Wondering Wolves Nature Kindergarten at Seven Persons School

Southern Alberta Newspapers Photo Submitted. NATURE: Teacher Natasha Finnie (blue coat) talking to the class, with two parent volunteers standing by, before heading out on a walk in Police Point Park.

By Samantha Johnson
Prairie Rose Public Schools Content Writer

This past September, Seven Persons School added a nature element to the existing Kindergarten program. On scheduled Fridays, two or three each month, the class ventures to natural areas in Medicine Hat and the surrounding region. Teacher Natasha Finnie obtained her Forest and Nature practitioner certificate through Child Nature Alliance of Canada (childnature.ca), who offer an outdoor five-day in-person course along with a one-year online component, to teach the skills to offer the program safely and successfully.

“The premise is to open the walls of the classroom and let nature act as the primary educator with me there to facilitate learning opportunities,” explained Finnie. “The intent is not to take our existing classroom and simply move it outside, but to create a new learning experience where curricular outcomes are met in an organic way sparked by the curiosity of the students.”

The idea for Wondering Wolves Nature Kindergarten came to Finnie during her time off after welcoming her second baby. Her eldest, who was three at the time, was exhibiting developmentally appropriate, yet frustrating behavioural issues. After delving into the research to nurture her son’s development, she discovered being outdoors in the natural environment were recurring themes.

“The research brought me to the idea that children today, and our society as a whole, are being deprived of the natural world and its benefits to human development and well-being. We began dedicating more of our days to being outdoors and the results for all of us were amazing.”

This got Finnie thinking about her day-to-day experiences in the classroom, and she wondered how she could incorporate more outdoor time into her classroom activities. “The research kept indicating that the real benefits of being outdoors come from children being given unstructured time to engage their natural curiosities about the world around them in a natural environment.”

When the class was at Police Point Park, they went on a short walk before stopping for a snack and playtime. On the walk, lots of spontaneous questions came from the students about the shape of the trees, the wildlife in the park and the river. After the snack the students enjoyed a period of unstructured play, either singly or in groups, and used the natural elements to enhance their experience.

“We look for places that offer untouched natural landscapes for the kids to engage in, but we also need infrastructure such as washrooms and a contingency plan for inclement weather. Kin Coulee has the kitchenette we rented and at Police Point they had a couple of hours in the theatre room,” said Finnie. “We are also teaching them how to be outdoors and what kind of clothing is going to be the most comfortable in certain types of weather.”

She created a gear guide for families on how to dress for different weather and sends out a memo a few days before the program. The memo has the forecast along with appropriate gear to dress their child in so they will be comfortable.

“If they aren’t comfortable, they won’t enjoy the day and it’s also a huge a safety concern. We always have extra stuff as well should the kids lose anything. We do a bag and gear check before we come out to ensure they have what they need,” stated Finnie. The day the group went to Police Point Park started out colder than anticipated and many of the students weren’t wearing outer pant wear. Finnie and Educational Assistant Sarah Widmer ensured each one was wearing snow pants, along with warm shoes, coats, hats, and gloves before getting on the bus. They also brought a tub of extra gear with them to the park so children could remove layers or add new ones as required.