Nursery Schoolers Explore Rainforest

By Kimberly Lightbody

On Tuesday, February 9th, the Mamaroneck Community Nursery School will hold a Rainforest Expo in their auditorium, culminating a three-week joint class project which emphasized the school’s “learning through process” mentality. The exhibition, which will showcase the students’ artwork, is the result of a collaborative effort between two classes in the nursery school, with children ranging from those who just turned four years-old to those who will soon be five.

During the rainforest unit, students worked on tasks such as decorating rainforest trees (made out of eight-foot carpet rolls), stuffing paper bags to make monkeys, cutting paper plates to make snakes, and creating leaves with finger paint. This gave the the kids a chance to learn about the rainforest in a fun and creative manner.

“The nursery school’s whole premise is learning through play and learning through process,” says Jeanne Lightbody, who teaches one of the participating classes. “That’s why we don’t do worksheets and we don’t do rote learning. The kids don’t know they’re learning and that’s why it’s so great.”

Indeed, rather than presenting the children with flashcards or memorization exercises, teachers at MCNS try to engage their students with activities and get them excited about the topic at hand. Two weeks ago, a woman came in from the local nature center with live animals to show the kids, including red-eye tree frogs and a boa constrictor, both of which were discussed during the rainforest unit. Such events make the rainforest seem more real and exciting to the kids, really sparking their interest.

“He talks about it all the time; everyday he comes home and talks about the different animals they’ve been making,” remarked a student’s mother. “He’s very excited about it. He keeps asking me ‘How many days until the expo?’”

Another benefit of the nursery school’s rainforest project is that it focuses on something that the kids have little experience with. Both parents and teachers have noted that the rainforest is something exotic and new for the children; it broadens their world perspective and increases their knowledge about different sorts of plants and animals.

“It’s a different topic, it’s different than superheroes or outerspace or dinosaurs, which he’s just naturally interested in and has talked about, so it’s a different topic for him, it’s good,” commented the mother.

Throughout the past few weeks, the students have learned about the rainforest’s different canopy layers, about what kinds of animals live there and what they eat, and about which kinds of plants can be found there.

“We’ve read a ton of books about the rainforest, we sing rainforest songs-- we do a lot with it,” said Ms. Lightbody.

This combination of different, interactive learning techniques aides the school’s mission. Kids become enthralled with the rainforest and proud of their work and achievements.

At the final exhibition, all of the students’ crafts will be hung up and displayed amongst the rainforest trees to create a sort of homemade rainforest for parents and childrens to see.

“That’s when they get really excited about it,” said Ms. Lightbody. “‘Cause it’s right there, they can see it all hanging: eight-foot trees, and snakes, and frogs. They’re very proud. And they love to bring their families in to see it.”