Far reaches and beyond!
I had the opportunity to meet and listen to Rachel Larimore of Samara Early Learning speak at the Maine State Early Childhood Conference. Rachel said a lot of things that were familiar and resonated. One thing she mentioned that really stuck was exploring "the beyond." The space beyond the playground. The outer world. I believe the use of the phrase originates from Claire Warden.
Since then I have also been reflecting a lot on what I am now calling our "far reaches." We've always been fascinated with how children naturally congregate to most extreme borders they can within the playground limits. They feel hidden and like they can escape from the adults.
In 2015, I wrote a post about letting the children wander. This was when we were first exploring our woods. Even though there was no fence, at this time they were a place only visited with teacher permission. After I wrote that post, the woods slowly became a more and more regular place we played. As I learned more and more about the importance of space, the children were allowed more freedom.
Recently our far reaches became our beyond again, when insurance required us to fully fence our playground. There is property now just beyond the fence that the children can no longer enter without adult help. There is a magical stone wall that the children always climbed on, since it was the farthest reach. The abutting neighbors always commented how much they enjoyed watching the children play there. We were all pretty devastated to lose immediate access to this property, but now I can look at it with a new perspective. I understand the importance of having a space beyond. It has also allowed the unintentional damage the children had done to the ecosystem to heal. We are excited to start exploring this space in a new way.
Our GREAT Beyond: Trail Walking and Field Wandering
We are so fortunate to have a public trail nearby that we visit many times per year.
We have familiar landmarks that we stop and explore along the way.
We are hoping someday to have even more
BEYOND to visit with our preschoolers.
The bouncy log is a familiar stop, but unfortunately after over a year of
bouncing, we discovered one day that it didn't any more.
Lots of theories from the children on why it stopped being bouncy.
Our beyond has several water features that are great for throwing
rocks and observing wildlife.
We have permission from the local farmer to wander through
the great green field several times a year.
The great green field is just as spectacular in the winter.
Visiting these landmarks in our great beyond is an important part of our curriculum now. This adds to our goals of place-based learning. The children see the changes that take place throughout the season. Is there ice on the swamp yet? Did the farmer hay the field yet? And even the local culture of staying out of the field once hunting season begins out of respect for the hunters (and our safety).
Teacher Tom wrote a related post as well.
We have both recently been visiting playschools in Iceland, where the children can often be found in the "far reaches"
and also are taken regularly to the beyond.
