This is such a completely fantastic idea. It would expose kids to exercise, sunlight, allergens, and germs. All things scientific theories like the hygiene hypothesis and vitamin d as a marker of outside exposure are telling us are vital to making a healthy child.
> sunlight Skin cancer, much? Maybe in Norway this makes sense. For fair skinned people in lower latitudes, maybe not.
Outdoor Preschools
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Re: Outdoor Preschools
#22cool idea. I think we have one here in San Francisco. I just wonder about rain/snow (for some areas) and then naps..where do they take them? But in general I think the kids (and adults) need more outdoor time
Re: Outdoor Preschools
#23My son goes to one of these. We moved him out of another (indoor) preschool. He loves it - the kids seem to get along better, he's been more well behaved, and it seems to foster his creativity. That said, he's also older now! But we've had a great experience.
Re: Outdoor Preschools
#24It didn't cost much money, and the part time wages were plenty to cover a lot of expenses. Unfortunately, the value of our money was destroyed by politicians, and wages have been depressed for several decades due to economic policies in place.
Re: Outdoor Preschools
#25This is a very concise (11:32) video that goes over some of the culture and thinking around outdoor kindergartens.
I believe that it is quite informative:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkiij9dJfcw&feature=youtu.be
I believe that the best part about these schools is that early on they explicitly teach teamwork and understanding limits. It's quite shocking culturally seeing kids whittling with sharp knives and climbing rather precarious trees but it seems to work well.
Re: Outdoor Preschools
#26Re: Outdoor Preschools
#27Related, Governors Island in NYC has a huge area called 'The Yard' [0] that's full of.. random hunks of wood and metal, pallets, rope, random tires and broken appliances. All for kids to play around in. It's just stuff a normal kid in a big city wouldn't get exposed to. [0] https://govisland.com/things-to-do/programs/playgroundnycs-t...
Re: Outdoor Preschools
#28Re: Outdoor Preschools
#29My oldest kid was at a Danish outdoor pre-school. They wouldn't be in execpt for taking nap. Other than that they were outside come rain or shine.