Outdoor Classrooms Learn with AcuRite
"Naturing" Our Core Curriculum:
After ten years of providing "traditional" Pre-K education in our central Washington town, we've decided to transition to an "outdoor school" model. This fall, when we sing "What's the weather like today?", during our morning circle time, it will be OUTSIDE! We'll be experiencing the weather, not simply seeing a portion of the sky from our insulated classroom window. Over the summer we modified our small play-area into an outdoor classroom, as come September we'll be outside each day for the entirety of our school-day. We've set the groundwork to delve deeper into the actual science behind our weather with the help of an AcuRite Atlas ™ weather station! This nature-based learning will expand on our traditional curriculum while diving deeper into our science modules. In a sentence, it will offer a traditionally-focused education in a non-traditional setting, geared toward 4 and 5 year-olds!
Measuring wind speed and direction are especially important, as we live in one of the windiest parts of Washington state. Knowing the outdoor environmental conditions, such as temperature and humidity, are important for the comfort of our students, as well as rainfall accumulation for our garden area.
Let the adventure begin! We're officially one week out from the first day of school and our preschool's newest endeavor... "Nature School!" After ten years of providing "traditional" Pre-K education in our central Washington town, we've decided to transition one of our classes to an "outdoor school" model. We've spent the summer dreaming, researching, consulting, planning, and literally building our program to be ready for a dozen of our favorite little citizen-scientists!
The installation of an AcuRite Atlas™ wireless weather station is one of the most exciting additions to our outdoor classroom. The proof was provided loud and clear when we hosted an orientation last week and repeated fielded questions about the "REALLY neat, amazing, we're SOOOO lucky, this is coolest" piece of equipment to grace our fence post. The children (and jealous parents) know exciting technology when they see it! With the weather monitoring tools available on My AcuRite, we can also set up school weather alerts to keep the students and educators safe during hazardous weather.
We'll keep you posted on our progress as we continue to enjoy beautiful weather and hands-on discovery through our new school weather station. Follow our updates on our Facebook page.
All Our Best,
Mrs. Michael
