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At Community Roots in Lee, children search for spots to hibernate. Photo by Shannon Reville
On a recent Wednesday morning, a 3-year-old boy named Oskar chased free-roaming chickens through the dewy grass at Coppal House Farm in Lee as part of Community Roots’ Fall Farm Discoveries program. That same morning, just over 30 miles away in Cape Neddick, Maine, three more 3-year-olds explored the woods around Mount Agamenticus, part of White Pine’s Acorn Weevils Forest Kindergarten.
One Acorn Weevil, a lively and well-spoken boy known as “T,” held a single pine needle between his forefinger and thumb, sniffing it and trying to decide whether or not it smelled different from a pine needle he took a whiff of earlier. After a few moments of deep thought he stated, “Yes, it does smell different,” before barreling off in to the trees.
Though different in their approaches, the two programs share a common goal: to create a learning environment where preschool and kindergarten-aged children can observe, understand, and feel comfortable outdoors. A study by the Children and Nature Network reports that while youth exposure to multimedia has risen substantially in the last five years, youth participation in outdoor play has steadily declined since 2006 in all age groups among boys and girls. With adults and children spending more time in front of screens and increasingly disconnected from food sources and the outdoors, the programs provide a visceral, comfortable learning experience.
“Children who learn about animals, nature, and the environment are children who understand that goods don’t just magically appear on the shelf at a grocery store,” says Pilar Redmond, Community Roots’ director. “They know where things come from; they understand and respect manual labor. I’m happy to help them learn that.”
Redmond created Community Roots last spring with a weekly, drop-in story time. The story time was so well received that she decided to do a weekly farming program during the summer. Redmond says the summer program went so well she felt she had to keep it going with Fall Farm Discoveries. All of her events take place at Coppal House Farm, but the farm and Community Roots are independent of each other.
The Fall Farm Discovery program met weekly for six weeks in September and October. The seven young participants made crafts, went on hikes, helped with farm chores, and interacted with farm animals. It’s a way for children to learn about the importance of working farms, manual labor, and caring for the environment, Redmond says.
“Kids get out here and they are so happy just running through the fields and chasing chickens,” Redmond says. “As our lives get busier, you have to consciously make the effort to get outside. Whether or not people realize it, the outdoors, farms, animals, that is where everything begins and our children need to know about it.”
During the last session, the children learned about hibernation and the changes the farm, forest, and animals go through as fall turns into winter. Redmond had the children search for hibernation spots on the farm; later, she pulled stuffed animals out of a bag and asked the children to identify whether or not they hibernate.
Chickens? No.
Turtles? No.
Bumblebees? Yes.
Some of the parents were surprised to learn about the bumblebees.
“Wow,” one mother says. “Really? I never knew that.”
For Redmond, it’s great to watch the kids connect with the natural world, but it’s equally rewarding to see adults do it, too.
“A lot of the parents who sign their children up for this do so because they already know this type of education is important, but there are also parents just looking for something to do with their kids. You start to see those adults become more aware and accepting of the farm, the animals, and the outdoors as well,” Redmond says.
White Pine’s Acorn Weevils program takes a different approach to outdoor education.
White Pine is a nonprofit educational organization founded in 1999 that aims to provide nature-based learning opportunities for both children and adults. When walking through the 16 acres of forest behind their headquarters in Cape Neddick, Maine, which stretches alongside 5,000 acres of the Mount Agamenticus Conservation Region, one can hear the sounds of distant voices, laughter, and the crackling of footsteps on fallen leaves.
“Believe it or not, we have 35 kids out here in the woods right now,” says Dan Hansche, White Pine’s program director, describing multiple programs.
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Annika Wisswaesser shows the Acorn Weevils a form of primitive fire making. Photo by Shannon Reville
On any given Monday or Wednesday morning, a little bushwhacking will bring you to the spot where the three Acorn Weevils roam. Hansche’s spouse, Annika Wisswaesser, watches the children while donning a crown made of leaves. They cover their hands in soil, grab sticks, and climb up on rocks and stumps. As they explore, Wisswaesser asks them questions.
“How are these two sticks different?”
“What does that smell like to you?”
“Which way looks safest? Why?”
Wisswaesser believes that when it comes to childhood development, exploring and observing the outdoors is critical. “Our brains have developed in absolute integration with the natural world for almost our entire existence as a species,” Wisswaesser says. “Only roughly 200 years of that have we brought education inside. Cut out the natural environment and you are also cutting out our optimal learning environment.”
The Acorn Weevils will spend every session outdoors, no matter the weather, from now until June. They’ll work on basic problem solving skills, navigating the forest, and developing sensory experiences by smelling, tasting, feeling, and listening to the world around them. They do not have an exact lesson plan. They take the day as it comes.
“We are not pushing ABCs and 123s. We are bringing them outdoors where pattern recognition is everywhere.” Wisswaesser says.
Hansche and Wisswaesser’s daughter, Veery, participates in the Acorn Weevils program. Although he likes to explore the woods himself, he is also happy to let Veery explore without him.
“Kids are at baseline when their parents aren’t around,” Hansche says. “Baseline means that they are in their natural way, just being themselves. When there is nobody telling them to put their coat back on, they have the chance to realize for themselves, ‘I’m cold and I should put my coat back on.’ It allows for a lot more independence.” Hansche says White Pine likes to honor the baseline, letting children make choices for themselves as often as possible.
Jennifer Stevens, who is the mother of two Acorn Weevils, twins “T” and “Lu,” is happy with her boys’ experience so far.
“I used to have to pull so hard to get them to tell me what they learned at other preschools,” Stevens says. “Now they talk openly about it as soon as I pick them up. They are just so much more confident in themselves and their imaginations.”
—Shannon Reville