• 01/08/2022
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Movement is the basic need for young children.And they have it in a forest kindergarten, says Tereza Valkounová<

Paradoxically, the head of the Forest School Association spend a lot of time on a chair at the computer and meetings with people."And going out is a little rare," he says.License | Some Rights reserved forMartin Mach Ondrej / Ekolist.CZ Forest kindergartens are quite new phenomenon in our country.And as soon as they were created and settled a little, they were already threatened to disappear.About why it ended well, for whom forest kindergartens are and what children bring to Tereza Valkounová, head of the Association of Forest Kindergartens.We know the ads are annoying.And we respect that you have them off :-) We will be happy if you support us differently.

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This question is probably interested in a lot of people who have ever heard of forest kindergartens.How do small children do when they need a toilet?

Toilet question (laughs).It's like when children are on a trip in nature with parents.They look for a place that is not much in sight.And trying to keep the place after them not visibly polluted.

The experience of practice is also that children who go out with a forest nursery regularly set the regime by walking either before or after the kindergarten.Rarely have a great need in the forest.And with a little need there is almost no problem, they are undressing, peeing and dusting again.

How is "accidents" dealing with when a child may pee out?

The guides must be ready for that.They therefore have quite a cost of things, including universal spare clothes.At the same time, children wear their spare linen in their backpack.

There are always two adults in a forest kindergarten.And if there is a big problem that cannot be solved on site in the forest, it will be divided.And one of them can go with the child to the background and put things right there, and the other will stay with the group.

A few years ago no one knew about forest kindergartens.Today I feel that at least my peers, people with children, know about forest kindergartens.If they no longer have their children in them.How did it happen that the phenomenon of forest kindergartens jumped here so quickly?

Les nabízí dětem různorodý pohyb.Licence | Všechna práva vyhrazena. Další šíření je možné jen se souhlasem autoraZdroj |Asociace lesních mateřských škol

Boom here is definitely.The Association of Forest Kindergartens broke seven years ago.And from zero it fired at 130 kindergartens, where we have been holding for the second year.Further growth may not be so fast, but we think the number of forest nurseries is great and we are very happy about it.

And how do you explain the rapid increase?

People live mainly in cities, but they also notice that children are cool in nature.That they have everything they need.And when we talk about preschool children, they mainly need movement that outdoors, in nature, get.

Sometimes it happens that a parent or educator will say that a child is angry with.But it only has an unfulfilled need for a need.And in forest kindergartens we see that they are not naughty.It is, for example, because they have enough movement.

Movement is simply the basic need for a preschool child and in the forest is available unlimited and in many forms.And it's not just some nonsensical running, but a diverse movement.And this is important for the development of the child's brain.

Přečtěte si také |
Jak obléknout děti do lesní školky, když je venku ošklivo?

And what leads someone to establish a forest kindergarten?

Interestingly, forest kindergartens are mainly founded by parents of children who want such a thing for their children.It is no implementation from the mountain of the given regulation.It is a typical example of Grassroot.

It helped a lot that there was a way to run forest kindergartens legally.This was one of the reasons for the establishment of the Association to find a way to operate officially often in -formally functioning forest nurseries.

And just met well.There are parents who want to have children in a forest kindergarten.There are forest nurseries.And there is an association that helps establish it and brought experience and information from abroad what it may look like.

But at the beginning there was not much confidence from the state and the public, right?

So she is still a new thing now.And it is natural to have concern about the unknown, especially when it comes to children.We understand that people are worried and want to clarify everything first.And we meet them.

Důležité je pořídit dětem kvalitní oblečení, aby byly v suchu. Pak je to v suchu.Licence |Některá práva vyhrazenaFoto | Ernst Vikne / Flickr

Forest kindergartens have been working in our country for several years and some quality has been created here.If the forest nurseries were of good quality, no parent would give their child a second time.Also because he pays it himself.So check is really very strong by parents.

And since September 2017, the state control has come.We managed to achieve the fact that forest nurseries have been anchored legislatively, which allows, among other things, the Czech school inspection, hygiene and others allow kindergartens to be supervised by the Czech school inspections, hygiene and more.

And I believe it will confirm that forest kindergartens are normal.We did not know them recently, none of the adults went to them, but now it is one of the other innovative children's education options.And who wishes for their child such education can have it.

And the supervision of the school inspection will apply to all forest nurseries?

No, only those registered in the Register of the Ministry of Education.This is voluntary for forest kindergartens.It's for kindergartens that want to be part of the system and take advantage of the benefits that it offers.And who want the finances that are associated with it.Although our experience so far is that these finances are almost all consumed to check in multiple administration.

About a quarter of kindergartens have used the opportunity to register so far.And we will try to make the conditions improve.As it is very new and there are many small obstacles on the way.But these are things that can be solved.

Základní potřebou malých dětí je pohyb. A v lesní mateřské školce ho mají, říká Tereza Valkounová

And the other forest nurseries want to stay outside the system, not to come into contact with the state.Titually go to the forest with the children and otherwise not be to see…?

Some kindergartens were more prepared and so they have registered, others are waiting for what the registration will bring.Now in the first year we are dealing with enough irregularities and so staying outside the system waiting for a clearer situation.Just a minimum of kindergartens reports that they want to stay outside the system in principle.

Well, in our country forest kindergartens can register and work in accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Education.Are you fulfilled?

Nojsou tu poličky s hračkami. Je tu příroda.Licence |Některá práva vyhrazenaFoto | Ernst Vikne / Flickr

It is very essential for us, but only the first step.Forest kindergartens are now part of the educational system.Now they have their own definition according to the Education Act and accompanying decrees where they are treated that they do not have a building where they have a background and are outside.This solved the fact that the premises for staying children inside that do not use, and the like.And this is a huge success.

Step number two will fine -tune all those little things that still stand in the way.Although for registered forest kindergartens it is not a small thing.

For example?

We are now dealing with how to set up eating.According to the Ministry of Health, this should be done correctly by importing food kindergartens as catering as catering.This would mean in practice that catering three times a day is looking for a forest where children are just.And this is not real.And now we are discussing to change it.

It would be ideal if the children could wear a snack from home with them.So far it has worked so without a problem.And even at lunch it would be nice to think of some other way that would be more affordable.

And then will it be done?

Then step three will come.Forest kindergartens show that children can educate themselves outdoors.And I believe there are many teachers in classic kindergartens who would like to teach outside who would like similar conditions, especially fewer children on teachers.In a forest kindergarten there are 15 children for two guides.

Forest nurseries show that it works like this and it is good and proven.And it could meet somewhere with teachers who would like to do that too.One of those main things is to have fewer children in the classroom.

And is there room for a forest elementary school?Or where will those children go from the forest?Under the fluorescent lamps?

Yes, this is a very common question what a poor man does the child when he gets to a normal elementary school as he will do it there.But practice shows that this is not a problem.First, the child itself matures and its need to move in the sixth and seventh year changes.Can already concentrate and sit more.

And then a lot is also that if a parent chooses a forest kindergarten, then he also chooses a very carefully elementary school to put his child on.And mostly find a school where there is no frontal teaching since the first grade.And then there are forestry schools on the level of home education or small private or municipal schools.

So there will be several primary forest schools in a few years?

Německá lesní školka v akci.Licence | Všechna práva vyhrazena. Další šíření je možné jen se souhlasem autoraZdroj |Asociace lesních mateřských škol

That is already now.I know about two about three.And either it is in the form of home education, when parents are somehow associated or strictly set up a school.But I would like a lot to be more outdoors in those classic stone schools.In a retinue.I definitely see the space here and there are a lot of teachers who do it.

Are classic stone nurseries forest?Are forest nurseries for the traditional inspiration?

Some inspiration can flow there.And stone kindergarten can be much easier to inspire a forest kindergarten than elementary schools, because kindergartens are not tied at all objects and lessons.

What kind of kindergarten teacher is fundamentally limited is the number of children in the classroom.It is a big obstacle for the teacher to pick up and take twenty -five children into the forest.But there are certainly teachers of classic kindergartens who "give it".They also come to us on courses to learn what you can do with children in the forest.

Is there any inspiration that forest nurseries could draw from the stone ones?

How to handle the terrible administration (laughs).As long as kindergartens have not registered, they only did the administration that is necessary.After registration, the kindergartens of administration really have a lot.

To give you an idea, these are two working days since someone in kindergarten has to devote to filling papers, various records, statements… and for many kindergartens this is why they do not want to go to the register and prefer to lead the old.

So it could be step four, simplify the administration...?

This is more of a task for our state administration.

For what children and for what parents are forest kindergartens actually suitable?Who are they for?

Are not for everyone.And forest nurseries often choose who they take.And it is very individual.Mainly it's about parents.The parent must be prepared to return the child to his dirty.Sometimes very dirty.Parents have to learn their children to dress well.And not every family is outdoor and not everyone has enough for their child.Even though it is quite easy to buy today.

And then the parents need to know that they are in it together with the children.That a forest kindergarten is not the same service as the classic kindergarten, where you postpone the child and go.The parent of a child in a forest kindergarten should be in narrower contact with a teacher and kindergarten to know what is happening in it and in what environment the child is.Most forest nurseries accentuate a lot of access to be together.And this is not for everyone.

And then there's one more aspect, and that's a risk.In forest kindergartens, children naturally encounter him in various activities.Whether it's climbing trees or working with sharp instruments, fire….And for some parents it may be a source of strong anxiety.Fear of a child is today a thing that society rather supports and this fear is growing strongly.And in a forest kindergarten the parent simply meets the risk.

But it's not dangerous, isn't it?

No.It is a controlled risk under adult supervision.It is a conscious risk.We know what children are going to.Children are gradually getting acquainted with the risk, learning how to handle it properly, and so they are secure much more than children who have to avoid the situation and do not learn anything about it.

But for someone it can be hard to experience.The parent comes to pick up the child in kindergarten and it, instead of waiting in order to expect, climbs somewhere in the branches.And for some it is hard not to boot him to save him, "because it certainly falls.”

Good.And who are not forest kindergartens for?

Potok. Ten pod zářivkami neteče.Licence |Některá práva vyhrazenaFoto | Martin Mach Ondřej / Ekolist.cz

This is difficult to generalize.If sterile cleanliness and absolute safety cocoon around the child is important to someone, it will certainly not get in the forest nursery.

It seems to me from my neighborhood that children are mainly given to forest kindergartens who can afford it financially.

This is a bit given by the history of the previous history, when forest kindergartens typically founded parents in the form of associations that are not entitled to a contribution from the state.And so the parents of the children had to pay it to the fullest.Which is often a considerable claim to the parental budget.

But I know about a few families who simply switched the priorities.They thought this was so essential to them that they have reduced other activities and the finances moved here.

Přání, aby děti chodili ven, mají lidé nezávisle na příjmech. Ale tím, jak většina lesních mateřských školek zatím není v registru, to není dostupné všem.

How does it know that a forest kindergarten is good or bad?

This is an important topic.We try to support it a lot during the association.First, for the kindergartens themselves, so that they themselves know how they are and for parents.We have standards of quality of forest kindergartens.Which is in the field of education in our country a very unique thing.And the standards are in several areas - towards operation, team, children and parents and so on, and map the kindergarten level.

What we do not interfere much is the educational program of the kindergarten itself.We are generally based on the Framework Educational Program, which is the state of the curriculum for pre -school facilities.

Currently of our all members meets the quality standards of 22 kindergartens.And all they have it told us that they were going through it gradually and examined what they miss in what criterion.And when they eventually passed, they told us that they suddenly feel stronger in their position.And then of course you can see outwardly.Standards are a lighthouse that helps kindergartens to clarify where they are heading.

Was there a kindergarten that was so bad in the history of the association that you put your hands away from her?

The fact that there is something wrong in kindergarten, usually much before the association finds out a parent.And happens, for example, to contact the association to arrive and solve.And we than we would put our hands away, we prefer to offer help.

We offer mentor support for kindergartens that have stuck somewhere.Typically this is a problem in communication, either in the kindergarten team or to the parents.

And we try to attract teachers from forest kindergartens who may not have a pedagogical education - because those kindergartens that are not in the register may not have them - to learn the foundations of pedagogy.To know what the basic needs of children and the basic parameters of what is expected of them.

How will he sign on a man in his childhood that he went to a forest kindergarten in his childhood?

We would like to know that (laughs).But very difficult to shield other influences.I think downright research is not.However, I remember one man I met at a conference in Germany, which went through a forest kindergarten.And he told what the forest kindergarten gave him.He mentioned the creativity that in his life he perceived various materials and possibilities that could be done with them and that led to the choice of his profession.It is of course questionable whether it is his character given or the fact of the contribution of a forest nursery.

But there are some research in the pre -school category, and they really show that forest children are really more creative.Also because they do not have a shelf in the forest with finished toys, but they have to find them in the forest and invent.And since the current world is changing rapidly, creativity and the ability to find new solutions for adults will be a strong advantage.

What it then puts in adulthood can be argued.Certainly there will be more movement they have in the forest - it is demonstrable that pre -school movement affects brain development, especially speech.And then the ability to relax.Today's children have a very exhausted attention.A huge lot of information from all sides is pushing on them.Ads of all kinds, noise that is ubiquitous in the city.Experience silence, experience nothing is tremendously hard for children.Nature allows you to experience a moment of silence and peace.Children may not have to go to expensive therapies (laughs).

Forest kindergartens are quite expensive.How okay is when the parent puts the child in the forest for just a few days a week and for the rest in a stone nursery under fluorescent lamps?Just to save.

Jejich rodiče cítí potřebu, aby jejich děti byly v lese.Licence |Některá práva vyhrazenaFoto | Martin Mach Ondřej / Ekolist.cz

We do not enjoy it for the association.For some children this process is challenging.But surely there are children who are very social and enjoy what it offers in every place.

And it is also up to the assessment of teachers in both kindergartens to tell parents whether such a rotation for a particular child is good or not.

The Association of Forest Nursery Nursing has embarked on lobbying on the land of parliament.What was the experience?

I realized first of all that it is not wrong that we are a lobby organization.We just defend the interests of some groups of organizations whose values are convinced that they are good.

Three years ago we lobbyed really strongly because it was a rescue of forest kindergartens.And I think we have learned it.And that it was a strong experience.And because it turned out well, it was very strengthening for us.

We have found that politics is not black and white that there are people with whom you can go and look for a solution.That it does not necessarily have to be a fight but may be a dialogue.Some deputies also accepted an invitation to visit a forest kindergarten, some of them even took suitable shoes.And then, when they defended us in parliament, it was obvious that they knew what they were talking about.

It was also essential that the media was on our side.

Do you get as the head of the Association of Forest Kindergartens into the forest?

Well, it's a paradox, but I spend a lot of time on a chair at a computer and meetings with people.And going out is a little rare.

Fortunately we have educational programs for educators that take place outside.And then I enjoy.

How does Czech forest nurseries stand compared to foreign?

In other countries, legislation is much looser.The law there simply says that children should be warm, but it is no longer determined whether it is 24.5 ° C.Just enough for children to be warm.And does not solve whether it is an interior or clothing.

And then in the West it is a common model that children go to kindergarten only for part of the day, typically for the morning.In our country it was driven that kindergartens are all day.This is better in my opinion because at noon may not be dealt with how to pick up the child and transport somewhere to eat and sleep.When they are in the woods all day, it just takes place naturally in the forest.

Of course, we are still inspired abroad. Nojčastěji jde o takové ty praktické vychytávky, které umožňují jednoduchý provoz venku. Nodávno jsme se třeba v Berlíně naučili, jak rozdělávat oheň, když je všude sníh.

But we also want to invite foreign colleagues to us, because we think that we already have our gadgets that have arisen from the fact that children in our forest all day.


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