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The Kingsley community values the unique benefits and opportunities
of Outdoor Education. An urban school, we see the city as an extension
of our classrooms, and the natural world outside the city as our
studios and workshops.
Children in the Early Childhood program explore the urban and natural
environment around Kingsley, including the Public Gardens, Charles
River and Boston Public Library. With clipboards, pencils, magnifying
glasses and containers to collect their found treasures, Early Childhood
explorers navigate their neighborhood with excitement and growing
confidence. Teachers and parent volunteers accompany children on
their journeys, pointing out the richness of the environment and
answering their many questions. The conversations and drawings that
result from these journeys attest to the learning that happens when
children are encouraged to explore outside familiar settings.
Each fall, Upper Elementary students and faculty travel to the
White Mountains in New Hampshire to participate in “A Mountain
Classroom,” an interactive program run by the Appalachian
Mountain Club. Students learn about forest ecology and orienteering
from the AMC’s experienced, first aid-certified instructors.
The physically demanding, personally and academically rewarding,
program helps students develop team-building skills and better understand
the natural world around them.
Each spring, the entire Elementary program travels to Nature’s
Classroom in Kingston, Massachusetts. Upper Elementary students
spend two nights at the site; third-year Lower Elementary students
spend one night; and first- and second-year Lower Elementary students
spend a full day with their classmates and teachers.
Nature's Classroom students participate in hands-on activities
in nature. Over the course of their stay, they may explore the chemistry
of soap, flight and aerodynamics, edible plants, the challenges
of sharing a limited resource, how the Early Americans used waterpower,
or how to construct a geodesic dome. Kingsley teachers work in conjunction
with the staff of Nature’s Classroom to design a program that
complements and extends our curriculum. We choose from a wide range
of classes, all of which contribute to a deeper understanding of
the interdependency of people and nature.
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