Visiting a Genuine Forest Kindergarten

Speyer Wald Kindergarten

Today was the day of my observations and interactions at a Forest (Wald) Kindergarten. (I will visit a total of 5 schools). I visited a school set in the town of Speyer.  The school was held in a beautiful park owned by the city.  

The Structures on the Property

The school had buildings and small huts, which were also maintained by the city. These buildings are used during inclement weather, unless it is raining with thunder and lightening or ice rain, the children are outside for the duration of the school, which is four hours. Yes, that is right folks, even in the dead of winter at 14 degrees Fahrenheit.  The goal is to get them moving and never stop.  In fact, during the winter families are told to not prepare sandwiches with cucumbers because they freeze.

Wald Kindergarten Teachers

This group had 40 children and 5 adults supervising them. One person is a teacher in training. The other four of the adults are fully certified teachers. These teachers get  the same salary as teachers in a "housed" classroom, which are all paid by the state.  There is no separate training for this type of pedagogy, the teachers just need to have a passion for nature.  As you can imagine, the team needs to work well together for this to be a success.

A Morning Surprise and Breakfast

When I arrived with my host the children were all a buzz with excitement.  "The American Lady is here!"  and "The English [speaking] lady is here!" were the calls from small voices in the woods.  The children all ran towards us and circled up and sang a special song they prepared for me, "If you're happy and you know it."  Let me tell you it was WUNDERBAR!  They did not just sing one verse, they sang 5 verses.  It was amazing, and I was happy that the first thing I was greeted with was a form of performing art. Thus confirming my suspicions that the arts are a integrally important  aspect for these schools.

The photo above is BREAKFAST.  The children washed their hands with lava powder and water . Lava powder is actually ground lava rocks that is sprinkled on the children's hands and used as soap, without the environmental hazards.  Then they find a location and eat the breakfast they packed from home.  As you can see from the photo, the children use old tree stumps as tables, and sometimes chairs.

Activities

The children were given a few options including whittling, bee home construction, and nature sculptures.  Above you can see a child whittling. Yes, that is correct a four year old with a sharp knife carving into wood.  This is normal people! The children are taught how to do it correctly and they love doing it.  At one point there were six children with knifes and sticks and not a single child was hurt.

Another option is free play.  By that it means, pretty much anything.  The children, pruned bushes, moved logs, played in the sand, and for about twenty minutes a group of three children were dragging a 10 foot branch with leafs around.  One minute is was a tree that they tried replant, and the next minute it was a horse, after that it became a street sweeper.  Below the children are role playing and baking Kuchen (cake) 

Constructing Bee Home

One option for an activity was constructing a bee home.  The children take a block of wood and drill several holes using power tools.  The photo on the right below shows a bee home completed.  The idea is to give the bees a safe place to lay their eggs and it works! The far right bee home is from this year and the holes are filled with bee eggs and sealed with mud for protection. The children are taking the role of stewards of the environment. Brilliant! ​

Nature Sculptures 

The nature sculptures were an area that the children wandered into and left, and came back when they had a new idea. Below on the left you can see the table with the supplies and sculptures in progress.  On the right you can see a child hammering and using needlenose pliers to prevent injury.  The adult was instructed by the child to hold the wood steady as she worked.  The empowerment of the children is palpable. In that I mean, the children have the autonomy to investigate and to ask for help when they need it. As this happens the teachers do not take over or even make suggestions.  They observe and assure the children's safety and assist when asked.

The Arts

The last thing a will mention today about the Wald Kindergartens is that the ARTS ARE EVERYWHERE!  They learn English through songs, they build and construct through visual art, they role play to discover their world, they sort colors and make mandellas out of leaves, some learn dances, they paint, and make sculptures and even leave special clay works of art on the trees as a surprise for passers by.  It is as though the structures they create is an natural art gallery.

I know I am bias, but from what I observed and from the interviews I believe that the arts are central to the pedagogies found at the Wald Kindergartens.   We shall see what tomorrow brings...

Here are a few photos of Speyer, Germany on the Rhine River.... Amazing city! And as a final cherry on the cake I got the chance to see the countryside as I biked from Speyer to Landau 33 kilometers... thats over 20 miles to my friends in the US.