Beginning School: 3PreK, 4PreK, and Kindergarten

There is a certain magic that comes from sitting around a campfire. The warmth of the flames, the smell of the smoke, and the popping sounds from the burning wood cast a spell over all those gathered. 

“I like warming up and then going to play,” said kindergartner Florence H. “Then I come back again when I get cold.” 

Florence and her friends are gathered around a fire not high in the Uintas but in the play yard of the Beginning School. It’s part of the new expanded nature curriculum for the grade’s ongoing Switcharoo, time spent mixing Rowland Hall’s three kindergarten classes for various activities. Each week all the students are mixed up into different cohorts and take part in one of three activities: outdoor cooking and storytelling, nature-based art, or the study of birds.

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“I see a lot of benefit in letting them explore and learn outside,” said kindergarten teacher Mary Grace Ellison. “It’s a different way that their brains get to work and learn from nature and not from manipulatives and teachers.” 

The benefits of nature-based learning are well documented. Students of any age see gains in cognition, problem-solving abilities, and creativity.

The benefits of nature-based learning are well documented. Students of any age see gains in cognition, problem-solving abilities, and creativity. The time spent outside can help decrease anxiety, feelings of sadness, and loneliness, and improve mental health overall. It also can help improve physical health, increase coordination, and refine motor skills. 

“Any time we are outdoors it ticks all the boxes,” said kindergarten teacher Melanie Robbins. “It fulfills the sensory needs of the children, gives them new skills, and improves relationships and how they work together. It does it all.”

And this year’s Switcharoo program has a new nature element – from an unexpected place. Melanie was hiking in Norway’s countryside when she came across an outdoor classroom where students would come for hours, or even days, to learn in nature. After talking to the program director she decided to ask her fellow teachers if they could expand their nature studies by adding an outdoor cooking and storytelling component to it. They embraced the idea wholeheartedly. 

The new aspect of the program has led to the students exploring lessons normally not taught in kindergarten—fire safety, for example. Before they light the fire the children go over all the rules about how to behave around the fire, and what to do if a problem arises. Since they all know their time around the fire is a privilege they take the instructions very seriously.

“We don’t run around the fire, and we don’t go inside the circle around it,” said kindergartner C.J. L. “That way we all stay safe.” 

There are also new ways of learning being explored, which is how kindergarten teacher Bethany Stephensen ended up with a large bird nest outside of her classroom. The students examined a variety of bird nests and then built their own using tree limbs and sticks they collected from the play yards. 

“We took the first thing they all knew about birds, that they live in nests, and we built on it,” Bethany said. “Having this nest makes the learning more tangible. It’s concrete and real and they can play in it. That’s how children solidify their learning, through play.” 

While learning from nature, children are also gaining an appreciation for it.

While the children are learning from nature, they are also gaining an appreciation for it, not just in parks or preserves, but everywhere. After all, a tree isn’t any less important because it’s planted on a parking strip rather than in an arboretum. The students are also finding ways to give back to nature with projects like bird feeders for their feathered friends.

“Sun butter, pine cones, and seeds, that’s what we used,” said kindergartner Aldyn G. “I hung it at my house and a hundred birds came. Or eight. Or eighty.”

Students are also learning how to appreciate and care for each other. During these activities, they are not with their regular classmates, but with a mixture of friends from all three kindergarten sections, some they know from years past, and some they are meeting for the first time. 

“It feels like more of a community that way,” said kindergarten teacher Mimi Andrews. “And not just for the students, but the teachers too. We get to know all of the kindergartners, not just our classrooms.”

Connecting with the community, appreciating nature, and building skills that last a lifetime. A Switcheroo is as magical as the campfire at the center of the gathering and teaches lessons that will be remembered long after the last ember has gone out.

Academics

This year, Rowland Hall’s celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. focused on the theme Justice & Joy: Cultivating the Beloved Community. Designed to prompt reflection and foster solidarity towards action, the event allowed the community to imagine a beloved future where everyone can be themselves in multifaceted ways.

The celebration kicked off on Wednesday, January 15, with a community event featuring actor, writer, and singer Carleton Bluford, and a performance by Trash Panda Drum Group. Carleton spoke about how his work connects to this year’s theme, and how joy is the energy that allows justice to emerge, as well as sang a song from Ragtime, his favorite musical.

Dr. King’s articulation of the beloved community emphasizes the necessity of individuals uniting across differences to build a trusting, loving, and better world for all.

On Thursday, January 16, students engaged in activities around storytelling, dance, and music, led by Carleton Bluford and Salt Lake Capoeira. Students deepened their understanding of joy and connection through shared movement and music, and explored how they can envision and shape more inclusive futures.

Faculty workshops were also held on Wednesday and Thursday to deepen learning around the theme.

On Monday, January 20, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, students and families engaged in community-based service projects at Tracy Aviary’s Nature Center at Pia Okwai and Crossroads Urban Center’s downtown food pantry, and joined the University of Utah’s MLK Day March & Rally.

Thanks to all who participated in this important work around Dr. King’s vision of becoming the beloved community through love, understanding, and solidarity. We encourage each person to carry forward the spirit of these gatherings, remembering that our dreams of and for the future necessitate listening to one another’s stories, being in relationship with each other, and working toward a shared future.

Community

Ask any parent: if your child is sleeping well, life just seems to run smoother.

After all, when kids are sleeping well, parents can sleep well too. And when the whole family feels rested, everyday routines and challenges feel a lot easier.

Of course, every family also experiences moments where good sleep feels out of reach. Whether that’s waking with a young infant who doesn’t yet sleep through the night or dealing with a sleep regression, parents and caregivers are very familiar with the frustrations and worries that accompany moments of poor sleep. And because they’re also well aware of sleep’s essential role in children’s health, growth, and learning, they often feel even more pressure to fix things fast. It can be a rough cycle.

That’s why Rowland Hall’s princiPALS are focusing on sleep in the first of their newest batch of episodes that go back to basics when it comes to raising children who thrive.

Leaning on their own experiences as parents and educators, as well as a bit of sleep science, the pals talk about building healthy sleep routines that work for your child, dealing with inevitable bumps or pushback, and knowing if your child is getting enough sleep. Using their positive, no-pressure approach, the pals will help you remember you’re not alone in tough sleep moments—and you will get through it.

Listen to “Back to Basics: Let’s Talk About Sleep,” as well as other episodes of The PrinciPALS Podcast, on Rowland Hall's website and Apple Podcasts.

Podcast

To kick off the fifth season of The PrinciPALS Podcast, we’re diving into the parenting book that seems to be everywhere right now: Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness.

Featuring the perspectives of a director of learning services, an emotional support counselor, a pediatric occupational therapist, and a licensed clinical social worker (all of whom are also parents), this conversation focuses on themes from Haidt’s book that are front of mind for caregivers, including:

• How to balance screen time with productive play and face-to-face interactions
• How to protect children’s mental health
• How to help children understand, process, and react to what they see online
• How to make changes to previous family social media decisions (it’s never too late!)

The episode also features three princiPALS-assigned homework tasks to help you more confidently support your child, starting today. Whether or not you’ve read The Anxious Generation, this discussion will be a great resource as you navigate the online challenges that face families.

Listen to “A Panel Discussion on ‘The Anxious Generation’”—as well as other episodes of The PrinciPALS Podcast—on Rowland Hall's website and Apple Podcasts.

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Banner photo: The Anxious Generation panelists (from left): Jessica Kahn, pediatric occupational therapist; Michele Catten, licensed clinical social worker; Emily Quetone Khan, Rowland Hall director of learning services (PreK–5); and Deborah Wright, Rowland Hall emotional support counselor (PreK–5).

Podcast