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Brush up your German and see this recent report of a day in a Waldkindergarten... Kindergarten in the forest - which is a popular concept in Germany. http://w

by lispm 9y ago

Brush up your German and see this recent report of a day in a Waldkindergarten... Kindergarten in the forest - which is a popular concept in Germany. http://www.ardmediathek.de/tv/Landesschau-Baden-Württemberg/Ein-Tag-im-Waldkindergarten/SWR-Baden-Württemberg/Video?bcastId=250286&documentId=47325508 http://www.ardmediathek.de/tv/Landesschau-Baden-Württemberg/... The video speaks for itself: It shows a day in the Waldkindergarten of the Sonnenkinder, the 'sun children'. A woman from Canada has her son for the second day there. Another father reports that his son made problems at home and here is busy at any weather. When every child arrived, they walk 20 minutes together to the Waldtheater - the Forest Theater - the green living room. The first group made fire, already - a daily ritual. They also get something to do with various tools. One of the youngest is 2 y 9m and has somebody looking after him. The small children see it as a magical place. It's not allowed to harm the nature. At the end of the day every child has made its own personal experience, they walk back together and are looking forward to the next day in the forest.

rumcajz 9y ago
This is a thing in Switzerland as well. The waldkrippen are all over the place. It looks like it may be a traditional thing, but I don't know what the history of it really is. I should also say that at the age of 4 kids are expected to go to kindergarden on their own.
chucksmash 9y ago
For those who don't feel up to brushing off their German, the NYT also had an article about this in May: https://nytimes.com/2017/05/18/t-magazine/germany-forest-kindergarten-outdoor-preschool-waldkitas.html https://nytimes.com/2017/05/18/t-magazine/germany-forest-kin...
Fnoord 9y ago
Non-native German speakers can probably translate it with services such as Google Translate. The German Wikipedia entry for Waldkindergarten [1] says its originally from Scandinavia btw: "Der Waldkindergarten oder Naturkindergarten ist eine Form des Kindergartens, die aus Skandinavien stammt. Im Waldkindergarten erfahren Kinder im Alter zwischen drei und sechs Jahren (teilweise bereits unter drei Jahren) Erziehung, Bildung und Betreuung. Die meisten Aktivitäten finden außerhalb fester Gebäude statt, meistens im Wald." [1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldkindergarten https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldkindergarten
Symbiote 9y ago
They're also very popular in Denmark, and the rest of Scandinavia. Description in English: http://denmark.dk/en/meet-the-danes/forest-preschools http://denmark.dk/en/meet-the-danes/forest-preschools And a small documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkiij9dJfcw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkiij9dJfcw An equally significant difference for me, coming from the UK, is that there are men working in childcare. My window overlooks a street where a lot of nursery and primary school groups walk past on their way to the park, and my guess is half the adults are men. I was 9 years old in England when I first had a male teacher.
- eru 9y ago
  I can see that hanging out in the forest and building fires etc, would definitely attract me (as a guy) more towards childcare than having to be bored indoors all year.
  - King-Aaron 9y ago
    This is why I think there is strong value in preserving organisations such as the Scouts and Girl Guides. Kids should definitely have these experiences - both boys and girls. I'm a bit biased, as I was in the scouts for 17 years... In Australia that was Joey Scouts, Cub Scouts, Scouts, Venturer Scouts and Rovers. Theres a group for basically every age. I feel that years of predatory leaders may have irreversibly damaged the reputation of the organisation though.

by lispm 9y ago

rumcajz 9y ago

This is a thing in Switzerland as well. The waldkrippen are all over the place. It looks like it may be a traditional thing, but I don't know what the history of it really is. I should also say that at the age of 4 kids are expected to go to kindergarden on their own.

chucksmash 9y ago

For those who don't feel up to brushing off their German, the NYT also had an article about this in May: https://nytimes.com/2017/05/18/t-magazine/germany-forest-kindergarten-outdoor-preschool-waldkitas.html https://nytimes.com/2017/05/18/t-magazine/germany-forest-kin...

Fnoord 9y ago

Non-native German speakers can probably translate it with services such as Google Translate. The German Wikipedia entry for Waldkindergarten [1] says its originally from Scandinavia btw: "Der Waldkindergarten oder Naturkindergarten ist eine Form des Kindergartens, die aus Skandinavien stammt. Im Waldkindergarten erfahren Kinder im Alter zwischen drei und sechs Jahren (teilweise bereits unter drei Jahren) Erziehung, Bildung und Betreuung. Die meisten Aktivitäten finden außerhalb fester Gebäude statt, meistens im Wald." [1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldkindergarten https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldkindergarten

Symbiote 9y ago

They're also very popular in Denmark, and the rest of Scandinavia. Description in English: http://denmark.dk/en/meet-the-danes/forest-preschools http://denmark.dk/en/meet-the-danes/forest-preschools And a small documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkiij9dJfcw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkiij9dJfcw An equally significant difference for me, coming from the UK, is that there are men working in childcare. My window overlooks a street where a lot of nursery and primary school groups walk past on their way to the park, and my guess is half the adults are men. I was 9 years old in England when I first had a male teacher.

eru 9y ago
I can see that hanging out in the forest and building fires etc, would definitely attract me (as a guy) more towards childcare than having to be bored indoors all year.
- King-Aaron 9y ago
  This is why I think there is strong value in preserving organisations such as the Scouts and Girl Guides. Kids should definitely have these experiences - both boys and girls. I'm a bit biased, as I was in the scouts for 17 years... In Australia that was Joey Scouts, Cub Scouts, Scouts, Venturer Scouts and Rovers. Theres a group for basically every age. I feel that years of predatory leaders may have irreversibly damaged the reputation of the organisation though.