Via Community News Service, in partnership with Vermont State University Castleton.
Approaching the front doors of Tinmouth Mountain School, you could hear the energy buzzing from the preschool room. Laughter and squeals filtered through an open window, as students engaged with newly hatched baby chicks, drew quietly in pairs, built with blocks and rotated through various interactive stations.
The room is alive with pure thought and imagination, reflecting the same spirit that carries beyond the classroom into their outdoor learning spaces.
Outdoor learning at the small Mill River Unified Union school is a key part of their approach to curriculum. Tinmouth’s involvement in the Trailhead Initiative began under former superintendent Dave Younce.
The school has dedicated its efforts to an outdoor education for hands-on learning with activities designed to be suitable outside the normal classroom setting.
Jenn Galusha-Brothers is in her first year as principal at TMS, but her seventh as a staff member at the school, having previously served as a teacher.
“Tinmouth was going to be the outdoor school, so we completely embraced it. There are and were a lot of amazing community members, and there was one named Grant Reynolds. He helped fund the natural playground that’s out back,” Galusha-Brothers said in a recent interview.
The natural playground at the back of the school is a fully fenced-in area that includes a pavilion, kid picnic tables, a sandpit, a mud kitchen, willow domes, classroom garden boxes, stepping stones, logs, a rain barrel and musical instruments. A shed under the pavilion holds books, colored pencils, magnifying glasses and more supplies.
As Vermont’s weather turns nicer, Lisa Edge, who has taught at Tinmouth for over 20 years, can spend more time outside with her pre-K students, ages 3 to 5.
“As far as this time of year, because we’re staying out longer in the morning, we’ll do that small group outside. That could involve nature journals, and they pick something from nature and draw it,” Edge said.
She noted that much of what the students are learning inside can be applied outside, and relating to seasons, which helps the children make mental connections through hands-on experiences rather than abstract concepts they can’t touch.
Creating more of a tangible environment for the students is exactly what the staff at Tinmouth has developed with the outdoor classroom area nestled in the woods behind the school.
The classrooms include multiple areas, one for each grade. It features designated meeting spaces created with logs and stumps, branch and stick fort structures, a book trail with posts between each of the classrooms, observational bird houses, stumps used as chairs, and other elements that entice the students’ imagination and exploration.
“We were out in the pouring rain, and we’re doing all sorts of crazy exploring in the woods. When we’re in the woods and they’re exploring, we are very hands-off. We’re monitoring, watching, making sure there’s no safety concerns. Other than that, they’re problem-solving, interacting and doing their thing,” Galusha-Brothers said.
The group play and the independent problem-solving lessons form secure pillars as part of building strong social-emotional growth and readiness to excel in all classroom settings, said Edge.
At Tinmouth, teachers incorporate much of their curriculum into activities and learning held in both the natural playground and the outdoor classroom.
“Science is always the easiest or just a straightforward read aloud. If you’re in pre-K, they do a fair amount of math in the outdoor classroom, because their math isn’t from a textbook. They do numbers in the dirt, they count rocks. … We have rocks outside with numbers and the alphabet on them. They have all kinds of games that are either problem-solving and higher-level thinking,” Galusha-Brothers said.
At the natural playground recently, Edge’s students were outside finishing their mid-morning snack and beginning to play.
By the willow domes, Jameson was picking up various sticks to create a pretend game with them. Under the pavilion, Daisy had collected water in an upcycled muffin tin to write in water on the picnic tables. Emerson circled the area, roaring like a lion. Nearby, Madelyn quietly collected water from a rain barrel into a small pan to create a batch of soup.
“What are you making there, Miss Madelyn?” Edge asked.
“Vitamin soup. It’s very good for your body because it helps your body grow. It makes you grow faster,” Madelyn said.
Some played independently in the sandpit, pretending to be kings or princesses by standing on wooden blocks, while others played with toy dinosaurs or shells around the fenced area.
“We’re playing — me and Cal are the evil kings and they are the princesses. There’s 3 of them,” said one pre-K student.
“Whether it’s here (natural playground), whether it’s in the outdoor classroom, there are so many layers of learning that hit all domains for all ages here. It especially helps with behavior. The kids that just have trouble sitting in class, they can be out here and they shine. Some kids shine, being creative, making mud pies. Some kids shine climbing a tree because they have better motor skills,” Edge said.
The dedication of Galusha-Brothers, Edge and other dedicated staff allows students to grow in ways that a traditional classroom experience might miss.
The skills fostered by the students, they say, are those that will extend far beyond school grounds as they grow, equipping them for future challenges.
“I think Tinmouth is holding on as much as we can to just that small school, Vermont, multi-age, social, community-oriented learning,” Edge said.