Yesterday, (Monday), there were only three students that stayed for the afternoon session (who were not sleeping). Thankfully, it was a gorgeous day, as there was a parent meeting inside that kept us outside. We spent a while on the bikes and cars, but then we took an adventure - we went on a nature walk!
The school is located in the basement of a church, and the church grounds are very well kept. Birds were chirping, flowers blooming, new things growing, and the kids were very excited to explore. We looked at the lily pads in a little pond and speculated what could live there. We saw a birdhouse and watched for birds while the teacher explained the different bird calls and pointed out a mourning dove. Sitting on the steps so quietly, the students quickly became engaged in their surroundings, whispering excitedly as they pointed out ants and birds to me. I think Montessori got it right when she said that children are naturally curious, these ones definitely were. As we continued on our walk, we passed a pear and an apple tree and admired the baby fruit. Then we came across some dandelions whose seeds were ready to be scattered.
All the while, the teacher kept explaining everything; when I looked back on the mini “field trip,” I realized that there was a lot of learning that happened. We talked about different types of flowers, different parts of a flower, birds, ecosystems such as ponds, and so much more. The teacher did a really good job of explaining things, and took some complex material down to levels that the students could understand.
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