SMES Faculty Work with Renowned Outdoor Education Expert to Deepen Teaching and Learning in New LS Outdoor Classroom
Kindergarten and grade 1 faculty are hard at work implementing the new Lower School Outdoor Classroom into the daily curriculum.
St. Margaret’s new Lower School Outdoor Classroom that opened on the first day of school is delighting Kindergarten and grade 1 students, who are enjoying the endless ways to engage and play in the expansive, well-equipped space with a variety of outdoor activities and nature-based provocations for exploration and learning.
Lower School faculty, meanwhile, are hard at work implementing the Outdoor Classroom into the daily curriculum to best optimize the meaningful student benefits of an outdoor learning environment, for which this space was conceptualized and created.
Last week, St. Margaret’s welcomed outdoor-education expert Ellen Veselack for a day of faculty professional development, parent presentations and student and teacher observation of the Outdoor Classroom in action. Ms. Veselack is the associate director of the Outdoor Classroom Project, an initiative of the Child Educational Center (CEC) in La Cañada Flintridge, and has been an early-childhood educator for more than 40 years. St. Margaret’s worked closely with the Outdoor Classroom Project in designing both the Lower School Outdoor Classroom as well as the Ingrid S. Andrews Outdoor Classroom in the Early Childhood Development Center.
“We value Ms. Veselack’s depth of expertise in outdoor education, and we invited her to share her knowledge on outdoor curriculum and instruction as we incorporate this incredible space into our everyday teaching and learning,” Lower School Principal Jennifer Blount said. “Her insights and perspective were incredibly helpful to our work as we pursue our vision for this space, particularly with our grade 1 teachers who are incorporating an outdoor classroom into their curriculum for the first time.”
Outdoor Classrooms nurture learning in young students in unique ways. They provide hands-on learning opportunities for traditional subjects, science, math, reading and social studies. Unstructured play in outside environments also nurtures creativity, problem solving and critical thinking skills in children. Outdoor classrooms foster gross and fine motor development, and allow for multiple senses to be engaged in the learning process at once, which increases permanence. Time spent in nature itself is proven to reduce stress, anxiety and improve focus.
The Lower School Outdoor Classroom opened last month and coincided with the Kindergarten classrooms relocating from the Preschool to the Lower School campus. The space, designated for Kindergarten and grade 1 students, features an edible growing garden and a fairy garden, a sand pit, water tables, art stations, small and large building areas, a tricycle loop, reading nooks, outdoor performance spaces, mature trees for climbing and large playground equipment—swings, tires, and a hexagon dome climber. Students are able to explore the Outdoor Classroom during free time, and teachers are utilizing the space for class time, as well.
“Our investment in the new Outdoor Classroom and development of a corresponding curriculum for grade K and 1 students reflects our commitment to the countless and proven benefits of student learning and healthy development through ample time in outdoor, experiential spaces,” said Mrs. Blount.
Ms. Veselack presented vast research and evidence the value of outdoor learning, including many examples of how traditional curricular subject skills can be naturally taught in outdoor classrooms, as well as how kinesthetic and interpersonal skills are constantly being honed.
Lower School Assistant Principal Maile Bellosi said, “The professional development day with Ms. Veselack was an invaluable to our teachers and instructional assistants, who were keen on learning effective new strategies to seamlessly incorporate the Outdoor Classroom into their curriculum and support learning and development at all times students are enjoying the space.”
St. Margaret’s Episcopal School
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