Ally Preo wanders through the Salamander Woods on Juniper Hill School’s 42 acres in Alna. She has a map in her hand, but does not need it. She knows the trail of hobgoblins – clay faces that appear on trees – well and she walks from tree to tree to have a conversation with each of them.
A short distance away, Emery Koller is standing on a log next to a stump. It is a flying ship that can go on water, he says, and he is busy trying to fill it with gas. “It only needs two more ounces,” he says. “That’s going to cost 39 cents.”
Conversations with hobgoblins and transforming logs into airships are part of a typical day for children in Juniper Hill School’s nature-based early childhood program for 3- to 6-year-olds, which is far from typical. The curriculum is shaped by the imagination and natural play of the children, founder Ann Stires said.
The program, which occurs almost entirely outside, in rain, snow, or shine, is designed to prepare students for rigorous academic learning through the “magic, wonder, and empathy of childhood,” Stires said. Every day a lesson is learned that contributes to the children’s social, emotional, intellectual, and physical development, Stires said.
Every day is a new adventure.
The program at Juniper Hill School is featured in the soon-to-be-released book “Nature Preschools and Forest Kindergartens: The Handbook for Outdoor Learning” by David Sobel.
The book, scheduled for release on Dec. 15, is an “operator’s manual for all those interested in starting a nature-based early childhood program and for those interested in ‘naturalizing’ existing early childhood programs,” according to the introduction. The first chapter, written by Stires, is a description of a day in the life of the Juniper Hill School in February.
When most public schools kept their students inside due to the frigid temperature, Juniper Hill School students learned how to dress appropriately for the weather and transformed the snow and ice of a Maine winter into not just a playground, but also learning material.
The forest kindergarten movement, a model for early childhood education that occurs almost entirely outside, dates back to the 1960s and 1970s, Sobel wrote. The movement flourished in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, with thousands now established internationally.
In the United States, the forest kindergarten movement is just beginning to catch on. Sobel described Stires as “a pioneer of the nature-based early childhood movement in New England.”
Stires, an established educator with more than a decade of experience working with progressive educational programs, founded the Juniper Hill School in 2011. The school incorporates not only a nature-based early childhood program, but also a place-based elementary education program for children up to 7 years old.
Previously, Juniper Hill School offered their place-based education program, which teaches children the standard academic disciplines of math, science, social studies, and language arts through connection to the natural world and the community that surrounds them, to children up to 10 years old.
Due to the rapid growth of the program, Juniper Hill School decided to downsize, focus on the basics, and ensure a solid foundation to sustain its future growth, Stires said. For the time being, Juniper Hill School is focused on building its nature-based early childhood education program and place-based early elementary school program for children up to the second grade.
At Juniper Hill School, student drop-off in the morning is an opportunity for community building with children, parents, and teachers greeting each other by name and communicating with each other. The behavior and interaction of adults is an important element of learning for children, Stires said.
“We (teachers) model all the time,” Stires said. “The children see how we are with each other. It’s an important part of it.” Through small teacher-to-child ratios – the early childhood program is capped at seven children to one adult – children learn how to take appropriate risks and resolve conflict.
“We have one rule,” Stires said, “safety of body and safety of heart. Bullying isn’t a thing here.”
Under the watchful eye of teachers, children are allowed to explore, play games, fall down, and get up again. When they disagree about something, they talk it through and work it out.
“They’re learning how to take care of themselves in all situations,” Stires said.
The morning is play-based learning time for the children in the nature-based early childhood program. The focus of learning is developed from the children’s natural play, Stires said. Children were fascinated by the chipmunks they saw in the woods, so a full curriculum was developed to study them.
On Nov. 6, children were working with adventure maps, real maps that guide their exploration of the woods, which are filled with magical creatures designed by the children’s imaginations. “It just happens,” Stires said of the maps. “Children want to explore and they want a guide to do that with.”
Play-based learning time is followed by a snack and story. The stories read to the children are part of an author study. Despite not yet knowing how to read, Mary Philbrick correctly identifies the name of the previous author whose stories the children heard.
Snack and story time is followed by free play. The children develop their own games, which Stires inserts elements of learning into. She models correct grammar for the children, answers questions the children have, and asks questions that encourage children’s discovery and their ability to teach themselves.
“There’s constant dialogue here and learning support,” Stires said.
Through Juniper Hill School, Ally Preo has learned how to accurately identify which trees the leaves on the ground fell from. By age 6, most children who have gone through the nature-based early childhood program can accurately identify up to 40 different types of trees, Stires said.
In the mud kitchen, an integral part of nature-based education, which is called the “chocolate bakery” at Juniper Hill School, children play in the dirt and notice how the ground changes with the weather.
After free play, children will gather for circle time, where they will learn songs, plays, and poetry. “It’s the oral part of literacy,” Stires said. “Sometimes people forget how important listening is to literacy education.”
Juniper Hill School has transformed Alna’s woods into a classroom. However, Stires hopes that with the publication of “Nature Preschools and Forest Kindergartens” the model spreads and becomes more readily available to children across the United States.
“My hope is elements of this are everywhere for all children,” Stires said. “I hope that there is no barrier (to nature-based education) economically or site-wise and that it’s available in the cities and in the country. This is one of the most important things we can offer right now.”
“Nature Preschools and Forest Kindergartens” by David Sobel is available for pre-order from Red Leaf Press. To learn more about Juniper Hill School, visit www.juniperhillschool.org.
