Learning Gardens Connect Urban Kids with Natural World
Tuesday October 6th, 2009
Buffalo News – October 02, 2009
By Jane Kwiatkowski
The “classroom without walls” concept is far from new, but some take it more seriously than others. Consider a learning space with a running stream, growing fruit trees and glowing kindergartners — in the heart of the inner-city.
Natural learning spaces pave the way for spontaneous lessons, like this one that occurred Wednesday in the “learning garden” outdoor courtyard of Early Childhood Center Science Magnet on A Street off Fillmore Avenue.
“Look, a snail!“
Gabrielle Marchese, 5, broadcasted the discovery after spotting a slug inching its way along the fruit of a crab apple.
“Is he moving?,“ asked kindergarten teacher Kelly Yavornitzki. “Does anybody want to pick it up?“
The teacher — surrounded by her class of tiny Einsteins — speculated on why the slug was moving so incredibly slowly. Later, the lesson would continue indoors with the pupils researching snails and slugs on the Web.
“We created an outdoor space where core curriculum values could be taught,“ explained Principal Jean Polino. “This represents an emerging part of our profession that connects children with the real world. Everything we do here is through the lens of science.“
Learning gardens are springing up at schools across the country to promote science, fitness, geography, geology and literature — along with practice in teamwork and responsibility. Outdoor lessons, experts believe, speak to a child’s sense of immediacy.
“We understand a lot more than we did a few years ago about how children respond to direct hands-on experiences,“ said Robin Moore, professor of Landscape Architecture and director of the Natural Learning Initiative at North Carolina State University. “I touch it. I feel it. I understand, and get motivated and go to the school library or online and learn more. It’s how learning processes are triggered.“
The Early Childhood Center Science Magnet on the East Side and Bennett Park Montessori School are just two examples of the landscaped learning that children experience locally.
Ground is scheduled to be broken next spring for more learning gardens at Southside Elementary on Southside Parkway, School 81 on Tacoma Avenue, Math, Science & Technology School on Seneca Street and McKinley Vocational High School on Elmwood Avenue.
“We have learning going on, but we also wanted to make sure the kids were having fun,“ said landscape architect Joy Kuebler of Tonawanda, who has worked on many school-based green spaces in the area. “We want them to touch everything, and give them a greater sense of ownership over themselves.“
The Early Childhood Science Magnet schools 450 children from prekindergarten through second grade. The 11,000-square-foot courtyard that Kuebler helped transform into an urban learning oasis encourages children to believe they are in a great space.
“It provides an interesting opportunity to let them think they are in a huge place,“ Kuebler said. “I played with scale, adding berms to change heights, creating hills and valleys.“
The $200,000 project, completed in 2007, includes an irrigation system, a water channel 8 inches wide and 3 inches deep, and six overlapping classroom spaces, each dedicated to a different learning discipline.
In the art section, little Monets can sketch one of the many blooming hydrangeas, or squoosh nontoxic purple berries to make their own “ink.“ The music garden attracts birds and insects that “sing.“ It also has plants whose seeds can be used to make musical shakers.
The math section includes a paver pathway to help children learn fractions. The square stone pavers making up the walkway are cut into different sizes. Some are in halves and thirds. Others are in quarters.
At one point during the outdoor kindergarten session, Teleah Lewis picked a single black-eyed Susan.
“I’m picking flowers because I like them,“ explained Teleah, 5, as she carefully added the blossom to the plastic bag that already held two lumpy crab apples and two rocks.
“We’re collecting so we can take them back to the classroom and illustrate them in their journal,“ explained Yavornitzki. “They look at their attributes and properties, and describe them in their journals.“
It may be difficult to comprehend, but according to Yavornitzki, the lesson learned with this exercise will prepare the children for their eighth-grade science exam. It develops their language skills by asking the children to paint a word picture of less-than-perfect apples.
In the geology and geography area, the plants are “ethnobotanical,“ representing the botany that serves a particular ethnic group. Here, the teachers focus on plants once used daily by Native Americans. Rows of corn are still standing tall here, providing a perfect venue for outdoor fun.
“The idea of playing tag and hide-and-seek became something they all wanted to do,“ said Kuebler. “Logs become balance beams with children using them in a physical activity they created.“
Groundhog Day is big at the school, and children are encouraged to predict whether the stuffed groundhog will see his shadow. This solar lesson is one of the most anticipated of the school year, according to Polino.
“One of the things we focus on in this age group is weather,“ said Polino. “We see the courtyard through all the seasons, and we’ve brought different species of birds — goldfinches, bluebirds, cardinals — back to the area.
“We had the first squirrel come into the courtyard this week,“ she added. “He caused quite a commotion.“
School districts in Houston, Denver, San Francisco and Boston have similar initiatives based in the natural teaching philosophy and featuring waterfalls, ponds and walking paths in their learning spaces.
“Urban students just don’t have access to natural environments,“ explained Polino. “Many of then come from some pretty violent neighborhoods, where they can’t even go outside and play, so when they’re here, they are supervised and safe.“
Moore, of North Carolina State, is considered a national expert in the design of play, learning and education environments, launching his work in Berkeley, Calif., with a project called the Environmental Yard.
“The work I began in the early ‘70s resulted in a book called ‘Natural Learning: The Life History of an Environmental Schoolyard,‘‚“ he said. “That resulted in what we have here at North Carolina State, called the Natural Learning Initiative.“
Moore pointed to recent studies that conclude time spent in natural environments improved the health and well-being of children and families. School spaces that provide “nearby nature” play an important role in the total health of children, he said.
“If we’re talking about public schools, we’re just scratching the surface,“ said Moore during a phone interview from Raleigh. “We do a lot of work with Montessori schools to push part of the learning process outside.
“The projects in Buffalo tie into the general movement across the country initiated by Richard Louv’s book, ‘Last Child in the Woods.‘ So the last nut to crack — the big nut to crack — is getting kids outdoors and learning in the healthy environment of nature.“
