The second term of this school year has begun. What interesting things have been happening in the past half-term in the Early Years’ special programmes “Forest School” and “In the Moment ” that they are so proud of?
Immersing in Wonderful Nature
Forest School advocates that children should explore, learn, and develop their five senses in a natural environment to improve the seven core areas of learning and development in Early Years Foundation Stage(EYFS). In the Forest School programme, the teachers take the children outdoors every Thursday for education in a natural environment, regardless of whether they are in the younger, middle, or older grades. (Except in cases of extreme weather). Children find effective ways to develop themselves in nature. They learn to climb, jump, or train their balance on large trees and mossy rocks. They sit under large trees for picnics and listen to fairy tales. They improve their senses by tasting, touching, observing, and comparing whilst amongst the grass and flowers.
In addition to the natural environment outside the school, in our school, we also have a patch of “Natural Paradise” where every little animal, flower, and grass is the result of the children’s hard work.
From land preparation to the blossoming of flowers and fruits, the garden took three years to build. It has become the children’s “forest” in the school and in recognition of its development, Malvern College Chengdu received the Sustainability Award at the first annual British Schools Awards in 2021.
Questions from our pupils:
Ricco: The chicks hatched in the incubator are ready to lay eggs. Who can take the eggs home this week?
Edward: Why can’t two ducks lay eggs?
Yinyin: The teacher taught us about the twenty-four solar terms. Which season is best for planting radishes?
Huajiao: Why didn’t our radishes grow?
Smile: How do we fertilize it?
Children education specialist Ruixue Sun believes that children have a natural interest in learning and they learn every moment of the day. They don’t just learn from books but also from life experiences. Children are free to explore outdoors and indoors whenever they want, and their learning happens every moment of the day.
Vegetable Garden ” Little Beauty” of the “In the Moment”
In the nature and ecology project, children found that the seeds they had just planted were quickly eaten by birds. So, the children began discussing this discovery with their companions. How do they ensure that the vegetables in the vegetable garden are not eaten? Answer: Make a scarecrow! The children spent the afternoon in the carpentry workshop under the guidance of the teacher and nailed wood to make the body of the scarecrow. Then, they used needles and threads to make the scarecrow’s clothes and its face. They named the scarecrow “Little Beauty”.
The children always enjoy learning “In the Moment” because they are always doing something of immense interest to them. “In the moment” planning means that while teaching Early Years’ pupils, teachers will carefully observe the children’s behaviour, identify the learning content that most interests them, and then expand it to develop the children’s curiosity in order to achieve development goals.
Our Early Years teachers play crucial roles and they must be very professional. They must carefully observe and understand the children in order to add a wide variety of new vocabulary and knowledge. Children usually stay focused during such activities because they find them interesting. In an ordinary course design, we may only get 50% of the children’s attention because it is designed for ourselves. However, “In the Moment” increases children’s participation rate to 100% and they exhibit active learning behaviours because they choose to do so. Teachers must be very considerate to provide children with ongoing support.
