St. Albert and Sturgeon Catholic students will have Mother Nature as their teacher next school year as part of a new outdoor kindergarten program.
Greater St. Albert Catholic trustees approved the creation of the new Nature Kindergarten Extension program at their Nov. 29 meeting.
This program will see kindergarten students take classes mostly outdoors so they can enjoy the environment, explained assistant superintendent of learning services Cathy Giesbrecht. The program will emphasize learning through playing, nature, and exploration.
“We know there’s a tremendous interest in our community in regard to the environment,” Giesbrecht said, and plenty of research to suggest educational benefits to learning outdoors.
A report to the board showed the program will cost parents $325 a month and roll out at École Father Jan, Albert Lacombe, and École Notre Dame in September 2022.
The St. Albert and Sturgeon public school districts have offered outdoor/nature-based kindergarten for several years.
Amy Cornet has run an outdoor kindergarten program at Sturgeon Heights for two years. In it, students spend a significant chunk of each day outdoors, learning about nature, social skills, and other subjects through play.
“Five-year-olds are not designed to sit in a desk all day and just do work,” Cornet said, when asked about why students should attend outdoor kindergarten.
“Five-year-olds are meant to run, scream, play, and explore.”
Cornet said outdoor classes make kids more attentive and bolster their creativity and physical skills. They also allow for spontaneous lessons — a chance meeting with a snowy owl one year led her class to spend all day learning about winter birds, for example.
Abi Henneberry, who has run an outdoor kindergarten at Lois E. Hole Elementary since 2017, said teachers and parents should expect to see improved stamina and emotional regulation in students who attend outdoor kindergarten, as well as better observational skills and sleep patterns.
“It makes better scientists. It makes better environmentalists. It makes better community members.”
Registration for GSACRD’s Nature Kindergarten will start after the Jan. 13, 2022, Kindergarten Expo. Call 780-459-7711 for details.
