Forest kindergarten
The forest kindergarten or kindergarten is a natural form of the nursery, who comes from Scandinavia. In the forest kindergarten children learn between three and six years of age (some are already under three years ) education, training and support. Most activities are held outside permanently fixed buildings, mostly in the woods.
Historical
Ella Flatau from the Danish Sölleröd founded in the 1950s, the first forest kindergarten, having initially often went with their own and neighbors' children into the forest and this form of child care had caused great interest among other parents. Interested parents banded together and founded an initiative called the first forest nursery to life - an idea that continues to spread in the Scandinavian region. The first Forest and Nature Kindergarten in Germany was in 1968 in Wiesbaden. The founder Ursula Sube organized this forest kindergarten privately, but never received by the competent youth welfare office official permission for this form of the kindergarten.
The forest kindergarten movement was only in the 1990s, much wider appeal. The first recognized forest kindergarten began in 1993 in Flensburg. Currently, many new groups are formed. Today there are well over 1000 (as of December 2012) forest kindergartens in Germany, 23 forest kindergartens in Austria and about a dozen forest nurseries and crèches in Switzerland. In addition to pure forest kindergartens, there are also wood and animal nurseries, where children also care about the treatment and care of animals.
Conditions
The forest kindergarten is often referred to as "Kindergarten without a roof and walls ." The main difference from conventional kindergartens is that the children cared for by their educators to kindergarten everyday almost continuously outside of buildings, that is, in the woods, on the lawn or on the beach, spend. The outdoor activities take place in any weather; The only restrictions are in weather conditions that make a safe stay outdoors impossible. Mandatory are in Germany a heated accommodation reasonably near the forest area in which children and teachers will be applied in very bad weather protection and residential opportunity. For this purpose, usually serve a heated trailer or a cabin in the woods. In the forest kindergarten is not generally on commercial toys. The children play with natural objects that they find in their environment. The prescribed group size is a forest nursery at 15 to 20 children at a key of at least two nationally recognized educators. Apart from these conditions, make the forest kindergartens than regular kindergartens, formed in which children are accompanied and educated. Meanwhile, there are proven training and continuing education opportunities to work as educational specialist in the forest kindergarten.
The legal form of a forest kindergarten is usually the registered association ( eV ). The teaching staff are employees then this association. Financially, a forest kindergarten contributes, through grants, donations and contributions from parents. The government grants are, however, different from place to place. Chance operate the educator the forest kindergarten in -house and close to the parents under private law contracts.
Effects of forest kindergarten teachers
There is between the effects that benefits and opportunities of forest kindergarten pedagogy now a number of scientific papers (eg Grahn et al 1997. Gorges 1999, 2002; Haefner 2002; Huppertz 2004).
The daily stay in the wild supports a positive development of children's motor skills and perception in the areas of gross and fine motor skills, coordination, tactile perception and proprioception. Children who visited a forest kindergarten, are school-based requirement is not less well prepared than children who have attended a regular kindergarten - they are even in the majority of areas a bit better graded ( Haefner 2002; Gorges, 1999, 2002 ). Children in the forest kindergarten are physically stable, have fewer accidents and fall safely. Since most forest nurseries conceptually not use a conventional toy with " prescribed " meaning and the children play with objects of nature, the forest education also has an effect on language development of supportive, because the kids exchange more frequently verbally about the importance of objects and the game ( Hot Bold 2002). In the forest kindergarten children and teachers are generally less noisy polluted than indoors. Traditional kindergartens have a higher noise levels and therefore an increased stress in children and educators. Were also identified positive effects on the immune system of children and educators through the hour-long stay in the open air (warm Bold 2002).
Another effect of the forest kindergarten education is on a different level: Since the increased establishment of forest nurseries in Germany and discussions and publications on this topic are more and more kindergartens forest days, Forest weeks or forest projects in their program with a. In this way, they try at least to have the benefits of the forest kindergarten pedagogy temporarily get their children.