Old school bus serves as nature preschool in Dallas

DALLAS (AP) - “Let’s go, let’s go,” the girls shouted, skipping down a dirt path and through the prairie grass, still damp from morning dew.

The Dallas Morning News (https://bit.ly/2pAm09M ) reports an anthill stopped them in their tracks.

“They’re so cute,” said 3-year-old Inez Beltran as she and other preschool students crouched low, peering at the insect specks crawling up and down the dirt heap.

Their teacher, Jennifer Stuart, followed behind, reminding them not to “squish” the bugs.

“We forgot to read our code of kindness,” she said.

This blackland prairie is an outdoor classroom for Seed Preschool - a nature-based program that meets twice a week in an old school bus parked at Twelve Hills Nature Center in Oak Cliff. Stuart, a volunteer at the nonprofit urban nature preserve, recently launched the preschool on wheels.

Here, you won’t find desks or chalkboards.

Stuart painted her “magic school bus,” named Matilda, green and blue with yellow flowers. Inside, she gutted most of the seats. She covered the worn bus floor in rainbow-colored rugs, stacked children’s books on a shelf and potted a leafy tomato plant in the corner, crossing her fingers that it - and her latest endeavor - thrives.

This bus that once shuttled children to and from school now is the home base for the nature preschool.

“This kind of reminds me of those hippie schools they used to have,” Deborah Beltran said after dropping off her granddaughter Inez for the school’s first day.

The school is one of several similar programs that have sprouted in North Texas. Others include the Blackland Prairie Conservatory & Atelier in Lake Highlands, River Legacy Nature School in Arlington and Mud Puddles and Dandelions Nature Preschool in Collin County.

“They need it. Children spend so much time indoors,” said Stuart, who founded a nonprofit preschool called The Community School of the Park Cities in 2000 when her now teenage daughter was a baby.

In Europe, such programs and forest kindergartens have been popular for decades. Now, these schools are being planted in the U.S. In 2013, a kindergarten teacher in Vermont, for example, pitched an idea to take her students into the woods for an entire day once a week, sparking a small movement among educators to take students outdoors.

“They need to know what dirt and mud feel like and what bugs sound like as they’re flying around,” Stuart said.

And research shows it could be good for kids. The list of benefits is lengthy, citing nature as important to children’s development, supportive of creativity and problem-solving, increasing science test scores, improving self-discipline and reducing symptoms of attention-deficit disorder in children as young as 5.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children also has noticed an increased interest in nature-based schools, though they don’t have specific numbers, deputy executive director Marica Cox Mitchell said. The Natural Start Alliance - a coalition of educators, parents and environmental organizations - counts nearly 250 nature preschools in the U.S.

“We’ve reached some saturation of screen time and indoor time,” Stuart said. “People are starting to rebel a bit against that and reclaim the outdoors.”

With only three students enrolled, the program is small, but Stuart is hopeful for growth. When she launched The Community School of the Park Cities in 2000, she led enrollment from 10 to more than 70 in its first year. With her new program, there are plans to incubate chicken eggs, build a native bee habitat, chronicle nature walks in journals and plant a small vegetable garden.

“We’re going to grow some food and learn that you can eat something that you grew and that food just doesn’t come from the shelf in the store,” she said.

Because the school only meets twice a week, it is not subject to state regulation and does not require a license or exemption under the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales said, adding it’s required only for child care operations that meet at least three days per week.

“Just like any day care situation, the person who’s making the decision is the parent,” Gonzales said.

Stuart plans to seek accreditation through the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Though accreditation is voluntary, Cox Mitchell said it cannot be obtained until the school receives a license or exemption.

A certified Texas Master Naturalist, Stuart has led children’s weekend and summer workshop since 2014 at neighborhood farmers markets and local restaurants, planting the seed for her mobile preschool. More than a year ago, she helped launch a monthly preschool nature walk at the center.

“We want to get children in contact with nature any way we can, and this is a great way to do it,” said Marcia Haley, president of Twelve Hills Nature Center’s board of directors. Though located at the nature center, the school operates separately from Twelve Hills but did receive board approval to park its bus there.

“The goal is to try to get kids to understand nature and develop it. That’s a stage for developing environmental stewardship,” Haley said.

Sarah Toler grew up in the country in southern Louisiana and wanted a similar experience for her 2-year-old daughter, Nina Toler-Wells.

“I feel confident doing ABCs, numbers and traditional academic preschool learning, but this is an exposure to nature that I can’t provide for her at home,” Toler said.

When she was pregnant, Toler lived within walking distance of the nature center, coming every day to hike its trails. When Nina was old enough, Toler began bringing her toddler to explore the outdoors on the monthly preschool walks. Eventually, she enrolled Nina as one of Seed Preschool’s first students.

“This was my backyard when I was growing up,” said Toler, motioning to the grassy field lined by milkweed and pink evening primroses. She had stayed for the school’s first day as a parent volunteer to help Stuart herd the students along the trail.

“We have a good nice yard for her to play in at home, but it’s not like this,” she said, as Nina forged ahead on the trail with a walking stick she found along the way.

As the group of five rounded a bend, Stuart led them to a shady grove of trees.

One day, Stuart said, it will be a resting spot for students to bring blankets and lunches.

Nicknamed the tree house, outstretched tree branches overlapped like a roof and a bed of leaves was an imaginary floor.

Eyes wide, Inez asked, “Can we go in?”

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Information from: The Dallas Morning News, https://www.dallasnews.com