Outdoor Classrooms | Bright Beginnings Preschool

"Thank you for all the love, support and flexibility helping Lyla grow. BB is my “village” to help raise my kids."- Jenkins family

Learn Outside!

Why We Chose to do Outdoor Classroom Project® Training

Take a second and think back to the time when you were a child. Think of your favorite childhood memory outside. Did you make mud pies? Did you have the freedom to run around the woodsy areas surrounding your home until the sunset? Were you able to have countless imaginative adventures with your friends and family, running around, carefree? Now snap back to the present.

This past Friday (August 12th, 2016 ), our Bright Beginnings staff had, we believe, the most energetic, engaging and educational training we have ever had! One of the activities that we did was closing our eyes and recalling memories of our childhood, particularly outside. It was actually a very emotional experience (some even got teary eyed) as nostalgia filled the air of our childhood. Some of us camped every weekend with our parents and never watched television. Some of us hid under our grandmothers’ porches and made mud pies with her nice plates and silverware (and it was ok!), while others just sat back and smiled recalling times of just running around our houses until the street lights came on.

In times of modernity, our younger generations are for the most part in a world of screens. From phones to tablets to computers to televisions, it is almost impossible for them to get away. Also to put in simple terms, we all lack the freedom nowadays to allow our children to roam the woods or neighborhood streets as we once did when we were kids, simply to enjoy the fresh air and to explore our imaginations. Part of the reason we became emotional during this exercise was the collective realization that our kids today often do not have those same experiences that once filled us with delight. How amazing would it be for our children to experience all of the joys, wonders, and educational opportunities we had way back when through outdoor play?

Through her training with The Outdoor Classroom Project® , our owner Kathe Petchel provided us a with a fantastic solution to provide our children with wonderful and meaningful outdoors experiences. Kathe is now a specialist in outdoor classrooms and we could not be more excited to share all the wonderful information and plans for our own school to incorporate outdoor classrooms into our curriculum!

Benefits of Outdoor Classrooms

Physical:

  • An increase in physical development, capability, and activity
  • Setting up patterns for an active, healthy lifestyle
  • Fewer children suffering from diseases such as obesity, Diabetes, and ADD/ADHD

Cognitive:

  • Stronger language, problem-solving, and communication skills through projects and group activity
  • Developing an interest in science and math through connecting with nature
  • Fostering learning through self-initiation, control, and personal responsibility

Psychological:

  • Happier, more positive self-esteem
  • Effective relationship building in a cooperative, non-competitive environment
  • Building a healthy and balanced internal psychology from time spent alone
  • Manifesting classroom harmony
  • Social-emotional mastery

Understanding:

  • Familiarity with and appreciation of nature
  • Wide, expansive view of how the world works
  • Building a healthy and balanced internal psychology from time spent alone