Environmental Activities in Kindergarten and Elementary
by DP, Kindergarten Teacher, and ES, 2nd grade Teacher
Kindergarten has been integrated into the Elementary School program over the last couple of years and in 2015-16 will be on a schedule consistent with elementary and middle school. Kindergarten and Elementary have been coordinating their green activities, although each grade does have its signature activities and programs.
Our goals in K-4 environmental education are to enable the child explore nature through the senses; to encourage outdoor learning; to become alert to a clean, healthy, and waste-conscious school environment; and to care for and observe animals and plants. Kindergarten and elementary school teachers build on the foundations that preschool put into place and create the conditions for middle school environmental learning.
Here are some examples of K-4th student-driven environmental learning.
by DP, Kindergarten Teacher, and ES, 2nd grade Teacher
Kindergarten has been integrated into the Elementary School program over the last couple of years and in 2015-16 will be on a schedule consistent with elementary and middle school. Kindergarten and Elementary have been coordinating their green activities, although each grade does have its signature activities and programs.
Our goals in K-4 environmental education are to enable the child explore nature through the senses; to encourage outdoor learning; to become alert to a clean, healthy, and waste-conscious school environment; and to care for and observe animals and plants. Kindergarten and elementary school teachers build on the foundations that preschool put into place and create the conditions for middle school environmental learning.
Here are some examples of K-4th student-driven environmental learning.
- We discuss how and where our paper comes from.
- We recycle paper and plastic in the classrooms.
- We talk about our planet Earth and why we should keep it clean.
- We take nature and listening walks to better appreciate our immediate outdoor environment.
- Children who eat lunch in school are encouraged to use sustainable containers, napkins, forks and spoons, as well as healthy lunches and snacks.
- We plant vegetables from seed and replant them outside.
- We pick up trash around the school grounds.