Outdoor Classrooms: Growing Our Learning Gardens at York House School
This fall, our Little and Junior School campuses unveiled newly revitalized learning gardens, successfully transforming these spaces into vibrant, experiential outdoor classrooms!
Embracing a Reggio-inspired approach, teachers continually reimagine the gardens through collaborative planning and documentation, ensuring the environment functions as a 'third teacher' that follows and extends children’s interests. The teachers integrate core curriculum (e.g., Science, Social Studies, Language Arts) and students actively engage in authentic inquiry—from tracking seasonal changes to harvesting ingredients for weekly cooking lessons. What’s more, our young learners are dedicated to their roles as 'nature protectors,' ensuring responsible stewardship of the entire learning garden ecosystem.
Crucially, this initiative allows us, as a school, to embed the First Peoples Principles of Learning (FPPL). By learning in and with the environment, students explore concepts of place-based knowledge, intergenerational connections, and the vital role of community responsibility.
The result is a dynamic, hands-on environment where our youngest students are not just learning about the world, but actively learning from it.