Education Must Change, Part III: Why integrated studies and future-based skills must be prioritized in the curriculum.

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Merry Sorrells with her grandchildren.

Welcome back, Readers!  

In part three of my series, “Education Must Change”, I offer some hands-on approaches for changing the education model. Developing the skills needed to identify and solve real-world problems through teacher coaching and mentoring is the key to fostering engaged students,  ready and confident for the future ahead. Sustainability is an excellent venue for instilling in our students these future-ready skills and engaging them in healthy outdoor activities in the process.  

In his book, Last Child in the Woods, author Richard Louv talks about saving our children from “Nature Deficit Disorder.”  With screen time and technology usage at an all-time high, I have to agree with him that the youth in our society are in danger of losing touch with nature. His premise is that the young people who will someday be tasked with saving the earth have very little familiarity with it.

Principia School has robust sustainability and outdoor education programs, and a 360-acre campus on which to execute them. The school is committed to educating for sustainability.  From early childhood through 12th grade, our students are engaged. Beginning with the little ones, we have infused integrated studies and future-based skills into our curriculum.

The woods are just a short walk from our Early Learning Center and the Lower School.  Our Outdoor Ed faculty have turned the woods into an enormous outdoor classroom.  I recently joined the Preschool 3 class for the annual Lantern Walk, a beloved tradition at the School. As showcased in our integrated studies model, there were several skills developed along the way. 

• We started in the classroom where the students gathered and listened to a story about nature’s pets (reading and listening). 

• There were lots of questions about the story (curiosity, inquiry). 

• They donned their jackets and sweaters, and each student picked up the lanterns they decorated and the animal feeders they made in class to hang in the trees (science and art). 

• The parents were waiting outside to join their kiddos and then we all headed toward the woods (LOVE). 

• Moms and dads walked over crunching leaves, hand-in-hand with their little ones searching for the perfect spot to hang their feeders (exercise, active learning). 

• Our destination was an outdoor classroom (place-based learning) where our Outdoor Learning Coordinator was waiting to help us hop over a small creek (agility). 

• A bonfire with its crackling flames was set to warm us and later for roasting marshmallows for our s’mores (cooking, safety). 

• Before roasting our tasty treats, the children were invited by their teachers to stand up on a stump and sing a song for their parents, teachers, and classmates (music). 

• One by one, the children climbed up on their stump and sang a favorite song for all to hear (fearless expression). 

• It was a glorious, fun-filled adventure that will last for a lifetime in their memories and mine as well. (Integrated learning taught by expert teacher coaches). 

They spent several hours of class time actively learning and preparing for this adventure, and the result was a mixture of lessons and skills that they will continue to develop as they progress from grade to grade.

The third-grade teachers recently designed a unit on economics and partnered with the students to identify a project that would make economics engaging. Together they landed on the idea of selling honey. What began as an economics lesson soon morphed into a multi-tiered learning opportunity. 

Principia has beehives on campus. In the classroom, they conducted research on the sustainability of the bee population.  In their beekeeper suits, our students partnered with the Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association to learn how to safely extract honey from the hives. They then began creating a marketing plan, designing packaging, budgeting, finding a venue for selling the honey (Fall Festival offered a perfect opportunity), and determining where to direct the profits. Not only were these third-graders engaged in their learning, but they also developed skills in sales, budgeting, research, and outreach. This was a first step in preparing for the entrepreneurship classes taught in Middle and Upper School. 

Another shining example of memorable outdoor learning took place in the Upper School Field & Natural History and Sustainability classes. With the help of the School’s Outdoor Learning Coordinator, the students tapped a sugar maple tree.  Over the next few weeks, they will collect 20 gallons of sap which, once boiled, will turn into two quarts of delicious, pure maple syrup— just the right amount for these two classes to celebrate with pancake parties. This activity combines science, teamwork, patience, a deep familiarity with the outdoors and how it provides for us, and a strong dose of fun.

I love that, in addition to developing captivating ways to present curriculum, Principia intentionally explores and addresses the increasing divide that is happening between children and the natural world. Our students plant, harvest, hike, canoe, ride bikes, explore, birdwatch, turtle track, ride ponies, sing, cook, stargaze, draw, and sketch, all in the great outdoors, and all available on our campus. 

They will go out into the future with a deep love for and understanding of the world around them, and they will develop great skills and lifelong memories in the process. It is experiential learning at its best – a whole systems approach that engages the student in not only self-discovery but connects them to the relevance and necessity of the natural environment. 

Whether it’s my grandchildren or a classroom full of young explorers, I’m encouraged and excited when I see young people engaging in the world around them. Their instinctive tendency to care for all living things sparks a curiosity that draws them to explore and engage in the world.

May we all leave behind a little screen time and replace it with our own walk in the woods.

Until next time!

Merry