IN A yard on the outskirts of Tamworth a little girl lugs tree branches from one spot to another, a little boy spoons dirt into a saucepan, a toddler kicks a ball and a baby crawls through some woodchip.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
And you won’t hear an adult say ‘Don’t do that!’ or ‘Be careful!’ – this is Poppins Bush School, where nature is a teacher and children learn through experience.
Inspired by ‘nature play’ theories, the long day care centre is “about lighting the fire as opposed to filling up the bucket”, director Emma Thompson said.
The long day care centre in the Windmill Downs Estate is in its third week of operating and has up to 60 children per day enrolled so far.
It’s a sister centre to Poppins Playhouse in Tamworth, both owned by Mary Klasen.
Miss Thompson said it followed the National Early Years Learning Framework curriculum with its emphasis on play-based learning.
But the children led the way in how and what they learnt, largely through their curiosity about the natural environment – drawing on early-childhood teaching approaches worldwide, such as schools in Reggio Emilia in Italy and forest schools in the UK.
If a child asks a question ... we don’t just tell them the answer.
- Emma Thompson
“Children have knowledge, or they’re discovering it, so if a child asks a question – which we love, questions are celebrated here – we don’t just tell them the answer,” Miss Thompson said.
“We ask them, ‘That’s a really interesting question, could be fun to explore; how do you think we could go about finding out that information?’ and going on that journey with them.
“So we’re co-learners with the children, and by doing that it shows that we really value their ideas, their questions.
“It’s very empowering to a child and therefore they enter into learning feeling that way.”
The real risk is no risk
Strewn around there might be sticks, bricks, wood planks, pipes and many other loose parts for the children to use or combine in almost endless different ways.
The centre has a veggie patch, herb garden and mud kitchen, with plans for some chooks and poddy calves to care for.
There’s even a construction area with real tools and fixings.
Children are guided to identify, take, manage and learn from risks themselves.
Miss Thompson said this approach required a lot of ‘benefit-risk assessment’ – she likes to put the benefit part first – but “we’re not afraid to do paperwork”.
We believe the real risk is taking away the risk.
- Emma Thompson.
“We believe the real risk is taking away the risk,” she said.
“Young children don’t know how to recognise, assess and then manage risk, so we do have risks here; it’s all been assessed … If we didn’t have these opportunities for them, they go out into the real world and that’s where the real risk is.”
Miss Thompson said one example was a very young child learning how to use a saw.
“Although we’re there and watching over it, that two-year-old has learnt how to hold the saw, keep their fingers safe,” she said.
“That’s pretty remarkable, I think, [considering how] most of society would view a two-year-old’s capabilities.
“We view children as very capable and it’s our job to respect their rights but also teach them the responsibilities.”
Trees and technology
Miss Thompson said nature was a great milieu for learning, because of the physical benefits – gross motor skills and a “diverse sensory diet” among them, and the connection with the environment.
This was as opposed to, say, a teacher-led paper-based activity, which had none of that.
“We want to help children growing up having that relationship with the environment and the respect for the environment and understanding of our impact on it,” she said.
Miss Thompson said, however, the centre did not overlook technology.
“While we still acknowledge the importance of IT in children’s lives, we feel there needs to be a balance.
“[We’re] acknowledging the future and what children need – and that is some IT skills, but we also believe that we need to maintain the real childhood, and children being able to understand what a real object looks and feels and smells like, and having a proper relationship with that, as opposed to an abstract form on an iPad.”
She said this fit well with “the future needs in the next generation”
“It’s not so much rote-learning any more, we need children that can think outside the box and be quite innovative.”
Speedy vs sustained
Miss Thompson said taking the time to explore a child’s question often meant a slower process to reach the answer – but that was OK.
“In today’s society we’re all so used to have instant gratification,” she said.
“It may be slightly quicker to say to a child, ‘The rain comes from the clouds’, but the child doesn’t learn that knowledge.
“Sometimes when you give a child a fact they might recall it for a week and then it’s gone, whereas if it’s something that they’ve explored and they’ve come to that point through a journey, they’re going to have it forever; they won that knowledge now and it’s pegged in their mind forever.
“This is about sustained learning, not about quick retention of facts ...
“What we’re doing is drawing out of the children rather than filling them up.
“It’s about lighting the fire as opposed to filling up the bucket with facts and figures and knowledge.”