nor love, for the Earth they live on. Caring does not come naturally, it needs to be fostered. A lack of exposure to the nature experiences, combined with the rigid learning programmes that are more common in pre-k programmes, and the fear for safety, resulting in less time for free unstructured play and we are raising a generation of children far removed from a connection with the natural world. 

"We survive because we can love. And we love because we can empathize."

- Bruce Perry (“Born for Love”)

Bruce Perry, in his book ”Born for Love: Why Empathy is Essential - and Endangered”, writes that three-, four-, and five-year-old children need to have lots of time for unstructured play. They need to explore, to negotiate the rules of made-up games with friends; they need  opportunities to practice compromise, negotiation, and sharing. Early childhood is a crucial time of life for the development of empathy.

And empathy is what we need if we want to have healthy relationships, not only with other human beings, but also with the natural world, our home the Earth. What other good way to develop empathy than providing children with authentic, natural environments. Environments that are not over regulated by adult rules and societal priorities, but environments where children learn to manage dangers and risks, and where they can have those lifeshaping experiences that shape not only their brain, but also their soul.

Many of the teachers I talked to would like to introduce more free play and nature into their programmes. As I shared with them our Little Earth programme and environment, they were enthusiastic and hopeful that with initiatives like  “Leave no child inside” and the “Let’s go outside’ movement” more support for more outdoor and natural experiences will become available. I hope that one day, soon, their school district and regulating bodies will share their hope and give them their full support.

- Anja

A moment of thankfulness!

We had a beautiful gorgeous day at Tawa Montessori Preschool today. Clear blue sky with plenty of sunshine and a garden full of spring bloom.  On beautiful days like this we do feel on top of the world, and we were thinking of our friends “downunder” who are one day behind and celebrating thanksgiving.  Given that our garden is full with gifts and beauty, we decided to have our own Kiwi thanksgiving moment.

Instead of starting our usual daily activities we headed outside into our garden.  The turtle in the pond, the chickens in the garden, the blossom on the pear tree, the pansies in the insect garden, the spider webs near the logs, it seemed they were all expecting us as they all looked so beautiful and at their best.  We talked with the children about the gifts of Mother Earth, Papatuanuku in Maori legend.  And we talked about thankfulness.  The children walked around our garden, looking, listening, touching and smelling. And we asked them what they were thankful for.  Pears, eggs, flowers, strawberries, birds and even worms, the children replied.

We finished our thankfulness with our silence game, which is not really a game. We usually start our day at preschool with a moment of silence, or stillness, to ground ourselves, to let go of the cartoons we have been watching before we come to preschool, or the rush and busyness of getting ready for preschool in the morning.  This daily moment of silence at the start of the day helps us to find the power of now within ourselves and to get in the moment.

Today we all sat outside, in a circle around our Peace Pole. A little brass table bell marks the start and finish of our silence, a quiet time to think and mesmerise about all the good things we find in our garden, but also inside ourselves. Being outside gave our silence game an special dimension as the birds were singing their morning songs in the park trees next to our preschool, and the insects were starting to wake up in the morning sun. What a great way to start the day at preschool!
Happy Thanksgiving!

- Anja

Our journey at Little Earth (1) - The start

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end”

- Ursula LeGuin

Words can not describe enough the buzz of excitement at Little Earth Montessori. We opened our new purpose build enviro pre-school last year. The one thing we did not “build” when we opened our new preschool, was our outdoor environment. We did not want to use plastic playhouses, toys, or static climbing structures made of steel and rubber safety surfaces. however, we did create a sand area, using driftwood logs, some river boulders and a truckload of sand. The rest of our outdoor environment was left as a big field of grass.

With that, we started our outdoor journey at Little Earth with the goal to create an outdoor prepared environment with a soul. We are now ten months into our journey and our field of grass is slowly, but surely, starting to convert into a place with trees, gardens, logs, rocks, animals, insects and birds, a place for exploration and discovery, a magical place for children. And it is creating a real buzz!

Our journey is a continuing story of trial and error, assessment and re-assessment, observations and discussions, evaluation and reflection, and lots of reading and learning. As a Montessori preschool we are committed to preparing our outdoor environment with the same passion as our indoor environment, an environment that is set up with plenty of purposeful activities that are meaningful and engage our children.

What does all this mean for Little Earth? First of all, it means we have had lots of thinking to do. We all agreed we wanted our outdoor environment to be as natural as possible and to be a child’s space, rather than an adult space, a place maintained by the children without any out of bounds corners or areas. We also liked the idea of permaculture, as this would complement the enviro character of our preschool and our quest for a more sustainable preschool community. Permaculture is a new concept for us. Whilst we have experience with naturalising our outdoor environment at Tawa Montessori Preschool, developing a complete blank slat from scratch into a permaculture garden proved to be a bit more challenging.

As we embarked on our journey we came across several questions:

• How is our curriculum meeting our children’s development and learning needs currently and how will it meet the need for a naturalised environment and a more sustainable preschool community?

• What are our current practices and how do they reflect our wish for a naturalised outdoor environment and a more sustainable preschool community? Are our practices developed so they can be embedded in our daily thinking and actions?

• What resources, knowledge and skills have we got available?

• What support systems do we have in place for our teachers?

• Does our philosophy, including our values and believes, need rethinking?

Answering these questions required lots of reading and studying, and months of research, workshops, hui, meetings, discussions, brainstorming and consultations. Along the road we have drawn a dream map, a mind map and a vision map. Our journey continues, but we are now at a point where we can see results outside.

Over the last few months we have implemented several outdoor projects. Our outdoor area is slowly, but surely, changing into a more natural garden that functions as an outdoor classroom. An environment created by and for the children. As stakeholders and active agents, the children are our driving force throughout our journey. Their ideas, feedback, wishes and needs are crucial to the success. At Little Earth they have a voice that is listened to and supported. Where ever the journey is taking us, we make sure their experiences are enjoyable, rich in learning and secure.  And let’s not forget to celebrate!

- Anja

Next post -  Our journey at Little Earth (2) - The process

A Peace Pole in our garden - A silent message

He maungarongo ki runga i te whenua

Children are our most vulnerable group in society, and the most susceptible to unhealthy environments. At our preschools we aim to use more renewable resources and sustainable practices. When building our new preschool, Little Earth, in 2009, we wanted to make sure it would be a healthy and more ecologically sustainable building, a healthy environment for our children and teachers to learn and teach. We are now busy developing our outdoor naturalised environment. We will use local elements as much as possible to create a living landscape, with natural discovery spaces, an organic garden and spaces set aside for the development of natural habitats.

The outdoor environment is a key element of our philosophy. We believe in the importance of the development of children's love and appreciation for nature and their surroundings. At Tawa Montessori we have a beautiful outdoor classroom, a living landscape where children interact and are engaged with the natural world. At Little Earth we are developing a naturalised outdoor environment, where our children can create happy and joyful childhood memories that will last a lifetime.

Many of us will have childhood memories of happy and carefree days, unlimited play, and spending time in the outdoors. We are creating the childhood memories of the children in our care and it is important to help make these memories warm, rich, diverse, safe, happy and loving. The environment plays an important role in this. It is the soul and the atmosphere of the environment that contributes the most to the child’s belonging and wellbeing.

There are many aspects that make up the soul of your environment. Your programme, your adults, your interactions, your values, and your community all create an atmosphere. For us, as a Montessori preschool, aesthetics play an important part in our prepared environment (see previous post). Placing a mood setting device, like a statue, a bird feeder, or a wind vane, adds beauty and ambience. To celebrate the Montessori Centenary in February 2007, we placed and dedicated a Peace Pole in our Tawa Montessori garden, as a tribute to Maria Montessori, who was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Peace three times. We are very excited that a Peace Pole at our new preschool, Little Earth, has now been placed.

A Peace Pole is a hand-crafted monument that displays the message “May Peace Prevail on Earth” on each side, in different languages. There are more than 250,000 Peace Poles in 180 countries all over the world. Our Peace pole is hand-crafted and recycled from a century old pole. It displays the message “May Peace Prevail on Earth” on six sides, in six different languages, representing six continents, and six peace activists.

Peace is about respect - respect for ourselves, each other, and the planet we share. Our Peace Pole is an inspiration to embrace compassion, to respect life and to live in harmony with one another. Maria Montessori firmly believed in the importance of education for the attainment of world peace. Having a Peace Pole at our preschools announces that they are a special place, dedicated to peace on Earth. They add soul to our environment, and create an ambience of love and respect. We often sit around our Peace Pole, sharing and celebrating, creating little snippets of fond memories that hopefully last a lifetime!

- Anja

For more information about the Peace Pole Project, visit the Peace Pole Project website

Little Earth Montessori has gone Live

The last three weeks have been hectic, to say the least. After receiving the key of our brand new build enviro preschool Little Earth in Kapiti, we had two days to make the premises ready for license compliance certification. In two days, we had to transform a complete empty building into a fully functioning preschool. But we did it. Thanks to many involved.

On the 31st of August, 2009, Maria Montessori's birthday, we passed the Ministry of Education licensing inspection, a major achievement. But there was more to come. That evening, just before sunset, the Kaumatua performed a Whakanoa, a blessing ceremony.

Before the building of our new preschool started, the Kaumatua blessed the ground and placed Mauri, life force. A Kete, containing blessed stones from the local river, representing each Iwi; Ngati Toa, Raukawe and Te Ati Awa, was placed in a central point, making it a sacred place during the building process. The Whakanoa, the blessing taking place when the building is finished, is to remove the barriers from sacredness and to make it a safe place for the children, to make it warm and comfortable. Karanga, ceremonial call, called the land and ancestors and called for the safety of the children and the teachers who will use the building. It was a beautiful ceremony that touched the hearts of those who were present.

We now had one more week to officially enrol the children, arrange pre-entrance visits, set up our administration, programme planning and management systems, and to arrange the classrooms. In other words, to get completely ready.

On the 7th of September we opened our doors to the first children, who eagerly soaked up the new, beautiful environment. Another opening ceremony took place one week ago, on the 9th of September 2009, by her Worship Jenny Rowan, the Mayor of Kapiti.

We are proud of our beautiful premises. The rammed earth walls, untreated timber, low voc coverings, natural light and ventilation, sandstone pavers, and use of many more natural renewable resources, has created a healthy environment, a living place with a soul, for our children and teachers to learn and teach.

We are now ready to embark on our next journey. We have a vision of a naturalised outdoor environment that functions as an outdoor classroom, a place where children can explore and discover the intrigue miracles of nature, a place where children can nurture their sense of wonder, and a place where children can connect with nature. The field of grass we currently have will be transformed into a natural heaven. Watch this space as we embark on our new journey.

Little Earth Montessori - a new enviro preschool

Children are our most vulnerable group in society, and the most susceptible to unhealthy environments. Many children spend several of their formative years in an early childhood centre. These centres play an important role in determining long term health, educational achievement and future success of our children and it is important to really think about the kinds of environments we are creating for our children.

Two years ago we conceived the idea of building an enviro preschool, with the aim to provide a healthier and more ecologically sustainable preschool education for our children. We are very excited that Little Earth Montessori Kapiti is currently under construction, due to open later this month.

Little Earth Montessori Kapiti will be a purpose built preschool, guided by the educational philosophy of Dr. Maria Montessori. Our vision is to provide a high quality early childhood education for three to six years olds in an environmental friendly, sustainable environment where children can experience the beauty of nature and nurture their sense of wonder and be engaged in a holistic, nurturing and natural way.

Together with Tawa Montessori Preschool, our preschools will be enviro-preschools with the aim to operate in harmony with the natural environment. We make use of recycled and recyclable materials, and we operate in a sustainable manner, all where possible. Our new Little Earth Montessori Kapiti preschool uses green and sustainable design principles and is built in healthy and sustainable ways as much as possible.

Direct exposure to nature is essential for healthy childhood development, - physical, emotional, and spiritual. Never before have children been so plugged in—and so out of touch with the natural world. Child advocacy expert Richard Louv directly links the lack of nature in the lives of today’s children—he calls it nature deficit—to some of the most disturbing childhood trends, such as rises in obesity, attention deficit disorder, and depression.

To unplug our children, Little Earth Montessori Kapiti will create a naturalised outdoor environment where our children can develop respect and caring for the Earth, where they can join in hands-on interaction and discovery and where their natural curiosity can be met with sensory experiences. This magical place will hopefully reconnect our children with the natural world and create a future generation that values and preserves nature.

In the meantime, stay with us while we finish the lining, apply the paint, install the kitchen, lay the flooring, build the decking, landscape the garden, construct the fences, develop the parking, build the shed, add the lighting and, last, but not least, add SOUL. Stay tuned.
- Anja

A reflection on naturalising outdoor environments

The ancient Masters were profound and subtle.
Their wisdom was unfathomable.
There is no way to describe it;
all we can describe is their appearance.

They were careful
as someone crossing an iced-over stream.
Alert as a warrior in enemy territory.
Courteous as a guest.
Fluid as melting ice.
Shapable as a block of wood.
Receptive as a valley.
Clear as a glass of water.

Do you have the patience to wait
till your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving
till the right action arises by itself?

The Master doesn't seek fulfillment.
Not seeking, not expecting,
she is present, and can welcome all things.

- Tao 15 (from Wabi Blogi)

Many a times I have been talking to teachers who are disheartened with their outdoor environment but fear that a change into a more natural environment may not work. And so they refrain from making changes, withholding the children in their care from experiencing the touch of grass under their feet, the scent of lavender up their noses or the sound of tui in their ears. Changing your outdoor environment into a naturalised outdoor classroom can be quite daunting. You cannot necessarily see the outcome of your work, it will take time before the peaceful, beautiful, outdoor nature classroom emerges.



Just like children need to see, feel, touch, smell, and hear in order to understand, so will the teacher have to experience the sense of wonder and awe before they are confident to do away with the traditional elements of plastic toys, and static steel climbing structures in their outdoor environment. Montessori teachers know that the beautiful materials in their classroom are the keystone to success. In a naturalised outdoor classroom, nature provides those materials. Traditional plastic, steel, static, and passive equipment takes away the emphasis from the beauty of the dandelions in the garden, and the butterfly emerging from a chrysalis. An outdoor environment, full of rubber matting and plastic toys interferes with the pleasure and joys of natural objects like logs, rocks and sand.
 Browse through a traditional outdoor playground catalogue and you see bells and whistles instead of mother spider carrying a sack of eggs hiding underneath a rock, or the mystery of a decomposing tree stump. You can not fully connect with the child in nature unless you have experienced that magic yourself. This magic, however, cannot be found in an outdoor environment that is filled with artificial distractions.



If you are a teacher, hesitating about making the move towards a more naturalised outdoor environment for your children, surround yourself with people who will give support and guide you where needed, like you do to the child in your care. Visit outdoor classrooms, natural environments and nature playscapes and talk to teachers who have made the transition. Go out there and experience that sense of wonder for yourself and surround yourself regularly with those who have. If you are one of those teachers with a passion for children and nature, the teacher who shares the sense of wonder when watching a worm digging the earth, maybe you can be the one offering supporting hands to the hesitating teachers around you ...


- Anja

Little acorns, and big oaks

Downunder, right now, it is Autumn. Autumn time is acorn time. We have an oak tree right outside our preschool and the children have enjoyed picking up the acorns which are scattered across the school's pathway.

Due to the heavy winds we have had lately, a lot of acorns have been falling of the tree. Many of these acorns are not quite mature, they are still green. We collect them in a basket and are hoping that by basking them in the sun they will ripen and turn brown.

Over the year we have scattered acorns around the back of our garden and a close examination reveals several oak seedlings. We find them in different sizes, ranging from several centimeters to a foot tall. We examine a seedling close up, looking at the root system, its stem, the leaves and its veins.

There is a lot more to acorns then meets the eyes. If you gather acorns, it's quite easy to crack them with a gentle hammer blow or a nutcracker. Then you can peel of the thin shell and see the nut inside. Botanically, acorns are true nuts. A nut is the combined and inseparable seed and fruit of a plant, in this case an oak tree. Acorns are one of the most important wildlife foods in areas where oaks occur. Acorns are rich in nutrients and an important part of the diet of many birds and small mammals. Some insects live inside the acorn.

Acorns are too heavy to blow in wind and do not fall far from the tree at maturity. They do need an environment in which they can germinate and find access to adequate water, sunlight and soil nutrients. At our preschool we give them a helping hand and scatter them around, away from the mother oak tree's canopy, so they receive more sunlight and, hopefully, one day will grow into a big oak tree.

Autumn is a great season to share nature with your child. Collecting acorns, raking leaves, watching drifting clouds, listening to the wind through the trees, all these little daily interactions provide the children with nature experiences which help them connect with nature and grows their soul. You too can do this. Take a moment to step outside, look, smell and listen and you will find nature right at your doorstep. Share it with your child.

A symphony of tones

Recently I was talking to a fellow Montessori teacher from another preschool. We were discussing our outdoor environments, which are quite different from each other. Her environment follows a more traditional approach of a manicured lawn, sandpit, steel climbing structures, and a playhouse. Our environment is more natural, with logs and rocks, shrubs and bushes, sand and mud and a "wild" area of weeds, natives, seedlings, and any living creature that makes itself at home there. The teacher is looking at changing her outdoor environment, taking away some of the traditional playground items and bringing in more natural elements. We started talking about the fun (or is it entertainment?) the children have with those traditional items and we asked ourselves the question what are the needs (real or perceived?) of the children?

I thought about a passage in the book "The Tao of Montessori" by Catherine McTamaney, which I am currently reading. In it she writes:

"Simple environments, few choices. Are these the qualities of a boring classroom? In Montessori, they are the cornerstones of the children's imagination. When we debate the role of fantasy in our classrooms, we come back to these real items, these few, orderly materials presented with such care. The child who absorbs everything around her, is offered only those things that are real. In doing so, have we taken all the fun out? No. Rather, we have respected the inner vision of the child. By experiencing stimuli, colors, sounds, flavors in isolation instead of cacophony, the child observes the world around her and develops a more profound understanding of it than if we offered her syrupy "fun". The world is a symphony, Begin with a single note.

I thought of this "single note", and how we expose the children at our preschool to the natural world, one step at a time. How we observe the weta with their long antennae when they are hiding in our weta hotel. How we marvel at the delicate monarch butterfly when it emerges from its chrysalis. How we protect the little acorn seedling from being stepped upon when it sprouts from the earth in our wild corner. These little gems in our garden are one by one a single note of natures symphony. Our children take real joy in being in our garden. They do not ask for a plastic truck or digger, they do not miss their "playhouse" which now functions as a henhouse, they do not look for steel bars as they rather balance and climb on the driftwood and logs that provide a more natural challenge.

Our preschool garden is protected from bright coloured, noisy, steel and plastic toys and entertainment equipment. Instead, the children have access to natural elements, real, small, simple, and beautiful. McTamaney continues:

" The child, in offering her attention to the tiniest detail, respects the wonder of her world. She does not overlook the miraculous seed. She attends to the color of the rabbit's eyes. By protecting the space from too much color, too much noise, too much distraction, we preserve in the child the ability to wonder. We offer her the ability to hear each tone, to appreciate the complexity of the symphony by understanding first each simple sound."

And isn't that what nature does so well, a beautiful symphony of tones you wouldn't want to miss?

The Tao of Montessori. Reflections on Compassionate Teaching (2005, 2007) by Catherine McTamaney, Ed.D. iUniverse Star. Lincoln, NE

Grateful

"They will be here shortly". No word can describe the feeling I had when the officer from the police search and rescue team said these words to me at 3 am in the early morning of last Monday 16th March. My husband and I had been waiting for 5 hours in the darkness, at the entrance of the Akatarawa bush, famous for its many wilderness tracks. Camiel, my 14 year old son, his 21 year old cousin and their friend had been in the bush since noon, with the intention to make a leisure two hour mountain bike roundtrip. When they hadn't returned by 7pm, and cellphone calls where left unanswered, we dialed 111 (New Zealand's emergency number) and started a search mission. A search and rescue team entered the bush at 11 pm on Sunday night.

Here is Camiel's story:

We went mountain biking in the Akatarawa Forest at noon. We were expecting a 2-3 hour trip but we went on the wrong track, which we didn't realize until about 3:30pm. We biked along and the first hour was flat and easy. We came across a hill and it just kept going up. Suddenly the hill dropped steeply and it was very rocky. About 10 minutes after that we began to want to go back but we didn't want to because of the big hill we just came down so we continued and decided we'd take the turn off to Queen Elizabeth park. It went up again and it started getting darker.

At about 3:30pm we reached the top of the second hill. There was a clearing here and we stopped and rested, this was when we realized we were on the wrong track. Queen Elizabeth park didn't look too far away from here so we continued down the track. An hour later we reached another clearing and there was a sign that said 'Rock Garden'. We were shocked, we thought we were almost there but the Rock garden was about 5 hours away.

We thought we could still make it to Queen Elizabeth so we continued down the track. At the bottom of the Rock Garden there was a river that wasn't on the map and the track split up into many different tracks. We followed the widest track, as this track was for 4WD and motorbikes. We found many footprints in the mud and 100 Meters from there the track disappeared. We knew we couldn't continue so we decided to go all the way back to the car, because then we would know where we were on the right track. So we turned around and began the long journey back.

At 6:30 pm we reached the river and at 7:45 pm we reached the top of the Rock garden. I knew we wouldn't be able to get to the car from here but I was unable to convince the others that we had to sleep here. We managed to get 1 or 2 bars of cellphone coverage but none of our countless calls and texts went through. I saw a shooting star here and I wished that we'd be rescued. We decided we'd go back to the first clearing and decide what we'd do from there. We left the Rock garden at 8pm.

It started getting very dark. It got too dark to ride our bikes so we had to walk with them. We considered ditching them but we knew that we'd need them on the 2 hills going down, so we kept them. By 9pm visibility was extremely low, we could barely see 2 meters in front of us in the forest parts and we communicated and used sound to make sure everyone was near. It began to get very cold, my fingers went numb and I began shivering. We walked up and up and up. We sung songs and talked about what we're gonna do. By the time we reached the clearing at 10pm we knew that we couldn't continue. We decided to sleep at the clearing for the night and continue back to the car in the morning.

Luckily we had a lighter with us and I had 2 paper planes. We gathered gorse, sticks, leaves and ferns and set up a little campfire. It took half an hour for the fire to get going. We burned anything that could burn and eventually managed to get huge, fat sticks to spring alight. We sat and waited. At this time I had no food or drink except for my coke which I was saving for the morning and the others had 6 biscuits, a tuna sandwich, a muesli bar and half a bottle of water. We ate 3 biscuits and saved the rest for the morning. Every 45-60 minutes we'd have to go and gather more wood.

It was a clear and beautiful night. We saved some gorse to use as a pillow and we kept our helmets on to keep our heads warm. The fire kept us nice and warm. Just before midnight I decided I'd go to sleep. So I lay down and waited for sleep to hit me. I played with the fire, throwing little bits of grass and gorse in and watching it flare up. My cousin went to collect some more wood for the fire and a few seconds after that we heard the roaring of an engine, 10 seconds later a quad bike came around the corner with the huge floodlights blinding us. On the quad was the park ranger and a policeman. The policeman gave me a huge coat to keep me warm and the park ranger left to get the 4WD and radio the other searchers and my parents. The policeman stayed with us and explained to us what they were going to do now; "He's going back to the 4WD which is about 20 minutes from here, there's a radio in the 4WD. From there he's going to radio the other searchers to tell them to stop searching, he'll also call your parents to tell them you're safe, the radio doubles as a special cellphone. He'll then come back with the 4WD and a trailer for your bikes and we'll take you out of the bush."

We talked and shared stories with the policeman. I saw another shooting star and wish for some more food. At 2am the Park ranger came back with the other searchers and the 4WD and explained why they had taken so long. The track was a loop track so they had sent one search group one way around the track and the other our way. The other group where all the way up near Queen Elizabeth and they had to go all they back to where the park Ranger was and that took ages. From there they came back and picked us up. They drove us all the way back to about half an hour from the beginning in 15 minutes. There were blocks here so they had to take an old logging route to get back. It took another 20 minutes to get to civilization but we got some very nice views of the valley and Wellington. They then took us to the carpark where our car was and where mum and dad had been waiting for 5 hours. We arrived there at 3am. We were very relieved and grateful. We went home, via MacDonald's. Both my shooting star wishes came true! We got home at 4am and I told mum that I have to get up in 2 and a half hours to get ready for school and she said "No, you're not going to school".

-------------------------------------------

I am GRATEFUL. For the safety of the children, yes. For the efforts of the search and rescue team who spend a whole night in the bush, searching for our children, yes. But I am also grateful for the moments I have spend with my son in the big natural outdoors. From the moment they could "sit" in a front or back pack we have taken our children on bushwalks and camping trips. Talking to my son about his experience in the wilderness bush, he doesn't show any signs of fear for the natural surroundings he was in. Indeed, that seemed the least of his concern. He was more worried about his parents not knowing they were uninjured and okay, then spending a night in the bush. He was cold, tired and hungry, but he didn't panic. He found strength in the shooting stars, thanks to the many nights of stargazing we share so often late at night at our home.

Feeding a young child's biophilia, a love for nature, is indispensable. Children who grow up with nature as part of their world, will at all times feel connected with that world. They will find strength and courage in difficult situations as their connection with nature will bring added elements that will help them succeed.

"Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts."

- Rachel Carson

Harvesting the fruits, watching nature do its work

With the fruits in our garden ripening, we are enjoying some special moments. Over the last few months we have watched those lovely white blossom flowers on our fruit trees turn into tiny green pills, and consequently see them growing into pears, apples and lemons. It has been interesting to watch nature doing its work. Now some of the fruits are ready to be picked and we have many volunteers for this, including our resident blackbirds!

“I cut some pears of the tree. I put them in the fruit bowl. I cut four. They tasted like fresh juicy ones. I only cut the red blushed ones. The one with the red blushes on them. They looked like ordinary pears. It didn’t have any colours, except for green and red, like the apples. The little ones don’t look ripe. I didn’t leave them on the tree because I thought the children may like to try them.” - by Gretchen (5 years)

Fruit picking is a great activity for children. First there is the practical reason for fruit picking: obtaining fresh fruit, straight from the tree. Then there is the fresh air, and sunshine to enjoy. And, naturally, fruit trees are a great source for nature study.

A fruit tree is a tree bearing fruit — the structures formed by the ripened ovary of a flower containing one or more seeds. Not all fruit trees produce fruit as human food. The scientific study and the cultivation of fruits is called pomology, which divides up fruits into groups based on plant morphology and anatomy. Some of those groups are: pome fruits, which include apples and pears. And stone fruits which include peaches, apricots, plums and cherries. Most fruit trees are deciduous trees and shed most of their leaves in autumn, providing the children with the fun of leaf raking (and jumping in a heap of leaves), as well as providing habitats for insects and other small creatures.

The fruit trees in our garden give us much joy. Not only do they provide some much needed shade on a hot sunny day, they also make a great place to visit for birds and insects. A fruit tree in full blossom is a beautiful sight. Although our fruit trees are still young and small, we are enjoying their presence as they provide a peaceful spot to sit under. Their emerging grandeur and majesty inspires us to take a moment of solitude when we can quietly observe the beautiful flowers around us or listen to the humming bees or rustling leaves in the wind. These observations often follow with a moment to ponder or dream, a moment many children today do not have in their busy scheduled lives.

Trees create a feeling of mystique and a great place for story sharing. We especially enjoy the Maori stories of Papatūānuku (earth mother). In the Māori world view, land gives birth to all things, including humankind, and provides the physical and spiritual basis for life. Papatūānuku, the land, is a powerful mother earth figure who gives many blessings to her children (Te Ara, the Encyclopedia of New Zealand). In Maori view, Summer and Winter are personified in two beings named Hine-raumati, the Summer Maid, and Hine-takurua, the Winter Maid, both of them were taken to wife by Te Ra, the Sun. The Winter Maid dwells out on the ocean and controls the food supplies. The summer Maid dwells on the land, her task being to foster the food products of the Earth. This brings us to the best part of having fruit trees in our garden, the provision of a crop to eat.

Ganjitsu ya taijyu no moto no hito gokoro
"The First Day of the Year;
Under the protection of a big tree,
People's hearts are at rest."

- Haiku by Shirao Kaya (1738-1791)

We're going on a bear hunt

Our garden is growing fast, especially the grass at the back, which hasn't been mowed all year. It is tall and wavy and reminds me of the classic children's story "We're going on a bear hunt" by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury.

Remember the swishy swashy, long wavy grass? For those who don't know the story, it is about a family who goes on a bear hunt. They set off, with confidence, "We're not scared". The hunt takes them through tall grass, a deep river, a dark forest, a snowstorm and thick mud, into a cave where they meet the bear and, of course, they are as scared as anything and retrace their steps. Watch this YouTube video with Michael Rosen performing the story.

This week we went on "a bear hunt". With gumboots on our feet and sunhats on our head we head out into the garden. As I read page by page we make our way through the long wavy grass, a deep cold river, thick oozy mud, a big dark forest and a swirling whirling snowstorm. "We can't go over it. We can't go under it. Oh-no! We've got to go through it!" What a fun way to "read" a story.

"Long wavy grass"

"Thick oozy mud"

"A big dark forest"

"Back through the grass! Swishy swashy! Swishy swashy!"

Anybody surprised the children asked to go on "a bear hunt" again the following day?

What is in a pine cone?

At the end of our cul-de-sac stands a lone big pine tree, many, many years old. The tree is a favourite climbing tree with the neighborhood children and they call the place “Pinecone Island”. Over the years, the children have collected many pine cones, which have all been stored in the “clubhouse” at the back of our garden. It is time for a new life for these cones and what better place then in our garden at preschool.

I spread them out in a patch at the back of our garden. They will not remain there for long. Soon they will be dispatched throughout the garden as the children carry them around during their explorations. Another batch gets added to the collection a few days later as I find a whole lot of pine cones on the ground during one of my walks with my family. These cones are very different as they are from a different pine specie. There are pine branches scattered around on the ground too, as some trees have been cut down, and I bring some along for more exploration.

It is amazing how a simple thing, like a pine cone and some branches, can create many learning experiences. While the children are carrying and turning the pine cones they notice that there is more to a pine cone then meets the eye. There are mature and not mature pine cones, there are the females and the males. They discover the different textures and shapes they feel in their hand as they hold the different cones. They discover, crunch, crunch, that walking over the patch of pine cones is rather wobbly on their feet.

The female pine cones have the seeds inside, which are very tricky to get out, depending on their maturity. Tweezers might help. A close up look shows that the scales overlap each other like fish scales and are arranged in Fibonacci number ratios. The children might not know about Fibonacci numbers, but they certainly notice the pattern. And when they take the time to examine a mature pine cone a bit further they discover there are all sorts of creatures hiding inside a pine cone and a magnifying glass reveals some interesting little bugs.

Closer examination also reveals that some pine cones are disintegrated, some are decomposing, while some still look intact. Could they have been dinner for the rabbits, or mice, or maybe possums?

The pine branches are met with curiosity, as their prickly needles give an interesting touch. We talk about those needles, which are the "leaves" of the tree. A magnifying glass provides interesting discoveries as the children look at the male pine cones or pollen cones as they are sometimes called.

Over the days, the children use the pine cones to make patterns, to line them up, to position them in a circle or make a square. They look for the largest, when you are four years old, finding the biggest anything always seems like the ultimate victory. They are having a great time sharing and judging their discoveries with each other, "this one is larger then that one".

If you are two years old and you want to carry more then two of these big pine cones to the table, you literally have a challenging task on hand. Pick up two, drop three, pick up another one, drop two.

Pine cones are hidden treasures that are easy to find. The next time you go for a walk, see if you can find a pine cone. When you pick it up, share it with your child, you may be looking at someone’s home .

A garden walk, feeding mind, heart and body

We have had some glorious days this week. Although officially still spring, the last couple of days have been like summer, hot and sunny. Our garden is calling out to us and on these hot days we move our mats and pillows to the peace pole deck.

The peace pole deck is mostly shaded from the hot sun and a nice place to come together. We listen to a story, "What colour is love?", by Linda Strachan and David Wojtowycz.

"What colour is love?" is a beautiful story exploring the different colours, finishing with the conclusion that the colour of love is every colour, everything, everywhere, all around, "because nothing else matters when it's love that you've found". A wonderful book to share with young children. It sets the tone for the rest of our afternoon.

After listening to the story we seem to all have this need to spend more time in our peaceful garden. We decide to take a walk, through our own garden. We discover there are lots of things to explore and investigate. What is hiding under the rocks? What we can find when we move the logs? Is there anything living under the tussock grass bushes? How many weta are visiting the weta hotel? What is the name of this clingy weed? How does this acorn seedling get here? There is so much to see, feel, smell, hear and even taste, although we don't pursue the latter.

We see "enormous" worms and"hundreds" of slaters. We identify buttercups and bedstraw and even find some bulbs (yes, people used to eat those during the winter of 1945 in Word War II, that started a discussion in itself). We blow the white stars of a dandelion and make a wish.

We count two weta in the hotel. We look at the different pine cones, their shape, size and texture. We find acorns, some have sprouted. We see a spider carrying its eggs, and we find a spider nest in the bushes. We stroll through the kneehigh grass, hmm, that would be a fun place for playing hide and seek.

As we maneuver our way through our wild garden, we have to balance over logs, climb over rocks and walk over unleveled varied surface, unlike a smooth concrete patch. The physical challenge to keep our balance requires gross motorskills, while handling magnifying glasses to inspect spider eggs and using tweezers to dislodge seeds from the pinecones requires fine hand/eye coordination.

It is hot and we sit down for a rest. Roger, our rabbit, joins us and we pat his soft fur. Some of us lay down and watch the clouds.

Young children create their own perceptions of the world and think in concrete terms, with their body, their mind and their heart. They learn about everything, all the time, and they do it full steam ahead. For them to learn effectively and joyfully, they must be engaged. During their first few years, they absorb with their senses. For knowledge and skills to really stick in their brain, it must go through their body and their heart. Their social and emotional life is filled with constant challenges as they are navigating their way through social relationships and its rules. They are learning to recognise, accept and express their own feelings as well as the feelings of others. They need time and space to do so.

Our nature walk, through our own garden, brings us together as a group, sharing our curiosity, enthusiasm and excitement. It is a wonderful way to foster relationships with each other and the creatures we share this planet with and to nurture self-motivation, self-discipline and not to forget curiosity, something that so many children lose along the way to adulthood.

Not so clean and green

We could read it in the paper this week, New Zealand's ecological footprint is now the sixth largest in the world, and expanding fast. The ecological footprint measures the amount of resources humans use and the waste they generate, and New Zealand rates amongst the ten worst, per head, in the world. According to the Living Planet report, produced by WWF, more than three-quarters of the world's population take more from the planet than they put back. New Zealand has moved from requiring 5.9 "global hectares" per person in the 2006 WWF report to an average of 7.7 global hectares. A global hectare is a standardised hectare of land able to produce resources and absorb wastes at world average levels. Worldwide, the average ecological footprint jumped from 2.2 global hectares per person to 2.7 global hectares per person, but the world has only an average 2.1ha available per person. If demand keeps growing at the same rate, the equivalent of two planets will be required in the mid-2030s to sustain current lifestyles. Watch James Leape, Director General of the WWF International, talk about the Living Planet report on this YouTube video.



If we want adults to care passionately about what is happening to our planet we need to generate such emotion in childhood. Experiences during the early years shape the values and attitudes toward the world. Children carry these with them throughout their life. The more personal children experience nature, the more environmentally concerned and active they are likely to become. Our preschoolers today will be the decision makers tomorrow.

As young children spend more and more time in our early childhood settings, we, as early childhood teachers, have a very important role. We need to create environments for our children that foster in each child a strong sense of belonging to the web of life. An outdoor naturalised preschool environment, where children are given time to interact with nature and living things, an environment that nurtures their love and appreciation of nature and their surroundings. Rather then steel, concrete, plastic and rubber matting, we need to give our children access to logs, rocks and a natural environment and give them opportunities to explore the beauty and wonders of plants, bushes, trees and flowers. Children also need an adult who shares nature with them. An adult who stops, looks and marvels with them at the miracles they discover. An adult who introduces them to the values of stillness, wonder, simplicity, peace, compassion and care of the earth. An adult who introduces the children to environmental stewardship. "Humans are now exceeding the planet's regenerative capacity by about 30 percent," the Living Planet report said, putting future prosperity under threat.

At our preschool we have a strong focus on the natural world where children can experience how their actions affect the environment as well as how the environment affects them. It is important our young children are given time to interact with nature and living things, before they can understand it well enough to want to preserve it. Reconnecting children with the natural world hopefully creates a future generation that values and preserves nature.

Is there magic in a tree stump?

Yes, absolutely. Ask the children at our preschool. We have several tree stumps in our garden, ranging from “old” to “fresh”. The old ones are the magic ones.

Have you ever taken time to stop and examine them? Have you ever made the effort to peel of some of the decomposing bark? A whole new world embarks behind the bark as one of our children found out when he peeled some of. “Look, a slug, look over here, a slater, oh what is this?”, and on it went. We had a great time, marveling at the little creatures we found in an on the tree stump.

Exposure to the natural world is essential for a child’s well being. Nature inspires a sense of wonder, the beginning of wisdom. You can share nature with children in your own backyard. Creating a space full of wonder and adventure doesn’t require a landscape architect or field knowledge. It does require imagination and creative thinking as you will have to think outside the square of a tidy manicured lawn. Logs and tree stumps are a great resource to start with. They will serve several purposes. They can be used for gross motor skills, like balancing, climbing, and jumping from stump to stump. They can be arranged in different sizes in a circle or semi-circle. They can be used to sit on to have a break or become a place to dream. They can be used for hiding places for insects and worms.

A simple tray with a magnifier glass and a set of small garden tools provides hours of exploration and discovery fun. Our tree stumps at our preschool are not rooted in the ground, but sourced from other places where they have been left as firewood off cuts. Different species provide different textures, smells and sizes.

Tree stumps are a great resource to introduce children to sensory nature experiences, giving them hand-on interaction and providing a place for nature discovery. If you are looking for a space in your garden that will provide experiences that live forever in children’s memories, look for tree stumps.

A garden grows more then just plants, it grows people

A new book: Outdoor classrooms, a handbook for school gardens

It is Sunday morning, and I am writing this post in Taupo. I am sitting outside our rented bach, overlooking a reserve. The sun is making its way up the horizon, the sky looks promising blue and the lake is glistering in the distance.

All I can hear on this beautiful calm Sunday morning is the song of the thrush in the tree next to me, some other birds across the valley, a bumble bee visiting the clover buds in the grass and some flies buzzing around.

How long this will last I don't know, but people will soon arise, cars will get started, lawns will get mowed, boats will get launched and the birds will get quiet. I am enjoying this moment to the full while it lasts.

Yesterday I visited the Ecoshow. My favourite stand during a show or exhibition is usually the bookstand and this is no different at the Ecoshow. The stand had several books available with the main focus on organics, permaculture and transition towns, but my eyes quickly caught the pile of books at the back of the table that looked brand new. Indeed, "Outdoor classrooms, a handbook for school gardens" is hot of the press from Australia. It is written by Carolyn Nuttall and Janet Millington, two primary school teachers and permaculturists with over 60 years of teaching experience between them, many of which have been in garden-based learning.

The book explores the benefits of school gardens and their value in nurturing children's relationships with the natural world. It gives plenty of ideas, plans and designs for developing and maintaining a school garden and suggestions on how to get started. What is clear from the beginning is that this is not a book about the traditional school gardens as we find them at schools across the country, the forgotten little patches in the back corner of a playground. Instead, this is a book about developing and maintaining a permaculture or sustainable garden as a formal part of an outdoor classroom and a living curriculum. This is where the book has my attention, with its extensive list of "outdoor learning adventures". This collection of ideas and concepts will add to our own ideas, which we have applied in our own preschool garden. Our preschool garden is an essential part of our classroom and is the main component of our living curriculum, see my post "Our beautiful garden, a magical place". You can also read more about our garden and our outdoor naturalised environment on our preschool website. Another valuable part of the book is the section about curriculum connections. Although Australian based, the information can easily be applied to the New Zealand environment and the workshops and units can easily be adapted to your own situation and environment.

The book is illustrated with sketches and drawings, and a handful of black and white photographs. Some full colour photos would have enhanced the book. I haven't finished reading the whole book, but it already has given me new ideas I can't wait to apply some of them in our garden. I can recommend the book to any teacher who'd like to embark on the journey of setting up a school garden as part of a living outdoor curriculum or for those who'd like some fresh ideas and inspiration to take their school garden to the next level. Together with our own book, "Our journey as an enviro preschool", the two books will be a great resource and put you on the pathway of setting up a sustainable garden as part of a naturalised outdoor school environment.