Why choose outdoor learning at Mini Rangers

Why Come to Mini Rangers?

I am sometimes asked 'Will my child of x months benefit from a mini rangers session?'
The answer is that Babies and young children learn through their actions, movements and the information they receive from their five senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste.  These early sensory experiences and movements are vital to a child's development and learning (Louis et al 2008).

If your child is between 0-18 months they are said to be in the sensori motor stage and moving into the pre operational stage from 18 months to 7 years of age.  What does this mean to your child, well it means that being outdoors Mini Rangers naturally provides activities that are relevant to both these stages. Children attending Mini Rangers are generally moving between these stages and are enjoying sensory touch experiences, such as pushing their fingers into the earth, or running their fingers through the grass, over the fresh green moss.  For children in the sensori motor stage these experiences together with hearing environmental sounds for example the river flowing or the animal noises (such as the ducks honking) provide at first powerful novel experiences and then with repetition connections are formed in your child's brain that enable them to focus, retrieve and forge new found skills over time.

I have been using our time in Mini Rangers to introduce the children to the sounds of phonics, as I have mentioned in the previous paragraph sounds when we are first introduced to them are just noise which appeals to the sensori motor stage of our youngest Mini Rangers.  For the children in the pre operational stage it is only with repetition that we make sense of the sounds that we hear.  By showing objects that use the sound that we are introducing we are employing children's spontaneous active way in which children learn through active engagement.  It is the new experiences through manipulation, discovery and exploration that engage children in taking on board purposeful learning.  Of course children will take on board non purposeful learning also, it is up to us as adults to ensure that they are exposed to a balance of experiences that expand their minds and time to allow them to repeat and ensure that learning is taken on bit by bit.

This week our sound is 'o' as in 'o'range, 'o'blong, 'o'n and 'o'ff.

So we will be stepping 'o'n to the stepping stones and 'o'ff the stepping log circle.

One of our families favourite characters are the Octonauts so I will be reading The Octonauts and the sea of shade as our book.

Marina will be volunteering as money collector and snack provider.  Ranger Steve will be doing what only a Ranger can and Neil and Paul will be organising our area for us.

We will be providing delicious 'o'ranges, coffee and biscuits.

Looking forward to seeing you Monday.

Melanie Commins, EYTS

References
Understanding Schemas by Louis et al
Jolly Phonics
Cbeebies Phonics