The Outdoor Classroom 

 The Outdoor Classroom at Vista Montessori School has been a joyous experience for both students and teachers. As the winter weather warms we begin to observe seasonal changes, students as young as one notice birds returning and flowers beginning to bloom. The children begin planting seeds indoors in flats then seedlings are transplanted into small pots. After the students have prepared the garden soil and temperatures permit, the growing plants are finally planted outside. The children are involved in each activity, either individually or in groups.

We integrate the Outdoor Classroom curriculum with art projects, such as seed mosaics, making clay nests with eggs, and glazing flower pots. Songs reinforce what plants need to grow, books tell stories about other people’s gardens. The children are encouraged to find flowers, insects, and name colors in the impressionist paintings of Monet and Renoir.

Once the garden is planted the children's outside activities change to watering, experimenting with sink/float, hammering nails into a stump, sawing, making garden signs, gluing wood, crushing egg shells, and other individual lessons. Group art activities are included in the Outdoor Classroom during the summer program. These lessons continue in the fall with the addition of harvesting and serving vegetables to fellow students.

The Outdoor Classroom provides the children an opportunity to be outside during summer and warm days in spring and fall while learning some basics about food production and cycles of seasons and life. The lessons in the Outdoor Classroom support each child's refinement of movement, sensory development, social skills, and care of the environment. Observing the seeds grow and plants mature is the beginning of science. The lessons learned from their experiences in the Outdoor Classroom can lay the foundations for a lifetime of love of nature, gardening, art and science.

Select a photo - if you would like to view a slide show, select play after selecting a photo