Kindercamp creates opportunities for success in, outside classroom

Kindercamp creates opportunities for success in, outside classroom - Holland, MI - The Holland Sentinel

The full article can be read from the link above.

What a great programme and how intelligent to use the the transitional period as a non-confronting segue from an early education environment to a formal education system/ Less stress on the children, the teachers and the parents.  A smart, thoughtful and sensitive programme; of course we won't adopt its use.


"Armed with colorful hula-hoops and small plastic magnifying glasses, a group of soon-to-be kindergartners spent part of Monday morning outside discovering plants and insects before moving inside to learn how to line up for the bathroom and sit quietly in the hall.

It was all part of Kindercamp, a three-day program for area incoming kindergartners from Hamilton, Holland, West Ottawa and Zeeland put on by staff from the Outdoor Discovery Center Macatawa Greenway and Ready For School.

During camp, children spend time in the classroom with their teachers, which allows them to adjust to their new surroundings before the formal school year begins. Pat VerDuin, executive director of Ready for School, said research shows that achieving a comfort level in the classroom very early in a child's educational career has a profound positive impact on students' long-term learning abilities.

The time also gives teachers a chance to individually assess students and determine where they stand academically and socially prior to the start of school.

In addition to the in-school portion of the camp, staff from the Outdoor Discovery Center lead the children in activities outside to pique their interest in nature and their sense of discovery and curiosity. Getting the kids outside and playing in the outdoors for a few hours a day is extremely important, Outdoor Discovery Center Executive Director Travis Williams said.

According to the Children in Nature Network, play in nature during childhood is an important time for developing the capacities for creativity, problem-solving and emotional and intellectual development.

"When they're learning about colors and shapes, why not go outside?" he said. "They don't need a field trip. They don't need to spend money. They can just come right out here," Williams said, pointing to a green space outside West Ottawa's Great Lakes Elementary.

On Monday, the students lay down hula-hoops and inspected the area within the circle to see what kind they could find. "What did you find?" a teacher asked the group. One girl responded, "A stick and an ant!" Another chimed in, "I found all kinds of stuff. I found some beetles. They look like bugs!"

Children who spend three-quarters of their time in sedentary behavior have up to nine times poorer motor coordination than active peers

Children who spend three-quarters of their time in sedentary behavior have up to nine times poorer motor coordination than active peers

Link to the original article by clicking on the hyper-link above

Children who spend more than three-quarters of their time engaging in sedentary behaviour, such as watching TV and sitting at computers, have up to nine times poorer motor coordination than their more active peers, reveals a study published in the American Journal of Human Biology.

The study, involving Portuguese children, found that physical activity alone was not enough to overcome the negative effect of sedentary behaviour on basic motor coordination skills such as walking, throwing or catching, which are considered the building blocks of more complex movements.

"Childhood is a critical time for the development of motor coordination skills which are essential for health and well-being," said lead author Dr Luis Lopes, from the University of Minho. "We know that sedentary lifestyles have a negative effect on these skills and are associated with decreased fitness, lower self-esteem, decreased academic achievement and increased obesity."

Dr Lopes' team studied 110 girls and 103 boys aged nine to ten from 13 urban elementary schools. The children's sedentary behaviour and physical activity were objectively measured with accelerometers (a small device that children attach to their waist that quantifies movement counts and intensities) over five consecutive days. Motor coordination was evaluated with the KTK test (Körperkoordination Test für Kinder), which includes balance, jumping laterally, hopping on one leg over an obstacle and shifting platforms.

The tests were supplemented with a questionnaire for parents to assess health variables, before the authors compiled the results into three models to calculate odd ratios for predicting motor coordination. These were adjusted for physical activity, accelerometer wear time, waist to height ratio and home variables.

On average the children spent 75.6% of their time being sedentary, but the impact on motor coordination was found to be greater on boys than girls.

Girls who spent 77.3% or more of their time being sedentary were 4 to 5 times less likely to have normal motor coordination than more active girls. However, boys who were sedentary for more than 76% of their time were between 5 to 9 times less likely to have good or normal motor coordination than their active peers.

"It is very clear from our study that a high level of sedentary behaviour is an independent predictor of low motor coordination, regardless of physical activity levels and other key factors" said Lopes. "High sedentary behaviour had a significant impact on the children's motor coordination, with boys being more adversely affected than girls."

Until now there has been little research into the links between sedentary behaviour and motor coordination, but these findings reveal that physical activity did not counteract the negative effects that high levels of sedentary behaviour had on motor coordination.

"The results demonstrate the importance of setting a maximum time for sedentary behaviour, while encouraging children to increase their amount of physical activity," concluded Lopes. "We hope that our findings will make a valuable contribution to the debate on child health and encourage future investigations on this subject."

Growing Greenies: One Wild! Summer...

Growing Greenies: One Wild! Summer...

Just finished reading this blog by RebbeccaJ at "Growing Greenies". Fantastic! If you're an educator and looking for ideas on how to introduce or extend nature based concepts, there's buckets of great stuff here. Love the decorated "observation tubes".

Dr. Rebecca Palacios: Science for the Summer! Part Three: Explorations

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Dr. Rebecca Palacios: Science for the Summer! Part Three: Explorations

If you've missed Dr Palacios ' previous two articles you can find them here and here.

In this article she deals with concepts of physics and nature.  

If your looking at additional ways to get into gardening or for interesting nature experiences you and the children in your care, or your children, can share get a free .pdf copy of

 a "A Comprehensive Guide to Growing Vegetables".

The full article can be read from the link above   

In my most recent blog, you found information regarding summer explorations based on science activities. Those included insects, shadows and light and sound and vibration.

This blog will offer suggestions on wheels, balls and motion and also on seeds and plants.

Wheels, Balls and Motion
Motion is fascinating for young children. They love to throw, roll, catch and watch things move. You can either create an indoor space for this exploration or an outdoor space.

Activities
Gather all of the wheeled toys you can find around the house and place them in a basket or plastic tub. Then set up ramps so that your child has an opportunity to roll the small cars down the ramps, changing the angle of the ramp as an exploration. Once your child has had a week or two to experiment with the cars, you can place balls, like golf balls or ping pong balls, in the bin to roll. Try including small square blocks for comparison.

You and your child can also gather various things that will roll: a curler, a rolling pin, or different kinds of balls or hoops. You can also create an outdoor exploration area where your child can try rolling, throwing, kicking and moving things in different ways.

Questions
• Where can you find wheels in the house or outside?
• How can you make something move faster?
• How much faster can you make something go?
• How can you slow something down?
• What things roll the best?

Seeds and Plants
Seeds and plants are a favorite exploration of mine because they are everywhere and are easy to obtain. Young children can learn that plants come from seeds, that seeds come in various sizes, shapes and colors, and that plants need water, soil, air and light to live.

Activities
Create an exploration area in your kitchen where you and your child can look at dry seeds such as pinto beans, lima beans or navy beans. Your child can sort them by color or size. When you are cooking, save the seeds inside vegetables or fruits for your child to observe with a hand lens. Compare the size of a strawberry seed (which is one of the few seeds that grows on the OUTSIDE of a fruit) to the size of a watermelon seed.
Help your child plant the seeds in small cups, planters or other containers that have a small hole in the bottom.

One of my favorite school activities is to place a moistened paper towel in a plastic lunch bag and place four bean seeds in it. Place the baggie in a sunny area and the seeds should germinate in 2-3 days! Experiment with other dry seeds or with those that you found in the fruits and vegetables. Talk about what is happening with the seeds. If you have space outside, your child can plant seeds in a small area or planter to create an outdoor garden. Explain why it's important to water the plants and the need that plants have for air and light.

Questions
• What is a seed?
• How are seeds similar to and different from each other?
• What seeds do you want to plant? Why?
• What are some parts of a plant?
• What do plants need to live?
• What do leaves do?
• What do roots do?
• What do stems do?

Developing High Quality Role Play: Learning for Life

I just finished reading a really enjoyable post on Developing High Quality Role Play by Kierna Corr at Learning for Life. It related to a workshop she recently attended with Margaret Edgington, and describes how she facilitates high quality role play at her centre. I love the Blog and would recommend the post as a great information source to anyone involved in Early Education. Thank you Kierna.

White Hutchinson

I've always been a great fan of White Hutchinson. In my mind as well as being foremost in the provision of high quality, developmentally based playspaces globally, they have a great understanding of and dedication to the construction of nature based playspaces.

I get their eNewsletter and thought I might supply you web links to a few of the articles in their most recent that I enjoyed.

Finding Terroir - A Sense of Place in Outdoor Environments

Describes the sense of place or a space that W.H. attempt to imbibe into each of the playspaces they design and construct. Naturalistic playspaces, unlike KFC playgrounds, are about creating a natural environment, unique to each locale, centre and philosophy.

Ways To Do It Naturally
Discusses the frequently neglected topic of playspace maintenance. Its great to have a marvellous new natural playspace, however, like any space used in childcare, it needs to be maintained so that it's hazard free. When we design and construct a new playspace we provide a free copy of Garden Maintenance for Playspaces so the carers have the information to provide the maintenance.

Prevention of Disabilities in Children: The Environment
Discusses research that indicates toxic environmental risk factors many be responsible for a number of   childhood disabilities and how to avoid them. 

Air Quality and Outdoor Play

Discusses an often unconsidered factor in outdoor play, air quality. I found this interesting given that I live right next to Sydney's major airport and industrial hub. A number of the centres in the area that I'm in contact with frequently report having to keep their children indoors due to aircraft fuel dumps or refinery breaches. A neighbour who had once lived closer to the industrial area told me of pulling her clothes off the washing line only to find holes burned through the sheets because of airborne acids, "accidently" released by the refinery. The effect on developing lungs would be devastating.

Vertical Gardening in Outdoor Environments

A topic that is covered in A Comprehensive Guide to Growing Vegetables  and something I frequently have to plan for given the limited space in some centres and the legislative requirements in respect to preserving unencumbered space in each design.

I hope you find their articles as enlightening as I did.

Disney Develops Plant-Controlled Touch Software That Makes Music | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building

Disney Develops Plant-Controlled Touch Software That Makes Music

Wow ! Not really.  Why? I get sick of asking why.  Just because you can doesn't always mean you should. 

Plant...Computer, Plant ...Computer, Not Frankenplant! Not Plantputer! Not Complant! 

This may be very left base, very old-school, very out there, but can't you do the same thing with a...musical instrument. And you don't even need to plug it in.

"Singing flowers used to live only in the fanciful realm of cartoons, but like something out of Alice in Wonderland, Disney Research presents “Botanicus Interacticus”, an interactive music game that uses a houseplant as controller. Simply sink a single wire into the soil and the system turns any plant into an interface – users can touch any part of the plant, or be in proximity. Using the same technology found in smartphone and touch-screen monitors, the game can detect where and how the plant is being manipulated, and change the frequency of the sounds it produces."