Forest kindergarten & school
WALDKINDER LICHTENSTERN
That's why forest!
The forest is a wonderful experience and adventure space for children of all ages. It offers them enough space to move around, to meet and to set themselves apart.
In the forest the children experience the seasons and the changes associated with them in all their intensity. All senses are naturally addressed and sharpened. The unstructured, natural materials such as wood, earth, stones or bark encourage imaginative games. The quiet in the forest leads to relaxation and equilibrium, the simplicity and naturalness of the environment leads to concentration on essential development processes.
The idea of founding a forest kindergarten in Renon came from Ute Mayr, who initiated the project together with Ingrid Mair and Leander Bechtold. It is the first of its kind in South Tyrol and has been attracting more and more people since it began in 2013.
There are things in the woods
one could lie in the moss for years and think about.
Franz Kafka
The forest kindergarten
The Lichtenstern forest kindergarten is the oldest forest kindergarten in South Tyrol! It has existed since 2013 and is located on a sunny slope behind the "Haus der Familie" in Lichtenstern.
The idea of founding a forest kindergarten in Renon came from Ute Mayr, who initiated the project together with Ingrid Mair and Leander Bechtold.
18 to 20 children aged 3 to 6 years meet in the forest Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and are accompanied by 2 German-speaking and one Italian-speaking companion.
Daily life in the forest kindergarten
In the morning, many children first sit around the fireplace at the edge of the forest, chat and eat the snacks they have brought with them. Others begin their activities immediately: they get tools, dig and build, get together with their friends for role-playing games, climb trees, roam through the forest or slide down the steep slope.
Free play is the main occupation of the children in the forest kindergarten!
The supervisors are there for the children, help and comfort, support in conflicts or watch them play.
The offers for the children include singing together, reading aloud, telling stories, simple handicrafts, movement games, observing nature, baking and cooking in the clay oven and on the fire and much more.
At the end of the morning everyone meets for "story time".
The children spend all days outdoors. A yurt with a wood-burning stove serves as protection in very bad weather.
The forest school
Our forest school is a place close to nature for living and learning, where children can work, research and grow independently in a community.
The small but fine forest school house is located three kilometers from the forest kindergarten, near the Wolfsgrubner See in a beautiful natural idyll.
From Monday to Friday from 7.45 a.m. to 12.20 p.m. and Tuesdays until 3.30 p.m., two mixed-age learning groups (6-9 year olds, 9-12 year olds) are accompanied by 1 Italian-speaking and 2 German-speaking teachers each. Native speakers, additional educators or external experts are also repeatedly involved in the work
A day in the forest school
The children arrive at school between 7.40 and 8.00 a.m. While some play football for a short time and chat with their friends, others go to the forest school building, get an overview of the daily structure and greet the learning guides in their study group.
The school bell rings at 8:00 a.m. and then the last ones enter the school building. The children get all the materials they need for their work, choose their work partners and their place of work and start free work. This is a time of concentrated work, where the children deal with different content and topics depending on their level of development. They learn alone or work with a partner or in small groups. Some get tips and suggestions from their learning guides. Others are invited to a performance. This can be an introduction to a learning content, an in-depth work on a topic or a subject-specific lesson.
This work phase can be interrupted - depending on the needs - and the children allocate their individual break time up to around 10.30 am, which they can use to snack, get some fresh air or rest.
The learning groups open from 10.30 a.m. and various creative offers take place indoors and outdoors, which are instructed in German, Italian or English, depending on the educator. In this second half of the morning the children can devote themselves to their artistic, technical, musical and sporting abilities and skills. Topics such as ethical, political and environmental education, health and traffic education will also be taken up during the week. Free play, celebrating together, working for the community as well as project presentations are essential building blocks during a school week.
At the end of the day, all the children meet again in their study groups to end the day with an exciting story, a game or a discussion.
Excursions, short hikes and project weeks are always on the program.
Your contribution
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