Forest Kids

Forest Kids
steps. She wondered the same thing.
Back home that fall, the province was shifting to full-day kindergarten.
Some parents were anxious about how their children
would adapt.
She called Enid Elliot, a long-time professor and researcher at
the University of Victoria who had been championing outdoor
play. When they met for coffee, Krusekopf brought photos of Niko
at waldkindergarten.
Eighteen months later, 21 children raced around the field behind
Sangster Elementary as television cameras recorded the official
opening of Nature Kindergarten. Parents beamed. The previous
winter they had lined up outside the school overnight to
register their kids for one of the coveted spots.
The board committed to a two-year pilot. A big reason was the
arrangement to partner with three post-secondary institutions —
the University of Victoria, Royal Roads and Camosun College — to
document and research everything from the impact on self-regulation
and attention, to self-esteem and learning skills. The bulk of
the $105,000 budget was to cover the salary of an early-childhood
educator to join the teacher. Funding came from research grants
and donations, including $60,000 from the Vancouver Foundation
and $20,000 from the RBC Foundation. TD Friends of the Environment
supplied $2,500 to cover rain suits, boots and backpacks.
At about the time Krusekopf and Elliot were joining forces, Masha
Kazakevich was in her southern Ontario home, glued to You-
Tube. She watched in amazement as tiny Norwegians scampered
in snow and built fires in the woods and thought, “I want that for
my son.”
In June she is planning to open the Guelph Outdoor Preschool,
the province’s first licensed outdoor daycare for children aged 3
to 6. On the vast property of the Ignatius Jesuit Centre, five minutes
from downtown Guelph, the children will explore meadows,
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