What is a Bush Kinder?

What is Bush Kinder?  Why is it called Bush Kinder?

Bush Kinder is a term that was coined at Westgarth Kindergarten, Victoria Australia.

I was clear that we where not a forest school, nature kindergarten or any other established program. A new name gave us freedom to do and be what we wanted.

We were building our own unique program for our children, The intention was that our model would have the strength to stand up to academic, pedagogical and regulatory scrutiny. The hope was that our work would inspire and inform others. 

A lot of thought went into the title Bush Kinder.  

It was clearly Australian yet paid homage to international programs. The name clearly drew upon the Northern European label’s - Forest School, Forest Kindergarten titles in common usage at the time. It gave people something they could relate to.

An Australian title meant we could look at ‘us’- our Westgarth us,our NQS us, our Aboriginal us, and all of our uniqueness.

Bush was chosen for many reasons. Bush represented a physical place – a natural space. More significantly it represented a spiritual, cultural and emotional space. Similarly phrases like - “going bush” “bush ballad” “bush tucker” and “what do you think it is, bush week?”  each use bush in a way that goes beyond a place. 

Kinder was chosen for a few reasons. Froebel, the inventor of kindergarten, promoted nature as the model of perfection in the education of children. ‘Kinder’ was the local vernacular and it seemed fitting to use the word. ‘Kinder’ is the German word for child. ‘Kinder’ as an adjective has a meaning of showing friendly and good nature [evidence informed us that this was the case when children spent time in nature]. 

When the words were together as Bush Kinder they represented further things. They demonstrated a view that these children would be ‘kinder to the bush’ a view of environmental sustainability again supported by evidence.

The growth of what has become a bush kinder movement has lead to terms that pay homage to bush kinder: bush playgroup, bush kindergarten, bush kindy, bush school.

Doug Fargher

Book Launch 'Beyond the Gate'

Get ready for a wonderful book. 

Claire Warden and I have taken years to put together a showcase of some of the most significant work in education.

Each chapter is authored by leaders in their field.

Published by Pademelon Press

Being launched at the end of March with Claire at the IANP Symposium in Victoria and me the Childhood Summit in QLD. Click the images to be taken to the events.

Place based nature kindergarten in Victoria, Australia

Place based nature kindergarten in Victoria, Australia  published in the Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education is now able to be freely viewed by using this link https://rdcu.be/boLR6 or clicking the image

Bush Kinder - taking a step further

“If we’re really going to engage with sustainability, then we need to do things with a focus on critical pedagogies,” Sue Elliott maintained. “It’s very easy to do the lovely sensory things about ‘how does the tree feel?’, and hug the tree, and to investigate different animals that you might find from a science perspective, but we need to take it a step further.” 

https://www.earlylearningreview.com.au/outside-in-the-brave-new-world-of-bush-kinder/

Bathurst Bush Kinder

Rain or shine, keen children from Goodstart Early Learning Bathurst leave behind toys, books and buildings for their Bush Kindy session in Mount Panorama-Wahluu’s bushland. The program is enhanced by strong Aboriginal educatorsand a positive relationship with Bathurst Local Aboriginal Land Council (LALC). 
 

Click to read the story in the Western Advocate 

The Great Outdoors

Children Climbing Trees for Safety

Moving away from standardised climbing equipment and into trees…. for safety!

Take a look at this video of what happens when one step in a New York subway is slightly different from the others.

A slight deviation in a pattern of assumed environmental factors [the steps] increases the likelihood of an accident to occur.

When faced with standardised design, we speculate, we predict, we make an assumption that our relationship with the environment is constant, predictable and safe.

We no longer assess safety we assume safety.

When children are supplied with standardised climbing equipment, they do the same. Children are inadvertently taught to assume safety and not assess it.

In my teaching practice I work in both a natural environment [Bush Kinder] and a built environment [Home Kinder].

My teaching colleagues and I observed components of each environment and what those components ‘told’ the children.

When we focused on a comparison of tree climbing and trestle climbing, this is what we found.

A frames are unbending,

the rungs are evenly sized

evenly spaced.

Braches vary,

they move.

They talk to you,

they creak,

they sway,

they let you know if they are going to support you

[or not].

Bush Kinder kids know this,

they shift their weight,

their hands switch branches.

They listen as the trees talk to them and

They answer the trees with their movement.

Internationally respected landscape architect Helle Nebelong states  “I am convinced that standardised playgrounds are dangerous, just in another way: When the distance between all the rungs in a climbing net or a ladder is exactly the same, the child has no need to concentrate on where he puts his feet. Standardisation is dangerous because play becomes simplified and the child does not have to worry about his movements. This lesson cannot be carried over to all the knobbly and asymmetrical forms, with which one is confronted throughout life.”

Rarni Rothwell and Olivia Ogden of St Josephs Outside School Hours Care – North Ipswich. Shifted their practice inline with their beliefs and allowed children to “climb trees and scale to new heights”

“The new me would watch quietly... observe the capabilities of the climbers; ask questions if I needed to confirm they were considering the risks carefully. As I become more aware of the climber’s knowledge and skill, my focus of inquiry would switch to more abstract ponderings. I would listen to what they are sharing with me. I would celebrate their achievements as they grew in confidence and reached greater heights. I would ensure that I captured this learning for the families and children to revisit. I would ensure that they always had access to this unique learning environment...”

Children perceive climbing as fun and strive to accomplish reaching the highest point possible, overcome challenges and test their abilities. Climbing a tree can build confidence and develop coordination, problem solving skills, and strength. As children play together in a tree, their social, creative and imaginative skills are enhanced.
Children should be encouraged to climb safe trees. Playing outside in a tree gives them direct contact with nature and the tactile experience of touching different barks and leaves.
Children have a natural instinct to be cautious of heights. When climbing a tree, they will learn skills to seek out stable branches and determine the best route to take 
 kidsafe NSW  

Giving children opportunities to climb trees gives them opportunities to learn to assess risk and stay safe.
Doug Fargher