Wildlife Australia - Spring 2017

REWILDING HUMANITY

with more traditional methods of documenting and reporting
(like our journals or the daily almanac in which we record
seasonal changes in the park and the weather). The children are
acute ‘nature noticers’, aware of microcosms within the park.
Their current obsession is with fungi. We use fungi identification
guides and the microscope, and we photograph mushroom
clusters over time, measuring the growth rate and how quickly
they multiply or die. Last week, one of the children found a
mushroom he hadn’t observed before. Close inspection and the
use of the guide still didn’t turn up a clear match. The mushroom
was a little like this one and a little like that (just think of the
numeracy processes at play: wondering, noticing, comparing).
Finally, he declared, ‘I think I’ve found a new species! I will call it
the George Mushroom!’– a taxonomist in the making.

Documenting growth

As teachers, we research and document language development
during Bush Kindy. One of our projects is examining vocabulary
development and the adjectives children use to describe nature.
Utterances are longer and more complex (especially among boys)
in an outdoor setting. Engagement levels are also higher, based
on our research using the ‘Respect Reflect Relate’ documents.
Even children who are non-verbal/select mute in indoor classes
seem happy to chat at Bush Kindy. The difference is incredible.
So too, our reluctant writers and readers happily write in their
Bush Kindy journals and point out signage in the park.
At Bush Kindy, the kids walk between 10,000 and 16,000 steps
in a day, and their stamina is improving over time. We see
children learning to listen to their bodies and risk assess. ‘Do
I feel safe? Can I do this? Will this branch support my weight?’
Going up and down over uneven terrain builds coordination and
muscle strength. Climbing and stick play build core strength and
balance. Building cubbies and bridges offers opportunities for
teamwork, along with fabulous socio-dramatic play scripts.

Our 2016 attendance records were above state average, which
we attributed to two factors: firstly, the parents and children
value this program and try to ensure they don’t miss it, and
secondly, children who are out in the fresh air tend not to be
unwell for long periods of time. Several studies suggest that
exposure to pets, animals and microbial elements in soil can
help strengthen the immune system and prevent allergies
(Ownby, et al. 2002; Gilbert & Knight, 2017). We suspect that
being in the bush is enhancing immune systems and that the
normal maladies easily contracted in a kindergarten classroom
are not so easily passed on outdoors.
A major part of Bush Kindy is instilling in the children their
custodianship over Bushland Park. We are working with Friends
of Bushland Park, NRME and the Adelaide Hills Council to help
children identify weeds and indigenous species. With local
council help, we hope to propagate native species for planting
out in other green spaces. Part of our environmental education is
to make sure that we are treading lightly and acting sustainably,
both at Bushland Park and back on site. We want children to
cultivate a respect for nature, to forge a uniquely personal
relationship with this special place. We believe that what they
don’t know, they won’t value, and what they don’t value, they
won’t care enough to save.
One of the great successes of the program has been the ripple
effect it has had on our feeder schools and our community.

Families that never camped or bushwalked now do so, and

Lobethal Primary School is running its own Bush School program.

We take great delight in seeing snippets on social media of our

kindergarten children taking their relatives on tours of Bushland

Park. The children are aware that they are not only powerful

learners, but also researchers and teachers. We hope this respect

for nature never leaves them, turning Bush Kindy kids of today into

the eco-warriors this world so desperately needs for tomorrow.

READING Louv R. 2010. Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature

Deficit Disorder. Atlantic Books, London, UK. Louv R. 2013. The Nature Principle.

Algonquin Books, New York. Carlile A. 365 Nature. Explore Australia, South Yarra,

Australia. Hanscom AJ. 2016. Balanced and Barefoot: How Unrestricted Outdoor

Play Makes for Strong, Confident, and Capable Children. New Harbinger Publications,

Oakland, Califoria, USA. Ownby DR, Johnson CC, Peterson EL. 2002. Exposure to dogs

and cats in the first year of life and risk of allergic sensitization at 6 to 7 years of age.

JAMA 288:963–972. Gilbert J, Knight R. 2017. Dirt Is Good: The Advantage of Germs

for Your Child’s Developing Immune System. St. Martin’s Press, NY.

JANELLE WARD is a kindergarten teacher with twenty years of experience

working with children. She has ‘the best job anywhere’, teaching at the

DECD Lobethal Community Kindergarten in the Adelaide Hills, a recognised

STEM Lead Learning Site for SA DECD. The Kindergarten runs a renowned

Nature Play Program, including their ‘Bush Kindy’ program in Terms 2 and 3.

Staff are committed to reflective practice and nature pedagogy.

In a bush environment,

children are researchers,

scientists, explorers,

engineers, and

mathematicians. Photo:

Janelle Ward

NATURE CONNECTIONS

Encouraging kids to read non-fiction

helps support outdoors education.

Nature enthusiast Daniel Ward, 10,

reviews Animal Eco-Warriors by Nic

Gill, published by CSIRO publishing.

This book certainly taught me a few things! I had no idea

domestic cats and wild cats are, in fact, the same species –

let alone all of the problems feral cats can cause. I learned

how unique it is that dogs and humans work so well

together, and that crazy ants are aggressive – and I was

really intrigued by how they spray acid! It is amazing how

many eggs the queen can lay, and how they recruit more

queens. It’s an endless cycle.

I liked how the book was presented, with small, easy-to-

read chapters and short paragraphs. The ‘Want to know

more?’ sections are very instructive. What really caught

my eye were the clear photographs. There are some very

interesting photos in this book. I already want to be involved

with nature as a marine biologist or a palaeontologist when I

grow up, but for kids who don’t understand the importance

of nature and what we can do to protect it, this book is a

good place to start.

Ages: 8–12 RRP: $24.95 4 out of 5 stars

Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes

and rivers, the mountain and the sea,

are excellent school masters, and

teach some of us more than we can

ever learn from books. – John Lubbock

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