“Nature is the source of wonder, and the child should be allowed
to experience it without any interference.
”
The Waldorf School of DuPage (WSD) is nested in five acres of wooded land and gardens that allow our students and families to enjoy and live in the mood of the four seasons. As Waldorf educators, we believe that Nature's Beauty and Wonder should be experienced by every child throughout the year. WSD’s Early Childhood curriculum unfolds from outside in, emphasizing and taking inspiration from all the learning experiences that Mother Nature blesses us with daily. This inspiration reveals itself indoors during: play, art, storytelling and nourishing homemade meals, often seasoned with herbs grown, watered and harvested by caring little hands. Year after year our gardens bloom with gratitude in return for all the reverence our students give those flowers.
On Earth Day, seven years ago, a group of volunteer parents from our EC program gathered their green thumbs and a surplus of plants from their own gardens. They devoted their efforts to revitalize an almost forgotten corner of our grounds. One of our grandmothers was versed in gardening with native plants and gave these volunteers a practical vision of how to work the space. She also donated a number of colorful, native seedlings to get the project started.
They all set themselves to work while the children were indoors painting and playing. By the end of the day, that forgotten corner, full of weeds and Poison Ivy had turned into a perennial and gorgeous Rainbow Garden. Flower beds were built around our old Crabapple tree. An amazing sandbox was placed under one of our Honey Locust trees- fondly called a“Never-Give-Up” tree by one of our dear students. Final touches of herbs, bushes, ornamental grasses, a Weeping Cherry and a baby Redbud were planted by the hillside between our garden and the neighbors’. It was lovely. Simply lovely!
Soon after, logs and smooth large rocks appeared to border the flower beds. A little bridge, surrounded by Ostrich Ferns, was placed over the old, cast iron drainage crate. There is even a play house now built by the sandbox. Some sand toys and a number of well used pots and pans were donated. Log benches were made and wonderful treasures inevitably found their perfect place therein: wooden trucks and animals, wagons, sea shells, and a gnome. The space couldn’t be complete without whimsical bird houses, feeders, and most importantly, a birdbath! It could not be called a garden without a birdbath- our favorite nature play thing!
Children learned to play and walk gently through that special corner of our school. In due time the new green area attracted other playful members of our forest to visit us day and night- beloved feathered friends, rabbits, chipmunks, butterflies, raccoons, squirrels, deer, even foxes every now and then, all enjoy being a part of our growing community.
It has been a delight to watch how much this special little garden soothes our senses and how much learning and joy takes place in it all year round! The children look out the window and sense when it is windy, or very cold or rainy just by observing the water of the birdbath. They learn to experience the water element in all its natural states throughout the seasons without us having to call it “a science experiment.”
The birds visit their bird feeders right about the same time we eat our snack, and when children sense that it is time to eat our meal they sweetly ask, “Is it bird o’clock yet?” The Plant world lends itself to their imagination, where fairy houses, herb sand cakes, pretending bonfires, leaf and flower crowns become priceless. And this is in part how we tune our curriculum to the rhythms of nature while observing, playing, singing, caring, learning….
In a few years this little garden initiative breathed out into the forest areas, other surrounding flower beds around our building and down into our retention pond. Lively and cheerful pollinator garden plots now surround our school, enlivening our children’s learning experience throughout the four seasons. Every September our beautiful grounds welcome new families and playmates to join our gardens in full summer bloom and remind us once more of our deep connection with the natural world.
