Stefanie Schwenk is the owner and lead teacher of Best Beginning Pre School here in Cape St. Claire. With over 25 years of teaching experience, "Miss Stef " as her students like to call her, encompasses the best practices of Montessori, Reggio Emilia, and Nature Education. We chatted outside her home on a beautiful summer day.
My son at Best Beginning 2011
Transcript:
Kara:
Thank you so much for inviting me to your home, which is also a best beginning. And it's bringing back so many memories from when we were here in 2011. It's incredible.
Stef: It's great to see you again. Thank you.
My name is Steph Schwenk and I've lived in Cape St. Claire for 19 years now. My favorite thing about Cape St. Claire is the water access, the beaches, the community. I think with my kids growing up, being swim team and sailing camp, it's so about community.
Kara:
You've lived here for 19 years. So where were you born and raised?
Stef: In Baltimore. In Baltimore? Baltimore, Maryland.
Kara: Got it. So you're not too far from home. I'm not too far from home. Do you still have family here?
Stef:I have family in Baltimore. And actually, when we first moved here, Dirk's, my in -laws were on Riverbank. that's right. Yeah, so that's part of the reason we moved here.
Kara:So you just kind of answered part of my question. But why did you pick Cape St. Clair to raise a family and start a business? Was it because of family?
Stef: Yeah, was definitely because they were already here and I'd already visited and I'd heard a lot about the Cape. My, actually he's my stepfather -in -law, was his first wife, Gretel. She was here, she had a house on River Bay that was a little cottage growing up. And so when he married her, they started coming with their family and they expanded the house, but he had all kinds of insight into the neighborhood, But yeah, I I picked it because of that and because of the good schools. Honestly, my oldest was getting ready to go to kindergarten. And I knew as a package deal, there were some really good schools. So Yeah,
Kara: absolutely. It kind of feels like the closest thing to our childhood, right? So in the 70s and 80s, where you could
walk the streets, and Halloween was a big deal, and you had a little bit of freedom. There's not a lot of communities where people feel safe enough, I think, to let their kids do that.
Stef:And I was just talking to my younger son about his memories, because we were talking about me doing this podcast. But he was saying one of his favorites was playing games outside at night and doing kick the can and sardines and hide and seek games with all right here. And I said, you know, couldn't really do everywhere and he said, 'I know.' So he knows he gets it. Yeah. And we've talked about it. He was in, he was one of my first students in the school.
Kara: So special. So special. I know. I just, I think the first time I realized it was when we went on Hampton for Halloween. was like, I need a pillowcase. I'll get myself some candy. Exactly. It was just like so welcoming and it just like, again, that community feeling. So let's talk about...I'm going to jump backwards. Like, when did you know that you wanted to do early childhood education? Or was it a progression to get there?
Stef: Yeah, it was kind of a progression to get there because initially I was working with older kids, like first through eighth grade, because I was focused on reading disabilities. And so that's when things are going to show up later. I guess early childhood I think of as being like ages three to five.
So I probably didn't really realize that until I opened Best Beginning, just watching the kids just open to all these experiences. And they don't have a lot of filters or baggage or anything else. They're just ready. They're like little sponges. Yeah. So I was like, I really enjoy this. you're so good at it. I just wanted to make them love learning. Which you did. And love nature.
Kara: Yeah, which you did. So like, disclosure for folks, Best Beginning was William's very first school, and it set him on a path. And even when we went to PASA at the same time, but then we to Key School after, and he would still talk about Miss Stef.
Stef: It's so neat seeing things come full circle, because I will often, I'll be in Graul's shopping and I'll hear, "Miss Steph!" And it will be a student who's now in middle school or high school, an ex -student, and they still call me Miss Steph. I know when I hear that, it's somebody from my school. And they remember me, which I'm amazed, honestly. No, I wouldn't expect them to remember me. I remember them.
Kara: You left a huge impression. Huge impression. I told William I was coming here today. He's at Driver's Ed right now.
Stef: He's at Driver's Ed?! How could it be? that's silly.
Kara: And I'm like, I'm going to see Miss Stephanie. He's like, can I come?
. You leave such a huge impression. like not only on the kids, but the families too. Again, like it's, think, you know, because you welcome all different styles of learning too, which we really appreciated. Right. Plus the combination of indoor and outdoor education. So we're to talk about all of it because it's, it's a lot. Okay. So you, it's a lot. do a lot. Okay. So I have this right. have a dual master's in early childhood special education and infant
development and intervention. Is that right?
Stef: Yeah, those are two areas. The real childhood special ed is different from the infant development and intervention. But combining those two together is such a breadth of knowledge that is pretty incredible. Yeah, and I do still pull pieces from all of it. So you have a specific training in teaching how to read.
Kara: So why was that an important focus for you?
Stef: That was important because I myself am dyslexic. And You know, I knew firsthand how hard that is. And I also had those early teachers and tutors and diagnosis that really, really helped me. Then that was originally what I thought I wanted to do was to be working with children who were bright kids who had learned disabilities and dyslexia. And so I wanted to learn whatever the best methods would be to teach them that's really amazing.
Kara: It's like firsthand experience.
Stef: Yes. that. that classic story. But it gave me a focus.
Kara: Yeah, for sure. OK, so we're going to throw some names and terms out here that I don't know what they mean. you're going to just pick. that I do. Yes. OK, so tell me about, you ready? I'm going to try and pronounce these, OK? Linda Mood Bell and Orton Gillingham technique and the reading recovery system. OK, what do all those mean?
Stf: Linda Mood Bell and Orton Gillingham are both multisensory methods for teaching reading used primarily with kids with dyslexia. So they're not learning to read the regular ways, and you need to really break words down into their component sounds, and you need to move very sequentially. And then you need to bring in different senses so that you're helping really engage those pathways to their brain, and hopefully they can recall things.
Kara: Give me an example of how you would bring in an extra sense.
Stef: Well, like sandpaper letters. If you have letter, and I have those. And those are really a Montessori material, but they work perfectly. And you're having the child say the letter sound, and they're tracing it. So they're seeing it, they're saying it, and they're feeling it. And so then they're better able to access that. That's Which they have trouble getting.
Right. But Linda Mood works a lot specifically on the position of your mouth as you say sounds. So I will bring that into my current teaching. A lot of times we will be introducing a sound and we might get a mirror out. How does your mouth look when you say this? Everybody says it. They pass the mirrors around. We talk about, tell me what's your mouth doing when you say, you know, puh? And they say,
What are your lips doing? they're like popping, you know? And so then they're then associating that tactile and the and they're hearing it and they're feeling it and they learn to identify that feeling with that sound. So it's it's helping memory and breaking things down. And I would think that would be useful for any young child. Right. Right. And that's why I still use it. That's part of why. Yeah, I wanted to do best beginning and I wanted to offer all these techniques that I knew about to kids who might be learning more regularly or might not, but you're still, I think it's going to make it easier for any child to learn those things.
Kara: Let's talk about, I mean, you have such an impressive list of working in education and amazing places you've been. So give me like a little background to where you worked and then lead me up to the creation of Best Beginning.
Stef: Well, post college I got a job working at University of Maryland Medical School. And there I was doing research working with children with non -organic failure to thrive. that means that they weren't growing properly, but there was no genetic issue. So the researchers there were trying to determine if there was something other than just they weren't getting enough calories, which would be the obvious. And that involved a lot of home visiting with inner city families.
And learning techniques of observing parent -child interaction and feeding interaction and home environment and stimulation. So I had to go in and learn these things along with the grad students, but it made me realize that that was so interesting. I love the research, but I really wanted to be the person to be doing intervention, not just observing and not doing anything.
And then in the summers, I was tutoring at Jemicy School, which is a school in Baltimore, again, for bright kids with learning disabilities. And I got training in Gillingham. So I was doing that. So I still had both those interests when I applied to GW, George Washington University. And I got into their master's program. Then I did internships in both areas. So I worked in the NICU at GW Hospital. doing home visits with one of my professors and following up with the kids. But yeah, the pre -ME stuff was so interesting. It was very hard. Right. I really loved it. And then I did my internship for special ed. And that ended up being at Summit School, which was at that point in PG County. And I didn't know this when I applied to the program, but the professor that interviewed me and I said I wanted to work with kids with dyslexia was in the process of starting a school for bright kids with dyslexia at the time. anyway, but he had me do my internship or one of my internships there. And I ended up actually meeting my future husband, Dirk, who was working there at the time.
Yeah, so that was a little romance happening, but then he left and went on to law school, but I got hired. And so just the fact that I had been there and they had a job for me, and that's what ended up deciding which direction I kind of went, even though they're related. Then I decided I really wanted to be more doing like maybe more something more administrative and testing and kind of back to more tutoring. And so they let me, I ran Children's Potential, which was their tutoring company. And then I just decided I wanted to do something a little different, but it wasn't that different. And I went to St. Anne's and became the learning specialist there. And at the time I was working, yeah, preschool through eighth grade. Then I had, and somewhere in there I had my first child and I arranged a job share, because I was full time and I knew I didn't want to be full time. And they said, well, that's OK. We'll keep you on if you can find somebody. And I found someone to share my job. then I was the lower, and she was more middle school. And that worked well. And then I decided to stay home when I had my second son. And then he was maybe two years old. We moved out here. And
was getting a little antsy. had been about two years since I had a professional, you know, duties. And I wanted to be able to teach how I wanted to teach based on what I knew worked. And so I wanted to be my own boss. You know, I wanted to be able to look at the children and think, you know what, they need this or they need this and not have to worry about somebody saying, but you've got to use this method or you should be doing this right now. Initially, though, I opened as a daycare because
it didn't occur to me that I could have a preschool in my house. And it wasn't until my younger son was in my daycare, but I wasn't really running it like you would think a daycare. was not that, I mean, there's nothing wrong with that. It was just, was running it more with my lesson plans and doing all that stuff anyway. And then one of the children that was here was also signed up at Cypress Cove Friends, which used to be across the way. And that was a Montessori Reggio school near Grauls. And I went to visit.
And I thought, wow, this is amazing. And that place was amazing. Was it in the shopping center? No, it was across from Graal's and down kind of toward the water. In someone's house? -huh. Yes. It was Miss Sherry. And it was unbelievable. They'd got at the house. They had set it up in this awesome, cool school format. It was beautiful. And they had so many Montessori materials. And I went in to observe. She had me come when the kids were there which is one of the reasons I still do that with parents so they can really see. And I just, it was this flow. There were all these kids. It was not chaotic at all. They all knew where things went and what they were doing and they were choosing what to do and they were taking their little mats and working on the ground together or working individually. She had a fireplace. She probably wasn't supposed to have a fire going, but like there was a cold winter day and there was a fire in the fireplace and it was like early spring and there were ducks, live ducks in a galvanized tub in front of the fireplace, like just paddling around. And then she had all these terrariums of amazing animals, hissing cockroaches. I don't even know what was there. And she's doing all this. I think she had two assistants. And I thought, hmm, well, I'm gonna volunteer and be part of Luke's experience because this is so amazing. So then I learned a lot about that. And that was ultimately what got me...to be like, I could do something like that. I mean, I don't know if I could ever be as good as Ms. Sherry, but you know. So then she eventually left. She actually gave me the seesaw over there and the rug that I have in there. Almost like a mentor in a way. She was. And I don't know if she really knew that, but yes, she really was. She was just incredible. Her style. I mean, she'd do these little songs and the kids would all just come and pick up time and see it. And then they'd be doing what she was doing.
Kara: Sounds very, Mar Poppins!
Stef: Yes. It's Yeah, so I love going there.
Kara: OK, so we're going to throw a couple more terms at which you've already said, but your school combines Montessori. Is it Regio Emilia? Regio Emilia. OK. And multiple intelligence theory. So you've touched on all of these. But talk a little bit more about them and how you implement them at your school.
Stef: Multiple intelligence theory says there's not one number that should be intelligence or one thing. It is made up of maybe seven different variables, people's intelligence. Some of those are like mathematical or musical or naturalistic or your knowledge of yourself, knowledge of how to relate to other people. So it's really broader than we think of intelligence as being, which I think it should be. Kara: And you're also trying to figure out at this age How they learn.
Stef: Right. And once I have an idea, I'm also teaching them how they learn. Right. To give them that knowledge, like, looks like this is really easy for you. You just learned that. So easily doing it this way. That's really interesting. And then in terms of Regio, Regio encourages a lot of creativity and flexibility in learning. And it also is very child led.
You're often getting the themes that you're going to be studying might be coming from the kids and their interests and just watching them. Or you might choose a theme, but go ahead and ask them, well, what do you guys already know about this? Let's brainstorm. What do you know? And then what do you want to know? And if you don't know now, come back and tell me tomorrow. What do you want to know? And so then you're investing them and you're turning it back over to them as to where we're going to go with things. So I think that's really powerful.
It also involves, Reggio involves a lot of loose parts which are just anything that you can use multiple ways. So again, that's very flexible and creative. So you know, you could have, I don't know, acorns that you're counting with or you know, so many things in nature is already loose parts. But blocks would be loose parts or recycled materials that you might say, I'm going to build something today. You know, whatever it is. so there's that.
Montessori is also very child -led. The teacher is really a guide. There's a lot of work with mixed ages, which I do in my three to five -year -old group, where the older often teach the younger. And I do see that happening a lot. And it's really great, particularly if that child's been here for a while. It's just special. Tell me why, though. Is it because it kind of empowers the older child? Yeah. And they've been on the other side if they've been here through the program. Yeah, and I think it teaches empathy, teaches how to relate to somebody that's younger, but maybe felt how you did. It's priceless. It's really special. But yet also actually engages the older one in learning also more. Because obviously, if you have to teach something, as you know, you have to really know it. So then they're in that position. The materials for Montessori are often self -correcting. So it's not the teacher. standing over saying, that's not right. Try again or whatever. I do that too, but that's great thing. It's again, putting it into the child's power.
Kara: I think you mentioned the age groups, but you teach, is it two different groups?
Stef: The two different groups, the twos and the three to five year old group. three to fives.
Kara: And how many days, hello pretty bug. How many days a week do they all go? I
Stef: t's part time. Yeah, I'm still working part time and have some balance in my life. It's Tuesday, Thursdays for the three to five year old group, but it is total of eight hours. So it's still a fair amount of time when you compare it with other preschools that usually end early and it's a couple hours. And then the twos group is really just an introduction to being away from mom and dad and language and materials that they haven't seen. And that is two hours on Fridays.
Kara: That's so perfect. That was the perfect thing for us because it exactly what we needed. Like I needed to learn how to be away from William. He needed to learn how to be away from me. I would run to Graul's. That was my shopping time.
Stef: Some parents stay close, but they can have some time by themselves.
Kara: Yeah. I was so thankful because we have no family around here. So I was like, I can do grocery just do this. It was so, like, my god, this is amazing. I was so thankful. I still remember little William. my gosh. Hilarious. And then how many kids are in each class? Like how large are the classes?
Stef: I can take eight in my three to five year old class and I do only five usually in my twos class. Perfect. Just because. We're working on potty training. We're working on a lot of things. And I do have a teaching assistant as well. I've had that for many years now and I have a wonderful, wonderful teaching assistant.
Kara: A dynamic duo. Yeah. love it. my gosh.
Well, it's funny because you're now I'm thinking about the twos. I'm like, let a flashback to like packing his bag. And I think I threw a couple of pull ups in there because you're right. Like they're they're potty training. Yeah. And one of the things that you taught me, which I like had to get over was like, you can be you can get messy when you're learning. yeah. So I remember you would have like a water table or they'd be painting or they'd be out. It could be raining. Right. But that's OK. Yeah. And
I was like, my gosh, he's going to get muddy, but that's fine. So it was such a huge learning curve for me. Because when you're first like your mom must stay and Right, we want to protect and we want to whatever. Right, or it's drilled into your head that your child must be presentable and clean at all times. I I was the same way, so I know. Right? And then you pick up your you're like, damn. OK, you had some fun today. So cool. You know those little scooter things that was the best.
Stef: I know that some parents said they laughed, they had.
drawers in the kids' rooms that were labeled for BestBeginning clothes. They're like, my child knows to just pick out.
Kara: yeah. absolutely. Like what we probably used to call play clothes.
Stef: Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But some kids, the girls will come in princess dresses, and I'll say, OK, you know that we're outside all day today, because we do do. Yeah. And when the weather's nice now, we stay outside the entire day. Amazing. They're going to get dirty in there.parents are like, it's OK, most of them. But then there are those parents that are like, not really sure.
Kara: It's like a learning curve for everybody. is. Yeah. So let's take some water. And then I think that's like the perfect segue to start talking about nature education. absolutely.
(music)
Kara:
Okay, so we are sitting outside in front of your home. Tell me for you why outdoor education is important.
Stef: Somewhere along the line, I realized how much it helped me to relax and enjoy beauty and just be present and have fun if I could be outside. That was part of saying, well, I could offer this to kids. If it does that for me, it's going to do that for kids. It just provides. such a wonderful backdrop for learning. We bring all our centers out here and they're rotating around just like they would inside. But there's so much more room for open -ended experience and different kinds of experience because they've had snack and their crumbs on the ground and all of a sudden there's ants, know, eating the... well, everybody... somebody notices and then they're all over there and we just drop what we're doing and we go and we look at the magnifying glass and then talking about ants and ant behavior and then we might...
decide we want to do a theme on ants. You know, so there are those things. It provides a, often challenges, not huge challenges, but challenges that kids are able to, they might be worried about it, but then they realize I could do this, whether it's climbing the steep hill out back, going down, or the zip line which is sort of a rite of passage usually by the time they're leaving, they can do it, but it takes some work. Or being outside in a snowstorm, honestly, mean, and realizing, I have the right stuff to wear. This is really fun. This changes everything. I just think it makes them more available to learn. It's the ultimate multi -sensory experience. You just think that's happening all the time. It's a lot of cross -training because you're outside, you're more likely to
hanging upside down, you're working your muscles different ways, just automatically. If you're balancing on a log or whatever, and you're not really going to be doing that inside. Yeah, so just realizing I could teach the same things as I was teaching inside, outside, but it would probably be better. It's just very powerful.
Kara: So I think the rest of my questions are really about how you've designed your classroom space. So maybe it would be easier if we just sort of walked around and you can just point things out.
Are there any specific either moments of discovery or success stories that you can think of, even with your own kids being here and learning?
Stef: I mean, I think it's kind of more of a pattern that I see. I've seen with so many kids, because I've been doing this, whatever it is, 19 years too. But there's that child that's worried about being out in nature, worried about being in the weather. And then when I explain that we're going to be doing our first woods hike down to the stream to go our wild, little wild space, they're kind of scared seeing that it comes full circle because they experience it, they realize they can handle it. Maybe some crazy things will happen along the way. Like they might get stuck in the mud or brambles or whatever. We talk about all that. They worry they're going to see bears. I explained there are not going to be any bears down there. But these are real worries. No Cape bears. No Cape bears. There are foxes and raccoons and we look for prints.
But you see, you know, that child who is first so worried about it, it starts to become, you know, really a favorite activity. And then they're the one that's asking, can we, when are we going to go down and do that hike again? Because I really like that. And then we will. And people ask, and I try to do those things more. And then, you know, they might come back the next year. And there might be a child who's worried. And then they're the ones to say,
I might say, did you feel that way too? Did anyone else feel the way so -and -so feel? And they'd be like, yeah, I did. And I'm like, well, why don't you tell them? You're like, how it's going to go. And then you see them in that teaching position where they're stepping up and reassuring. And it's just, I just love it. So it's just sort of this opening to new experiences that happens. And then they're turning around and they're passing it. It's empowering. It is. It's really empowering.
Kara: All right, let's go see some of these spaces. OK.
Okay, so we're walking, but we're connected because we both have our microphones, which I did not bring long cords, which is really probably a it's stuck. Well, it's stuck on my hand. There we go. Okay. You can just give me a tour and then just tell me why you put certain things where you did and how you use them, maybe.
Stef: Okay. Well, we're standing in what could be the wheeled vehicles area, the ride on vehicles. These doors to the garage come up. That is actually kind of a learning space and a meeting space,
But we also have our meetings outside. When we're outside, we will circle up and have our meeting space here. Over there is the stage. On the stage, we might have musical instruments, and the kids can go up any time and play and dance. Or it might be a little production or something for the parents who come watch, which is adorable. Up top of the stage is the treehouse area. That's usually a reading area.
But sometimes we allow them to do other things. Like if we're working on flight, for example, they might be dropping things or, you know, around the Blue Angels time. Let's, you know, like make these planes and see. So it has multiple uses. There are the stumps in the back for balancing. We have a little playhouse. We set up with a table so they can do pretend play. They sell a lot of things there. We have a chalkboard and we often eat at the benches here and bring out chairs, so it's also the eating area, snack and lunch, garden, I mean they plant things, sometimes we have cherry tomatoes, they eat them. I mean and everything is so beautifully built literally around the trees. Yes. Right? Yes. So it's Yeah and this tree had to come down and I was so sad but I thought well maybe we could kept the stump part of it. Yep exactly and that's where the tree house is. Yeah and this and the neat thing about it is all this was
by the stage and the benches and down below was actually built by the husband. Well, and my first teaching assistant helped her husband. And he is a landscape architect. And he came to help me when I was getting my Nature Explorer certification. So he mapped everything out. And then he came and he built. So actually, that's a great segue. So tell me what was involved in getting that certification. Well, Nature Explorer does research where they look at children being outside and
try to figure out how to best engage them in the natural world. And so they decided that these areas that I'm pointing out are some of the areas that if you want to get a certification, you need to have. So you figure out where you're to put the areas and you document the process and you have to take photos and you have to write about it.
Kara: And are you also the gardener? Yes, I'm the gardener. But the front of your house, the garden is so beautiful. Thank you. It's gorgeous.
Stef: And the kids, when they're sitting out here having snack or whatever, a lot of times they'll notice birds and we'll talk about what bird is that. And by the end they're naming, that's it. I see a vulture. Or the leaves are falling from the trees and we're talking about falling. We're talking about leaves and trees. And they're out here experiencing it like 24, seven for four hours. All right, well show me more. I'll follow you. I don't know if I should lead the way. Yep, go for it. Anywhere you want to go. Over here under the holly trees.
is the climbing and crawling area. So this is a lot of gross motor. And when kids first arrive at school, I've tweaked the schedule so they always pretty much start outside unless it's terrible weather. So they kind of they run around and there it's a lot of movement before we're asking them to sit down for a meeting. But yeah.
The seesaw, the slide, the ropes from the trees. the rope. Yeah, that little swing. They actually love that swing. That's and that's kind of hard to get on, but they do figure out how to do it. they have to balance. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And they can climb up with that step stool. There's this huge, this tunnel, which is kind of a new thing. show me. better walk down here. Is tree climbing encouraged? Yes, it is. You know, I mean, I think we're always there talking them through it. But yeah, I think I mean, risk.
Management is one of those things with nature education that they tell you you need to do. I mean, it's really good for the kids, but you're always kind of talking to them. you know, think about how you're going to get down. you know, and you might be there. Yes. In case, but like foot placement. Yeah, but it is important to let them take some risks. This thing is cool. Yeah, it's usually a little tighter. We've loosened it to help the trees,
They get in it, I kind of thought it was just for crawling through, but you get in it and it turns really easily. So, you know, sometimes, yeah, there'll be one child in it and maybe they're just lying there looking up at the sky. So it's more like a hammock, but all of them get in it and they start turning it. And it could almost kind of go upside down, but they love it. And then the ropes course is here
Eventually, usually, I mean, they start out, they get on the ropes course, they're in the twos, they're holding on, they're working on that core strength and the fine motor. And they're just kind of in one place trying to balance. But then by the time they're five, they often can make it from the top to the bottom without touching. This is Dirk's edition because he used to teach outdoor education at Go Hill Outdoor School. He did their high ropes courses. And he said, I said, what should I do with this area? He said a low ropes course. I said, okay. You put that up.
Kara: OK, we're going to go through the Through the gate. Yeah, right. I love it.
Stef: This is a part of Nature Explore where they said you need gateways to different areas. interesting. Yeah. It's beautiful. I got to just mix the difference. wow. This is so cool. Nature, art, and building. I've got little tree cookies in there, which are little slices of tree, basically. So blocks, but kind of more natural and open -ended material. Right.
but we get at all kinds of things. If I do art out here, kids are 10 times more likely to do whatever our project it is than if I'm up in the counter in the kitchen, which is my other art area. It's really funny. They can't wait to get over here. I might do science here, messy stuff. You know, can just hose off the table. Messy play is over there officially. I know there's actually two signs that actually say messy play. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, right. That's so great. You're allowed to get messy. Yes. Encouraged.
Here's more balancing with the stumps. And then we have the mud kitchen. And we put water in the little sinks, but it could also be snow or... Are you explaining to what a mud kitchen is? It's a place for kids to kind of go and pretend to cook usually. So you just see it and they just automatically do it. You don't have to give them any... Because we have more things out there during the year. They're little dishes and spoons and they just go over and they start combining things and they can get things, you know,
tell them what they can gather from nature for their cooking or their pie. And then they start to learn how to make mud. And they're so excited that I'll let them make mud. And they go to the dirt digging area over there. And they might bring the dirt over and mix it with the water. And then we'll bring the water over there. And then I don't know. just... Perfect. And then they decide on some group project. Sometimes they're going to have a party around a campfire. Well, how are we going to do that? And then they're like taking the milk crates, their loose parts, and they're making them
you know, seats and then they're making a campfire and pretend campfire. And then they're cooking for the party. And then there's the sandbox boat. There's a sandbox boat. Which was duplicated over Goshen Farm in the nature play space, which I'm on the committee of. that's right. So you will see a mud kitchen and a boat and some balancing. And I helped to design that area because I really wanted. I knew that that's right. Yeah. I really wanted other kids to be able to just come and enjoy a nature play space too.
This was given to me at the moment of my graduating classes and built by one of the dads. that's so So his architecture has lived on. And now an Eagle Scout did that for their project. came over, they measured, and they did that. that's just kind of really neat. We've got the outdoor chalkboard. isn't that clever. Yeah. Could be art or just chalk
You could write with water or whatever it is. It's so peaceful. And you have a ravine behind your house, essentially, right? Yeah, a ravine and a stream. So that's where we go on our famous woods hikes. Got it. And it is a steep hill. Dirk put a rope there also for kids to hold onto. Yep. And we talk about how to do that. Yeah, so that's a whole different habitat than here in the schoolyard. And we get to have our adventures.
Kara: So what do you think the benefits are of starting your child early on with an experience like this that you offer?
Stef: The thing for a lot of families, they say academically my child is right on target, but I'm kind of like socially like. And actually research does say that those kids who go into kindergarten socially at the place that you want them are really likely to succeed. Even more than the academic part being important is that social part. We do a lot with that.
I haven't even mentioned that, but we do a lot with coming in the morning and how are you feeling today and not just happy, sad, mad or whatever. There's other feelings. We talk about what the feelings are and how do we handle them. We problem solve, we model. a big life skills component. Yes, there is definitely a huge life skills component. And I do think it changes kids' ability to enjoy nature and appreciate nature if they're in it from an early age. It changes
brains in a good way. part of what they're learning is it can also be, you know, a retreat, you know.
Kara: And also, we're hoping because they're gonna, when we're older, they're gonna be taking care of us. Take care of the environment. Yeah, the earth.
Stef: If you haven't had experience hiking and wading in a stream and whatever, you're not gonna know necessarily that that's important or even really care about it. So I think it's really important to have those early experiences.
Kara: You're building good citizens at an early age, essentially.
Stef: We're trying.
Kara:
Thanks to Stephanie Schwenk, AKA Miss Steph, for chatting with me. You can learn more about Best Beginning Preschool on our website at capesaintclairepodcast .com. The Cape St. Claire podcast is produced by me, Kara McGuirk -Allison. Theme music by me, Mike Lyxx, and William Allison. You can find us on Facebook and Instagram to chat about the show. Please like and share our podcast with your friends because we all love living in Cape St. Claire.
Kara:
Thank you so much for inviting me to your home, which is also a best beginning. And it's bringing back so many memories from when we were here in 2011. It's incredible.
Stef: It's great to see you again. Thank you.
My name is Steph Schwenk and I've lived in Cape St. Claire for 19 years now. My favorite thing about Cape St. Claire is the water access, the beaches, the community. I think with my kids growing up, being swim team and sailing camp, it's so about community.
Kara:
You've lived here for 19 years. So where were you born and raised?
Stef: In Baltimore. In Baltimore? Baltimore, Maryland.
Kara: Got it. So you're not too far from home. I'm not too far from home. Do you still have family here?
Stef:I have family in Baltimore. And actually, when we first moved here, Dirk's, my in -laws were on Riverbank. that's right. Yeah, so that's part of the reason we moved here.
Kara:So you just kind of answered part of my question. But why did you pick Cape St. Clair to raise a family and start a business? Was it because of family?
Stef: Yeah, was definitely because they were already here and I'd already visited and I'd heard a lot about the Cape. My, actually he's my stepfather -in -law, was his first wife, Gretel. She was here, she had a house on River Bay that was a little cottage growing up. And so when he married her, they started coming with their family and they expanded the house, but he had all kinds of insight into the neighborhood, But yeah, I I picked it because of that and because of the good schools. Honestly, my oldest was getting ready to go to kindergarten. And I knew as a package deal, there were some really good schools. So Yeah,
Kara: absolutely. It kind of feels like the closest thing to our childhood, right? So in the 70s and 80s, where you could
walk the streets, and Halloween was a big deal, and you had a little bit of freedom. There's not a lot of communities where people feel safe enough, I think, to let their kids do that.
Stef:And I was just talking to my younger son about his memories, because we were talking about me doing this podcast. But he was saying one of his favorites was playing games outside at night and doing kick the can and sardines and hide and seek games with all right here. And I said, you know, couldn't really do everywhere and he said, 'I know.' So he knows he gets it. Yeah. And we've talked about it. He was in, he was one of my first students in the school.
Kara: So special. So special. I know. I just, I think the first time I realized it was when we went on Hampton for Halloween. was like, I need a pillowcase. I'll get myself some candy. Exactly. It was just like so welcoming and it just like, again, that community feeling. So let's talk about...I'm going to jump backwards. Like, when did you know that you wanted to do early childhood education? Or was it a progression to get there?
Stef: Yeah, it was kind of a progression to get there because initially I was working with older kids, like first through eighth grade, because I was focused on reading disabilities. And so that's when things are going to show up later. I guess early childhood I think of as being like ages three to five.
So I probably didn't really realize that until I opened Best Beginning, just watching the kids just open to all these experiences. And they don't have a lot of filters or baggage or anything else. They're just ready. They're like little sponges. Yeah. So I was like, I really enjoy this. you're so good at it. I just wanted to make them love learning. Which you did. And love nature.
Kara: Yeah, which you did. So like, disclosure for folks, Best Beginning was William's very first school, and it set him on a path. And even when we went to PASA at the same time, but then we to Key School after, and he would still talk about Miss Stef.
Stef: It's so neat seeing things come full circle, because I will often, I'll be in Graul's shopping and I'll hear, "Miss Steph!" And it will be a student who's now in middle school or high school, an ex -student, and they still call me Miss Steph. I know when I hear that, it's somebody from my school. And they remember me, which I'm amazed, honestly. No, I wouldn't expect them to remember me. I remember them.
Kara: You left a huge impression. Huge impression. I told William I was coming here today. He's at Driver's Ed right now.
Stef: He's at Driver's Ed?! How could it be? that's silly.
Kara: And I'm like, I'm going to see Miss Stephanie. He's like, can I come?
. You leave such a huge impression. like not only on the kids, but the families too. Again, like it's, think, you know, because you welcome all different styles of learning too, which we really appreciated. Right. Plus the combination of indoor and outdoor education. So we're to talk about all of it because it's, it's a lot. Okay. So you, it's a lot. do a lot. Okay. So I have this right. have a dual master's in early childhood special education and infant
development and intervention. Is that right?
Stef: Yeah, those are two areas. The real childhood special ed is different from the infant development and intervention. But combining those two together is such a breadth of knowledge that is pretty incredible. Yeah, and I do still pull pieces from all of it. So you have a specific training in teaching how to read.
Kara: So why was that an important focus for you?
Stef: That was important because I myself am dyslexic. And You know, I knew firsthand how hard that is. And I also had those early teachers and tutors and diagnosis that really, really helped me. Then that was originally what I thought I wanted to do was to be working with children who were bright kids who had learned disabilities and dyslexia. And so I wanted to learn whatever the best methods would be to teach them that's really amazing.
Kara: It's like firsthand experience.
Stef: Yes. that. that classic story. But it gave me a focus.
Kara: Yeah, for sure. OK, so we're going to throw some names and terms out here that I don't know what they mean. you're going to just pick. that I do. Yes. OK, so tell me about, you ready? I'm going to try and pronounce these, OK? Linda Mood Bell and Orton Gillingham technique and the reading recovery system. OK, what do all those mean?
Stf: Linda Mood Bell and Orton Gillingham are both multisensory methods for teaching reading used primarily with kids with dyslexia. So they're not learning to read the regular ways, and you need to really break words down into their component sounds, and you need to move very sequentially. And then you need to bring in different senses so that you're helping really engage those pathways to their brain, and hopefully they can recall things.
Kara: Give me an example of how you would bring in an extra sense.
Stef: Well, like sandpaper letters. If you have letter, and I have those. And those are really a Montessori material, but they work perfectly. And you're having the child say the letter sound, and they're tracing it. So they're seeing it, they're saying it, and they're feeling it. And so then they're better able to access that. That's Which they have trouble getting.
Right. But Linda Mood works a lot specifically on the position of your mouth as you say sounds. So I will bring that into my current teaching. A lot of times we will be introducing a sound and we might get a mirror out. How does your mouth look when you say this? Everybody says it. They pass the mirrors around. We talk about, tell me what's your mouth doing when you say, you know, puh? And they say,
What are your lips doing? they're like popping, you know? And so then they're then associating that tactile and the and they're hearing it and they're feeling it and they learn to identify that feeling with that sound. So it's it's helping memory and breaking things down. And I would think that would be useful for any young child. Right. Right. And that's why I still use it. That's part of why. Yeah, I wanted to do best beginning and I wanted to offer all these techniques that I knew about to kids who might be learning more regularly or might not, but you're still, I think it's going to make it easier for any child to learn those things.
Kara: Let's talk about, I mean, you have such an impressive list of working in education and amazing places you've been. So give me like a little background to where you worked and then lead me up to the creation of Best Beginning.
Stef: Well, post college I got a job working at University of Maryland Medical School. And there I was doing research working with children with non -organic failure to thrive. that means that they weren't growing properly, but there was no genetic issue. So the researchers there were trying to determine if there was something other than just they weren't getting enough calories, which would be the obvious. And that involved a lot of home visiting with inner city families.
And learning techniques of observing parent -child interaction and feeding interaction and home environment and stimulation. So I had to go in and learn these things along with the grad students, but it made me realize that that was so interesting. I love the research, but I really wanted to be the person to be doing intervention, not just observing and not doing anything.
And then in the summers, I was tutoring at Jemicy School, which is a school in Baltimore, again, for bright kids with learning disabilities. And I got training in Gillingham. So I was doing that. So I still had both those interests when I applied to GW, George Washington University. And I got into their master's program. Then I did internships in both areas. So I worked in the NICU at GW Hospital. doing home visits with one of my professors and following up with the kids. But yeah, the pre -ME stuff was so interesting. It was very hard. Right. I really loved it. And then I did my internship for special ed. And that ended up being at Summit School, which was at that point in PG County. And I didn't know this when I applied to the program, but the professor that interviewed me and I said I wanted to work with kids with dyslexia was in the process of starting a school for bright kids with dyslexia at the time. anyway, but he had me do my internship or one of my internships there. And I ended up actually meeting my future husband, Dirk, who was working there at the time.
Yeah, so that was a little romance happening, but then he left and went on to law school, but I got hired. And so just the fact that I had been there and they had a job for me, and that's what ended up deciding which direction I kind of went, even though they're related. Then I decided I really wanted to be more doing like maybe more something more administrative and testing and kind of back to more tutoring. And so they let me, I ran Children's Potential, which was their tutoring company. And then I just decided I wanted to do something a little different, but it wasn't that different. And I went to St. Anne's and became the learning specialist there. And at the time I was working, yeah, preschool through eighth grade. Then I had, and somewhere in there I had my first child and I arranged a job share, because I was full time and I knew I didn't want to be full time. And they said, well, that's OK. We'll keep you on if you can find somebody. And I found someone to share my job. then I was the lower, and she was more middle school. And that worked well. And then I decided to stay home when I had my second son. And then he was maybe two years old. We moved out here. And
was getting a little antsy. had been about two years since I had a professional, you know, duties. And I wanted to be able to teach how I wanted to teach based on what I knew worked. And so I wanted to be my own boss. You know, I wanted to be able to look at the children and think, you know what, they need this or they need this and not have to worry about somebody saying, but you've got to use this method or you should be doing this right now. Initially, though, I opened as a daycare because
it didn't occur to me that I could have a preschool in my house. And it wasn't until my younger son was in my daycare, but I wasn't really running it like you would think a daycare. was not that, I mean, there's nothing wrong with that. It was just, was running it more with my lesson plans and doing all that stuff anyway. And then one of the children that was here was also signed up at Cypress Cove Friends, which used to be across the way. And that was a Montessori Reggio school near Grauls. And I went to visit.
And I thought, wow, this is amazing. And that place was amazing. Was it in the shopping center? No, it was across from Graal's and down kind of toward the water. In someone's house? -huh. Yes. It was Miss Sherry. And it was unbelievable. They'd got at the house. They had set it up in this awesome, cool school format. It was beautiful. And they had so many Montessori materials. And I went in to observe. She had me come when the kids were there which is one of the reasons I still do that with parents so they can really see. And I just, it was this flow. There were all these kids. It was not chaotic at all. They all knew where things went and what they were doing and they were choosing what to do and they were taking their little mats and working on the ground together or working individually. She had a fireplace. She probably wasn't supposed to have a fire going, but like there was a cold winter day and there was a fire in the fireplace and it was like early spring and there were ducks, live ducks in a galvanized tub in front of the fireplace, like just paddling around. And then she had all these terrariums of amazing animals, hissing cockroaches. I don't even know what was there. And she's doing all this. I think she had two assistants. And I thought, hmm, well, I'm gonna volunteer and be part of Luke's experience because this is so amazing. So then I learned a lot about that. And that was ultimately what got me...to be like, I could do something like that. I mean, I don't know if I could ever be as good as Ms. Sherry, but you know. So then she eventually left. She actually gave me the seesaw over there and the rug that I have in there. Almost like a mentor in a way. She was. And I don't know if she really knew that, but yes, she really was. She was just incredible. Her style. I mean, she'd do these little songs and the kids would all just come and pick up time and see it. And then they'd be doing what she was doing.
Kara: Sounds very, Mar Poppins!
Stef: Yes. It's Yeah, so I love going there.
Kara: OK, so we're going to throw a couple more terms at which you've already said, but your school combines Montessori. Is it Regio Emilia? Regio Emilia. OK. And multiple intelligence theory. So you've touched on all of these. But talk a little bit more about them and how you implement them at your school.
Stef: Multiple intelligence theory says there's not one number that should be intelligence or one thing. It is made up of maybe seven different variables, people's intelligence. Some of those are like mathematical or musical or naturalistic or your knowledge of yourself, knowledge of how to relate to other people. So it's really broader than we think of intelligence as being, which I think it should be. Kara: And you're also trying to figure out at this age How they learn.
Stef: Right. And once I have an idea, I'm also teaching them how they learn. Right. To give them that knowledge, like, looks like this is really easy for you. You just learned that. So easily doing it this way. That's really interesting. And then in terms of Regio, Regio encourages a lot of creativity and flexibility in learning. And it also is very child led.
You're often getting the themes that you're going to be studying might be coming from the kids and their interests and just watching them. Or you might choose a theme, but go ahead and ask them, well, what do you guys already know about this? Let's brainstorm. What do you know? And then what do you want to know? And if you don't know now, come back and tell me tomorrow. What do you want to know? And so then you're investing them and you're turning it back over to them as to where we're going to go with things. So I think that's really powerful.
It also involves, Reggio involves a lot of loose parts which are just anything that you can use multiple ways. So again, that's very flexible and creative. So you know, you could have, I don't know, acorns that you're counting with or you know, so many things in nature is already loose parts. But blocks would be loose parts or recycled materials that you might say, I'm going to build something today. You know, whatever it is. so there's that.
Montessori is also very child -led. The teacher is really a guide. There's a lot of work with mixed ages, which I do in my three to five -year -old group, where the older often teach the younger. And I do see that happening a lot. And it's really great, particularly if that child's been here for a while. It's just special. Tell me why, though. Is it because it kind of empowers the older child? Yeah. And they've been on the other side if they've been here through the program. Yeah, and I think it teaches empathy, teaches how to relate to somebody that's younger, but maybe felt how you did. It's priceless. It's really special. But yet also actually engages the older one in learning also more. Because obviously, if you have to teach something, as you know, you have to really know it. So then they're in that position. The materials for Montessori are often self -correcting. So it's not the teacher. standing over saying, that's not right. Try again or whatever. I do that too, but that's great thing. It's again, putting it into the child's power.
Kara: I think you mentioned the age groups, but you teach, is it two different groups?
Stef: The two different groups, the twos and the three to five year old group. three to fives.
Kara: And how many days, hello pretty bug. How many days a week do they all go? I
Stef: t's part time. Yeah, I'm still working part time and have some balance in my life. It's Tuesday, Thursdays for the three to five year old group, but it is total of eight hours. So it's still a fair amount of time when you compare it with other preschools that usually end early and it's a couple hours. And then the twos group is really just an introduction to being away from mom and dad and language and materials that they haven't seen. And that is two hours on Fridays.
Kara: That's so perfect. That was the perfect thing for us because it exactly what we needed. Like I needed to learn how to be away from William. He needed to learn how to be away from me. I would run to Graul's. That was my shopping time.
Stef: Some parents stay close, but they can have some time by themselves.
Kara: Yeah. I was so thankful because we have no family around here. So I was like, I can do grocery just do this. It was so, like, my god, this is amazing. I was so thankful. I still remember little William. my gosh. Hilarious. And then how many kids are in each class? Like how large are the classes?
Stef: I can take eight in my three to five year old class and I do only five usually in my twos class. Perfect. Just because. We're working on potty training. We're working on a lot of things. And I do have a teaching assistant as well. I've had that for many years now and I have a wonderful, wonderful teaching assistant.
Kara: A dynamic duo. Yeah. love it. my gosh.
Well, it's funny because you're now I'm thinking about the twos. I'm like, let a flashback to like packing his bag. And I think I threw a couple of pull ups in there because you're right. Like they're they're potty training. Yeah. And one of the things that you taught me, which I like had to get over was like, you can be you can get messy when you're learning. yeah. So I remember you would have like a water table or they'd be painting or they'd be out. It could be raining. Right. But that's OK. Yeah. And
I was like, my gosh, he's going to get muddy, but that's fine. So it was such a huge learning curve for me. Because when you're first like your mom must stay and Right, we want to protect and we want to whatever. Right, or it's drilled into your head that your child must be presentable and clean at all times. I I was the same way, so I know. Right? And then you pick up your you're like, damn. OK, you had some fun today. So cool. You know those little scooter things that was the best.
Stef: I know that some parents said they laughed, they had.
drawers in the kids' rooms that were labeled for BestBeginning clothes. They're like, my child knows to just pick out.
Kara: yeah. absolutely. Like what we probably used to call play clothes.
Stef: Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But some kids, the girls will come in princess dresses, and I'll say, OK, you know that we're outside all day today, because we do do. Yeah. And when the weather's nice now, we stay outside the entire day. Amazing. They're going to get dirty in there.parents are like, it's OK, most of them. But then there are those parents that are like, not really sure.
Kara: It's like a learning curve for everybody. is. Yeah. So let's take some water. And then I think that's like the perfect segue to start talking about nature education. absolutely.
(music)
Kara:
Okay, so we are sitting outside in front of your home. Tell me for you why outdoor education is important.
Stef: Somewhere along the line, I realized how much it helped me to relax and enjoy beauty and just be present and have fun if I could be outside. That was part of saying, well, I could offer this to kids. If it does that for me, it's going to do that for kids. It just provides. such a wonderful backdrop for learning. We bring all our centers out here and they're rotating around just like they would inside. But there's so much more room for open -ended experience and different kinds of experience because they've had snack and their crumbs on the ground and all of a sudden there's ants, know, eating the... well, everybody... somebody notices and then they're all over there and we just drop what we're doing and we go and we look at the magnifying glass and then talking about ants and ant behavior and then we might...
decide we want to do a theme on ants. You know, so there are those things. It provides a, often challenges, not huge challenges, but challenges that kids are able to, they might be worried about it, but then they realize I could do this, whether it's climbing the steep hill out back, going down, or the zip line which is sort of a rite of passage usually by the time they're leaving, they can do it, but it takes some work. Or being outside in a snowstorm, honestly, mean, and realizing, I have the right stuff to wear. This is really fun. This changes everything. I just think it makes them more available to learn. It's the ultimate multi -sensory experience. You just think that's happening all the time. It's a lot of cross -training because you're outside, you're more likely to
hanging upside down, you're working your muscles different ways, just automatically. If you're balancing on a log or whatever, and you're not really going to be doing that inside. Yeah, so just realizing I could teach the same things as I was teaching inside, outside, but it would probably be better. It's just very powerful.
Kara: So I think the rest of my questions are really about how you've designed your classroom space. So maybe it would be easier if we just sort of walked around and you can just point things out.
Are there any specific either moments of discovery or success stories that you can think of, even with your own kids being here and learning?
Stef: I mean, I think it's kind of more of a pattern that I see. I've seen with so many kids, because I've been doing this, whatever it is, 19 years too. But there's that child that's worried about being out in nature, worried about being in the weather. And then when I explain that we're going to be doing our first woods hike down to the stream to go our wild, little wild space, they're kind of scared seeing that it comes full circle because they experience it, they realize they can handle it. Maybe some crazy things will happen along the way. Like they might get stuck in the mud or brambles or whatever. We talk about all that. They worry they're going to see bears. I explained there are not going to be any bears down there. But these are real worries. No Cape bears. No Cape bears. There are foxes and raccoons and we look for prints.
But you see, you know, that child who is first so worried about it, it starts to become, you know, really a favorite activity. And then they're the one that's asking, can we, when are we going to go down and do that hike again? Because I really like that. And then we will. And people ask, and I try to do those things more. And then, you know, they might come back the next year. And there might be a child who's worried. And then they're the ones to say,
I might say, did you feel that way too? Did anyone else feel the way so -and -so feel? And they'd be like, yeah, I did. And I'm like, well, why don't you tell them? You're like, how it's going to go. And then you see them in that teaching position where they're stepping up and reassuring. And it's just, I just love it. So it's just sort of this opening to new experiences that happens. And then they're turning around and they're passing it. It's empowering. It is. It's really empowering.
Kara: All right, let's go see some of these spaces. OK.
Okay, so we're walking, but we're connected because we both have our microphones, which I did not bring long cords, which is really probably a it's stuck. Well, it's stuck on my hand. There we go. Okay. You can just give me a tour and then just tell me why you put certain things where you did and how you use them, maybe.
Stef: Okay. Well, we're standing in what could be the wheeled vehicles area, the ride on vehicles. These doors to the garage come up. That is actually kind of a learning space and a meeting space,
But we also have our meetings outside. When we're outside, we will circle up and have our meeting space here. Over there is the stage. On the stage, we might have musical instruments, and the kids can go up any time and play and dance. Or it might be a little production or something for the parents who come watch, which is adorable. Up top of the stage is the treehouse area. That's usually a reading area.
But sometimes we allow them to do other things. Like if we're working on flight, for example, they might be dropping things or, you know, around the Blue Angels time. Let's, you know, like make these planes and see. So it has multiple uses. There are the stumps in the back for balancing. We have a little playhouse. We set up with a table so they can do pretend play. They sell a lot of things there. We have a chalkboard and we often eat at the benches here and bring out chairs, so it's also the eating area, snack and lunch, garden, I mean they plant things, sometimes we have cherry tomatoes, they eat them. I mean and everything is so beautifully built literally around the trees. Yes. Right? Yes. So it's Yeah and this tree had to come down and I was so sad but I thought well maybe we could kept the stump part of it. Yep exactly and that's where the tree house is. Yeah and this and the neat thing about it is all this was
by the stage and the benches and down below was actually built by the husband. Well, and my first teaching assistant helped her husband. And he is a landscape architect. And he came to help me when I was getting my Nature Explorer certification. So he mapped everything out. And then he came and he built. So actually, that's a great segue. So tell me what was involved in getting that certification. Well, Nature Explorer does research where they look at children being outside and
try to figure out how to best engage them in the natural world. And so they decided that these areas that I'm pointing out are some of the areas that if you want to get a certification, you need to have. So you figure out where you're to put the areas and you document the process and you have to take photos and you have to write about it.
Kara: And are you also the gardener? Yes, I'm the gardener. But the front of your house, the garden is so beautiful. Thank you. It's gorgeous.
Stef: And the kids, when they're sitting out here having snack or whatever, a lot of times they'll notice birds and we'll talk about what bird is that. And by the end they're naming, that's it. I see a vulture. Or the leaves are falling from the trees and we're talking about falling. We're talking about leaves and trees. And they're out here experiencing it like 24, seven for four hours. All right, well show me more. I'll follow you. I don't know if I should lead the way. Yep, go for it. Anywhere you want to go. Over here under the holly trees.
is the climbing and crawling area. So this is a lot of gross motor. And when kids first arrive at school, I've tweaked the schedule so they always pretty much start outside unless it's terrible weather. So they kind of they run around and there it's a lot of movement before we're asking them to sit down for a meeting. But yeah.
The seesaw, the slide, the ropes from the trees. the rope. Yeah, that little swing. They actually love that swing. That's and that's kind of hard to get on, but they do figure out how to do it. they have to balance. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And they can climb up with that step stool. There's this huge, this tunnel, which is kind of a new thing. show me. better walk down here. Is tree climbing encouraged? Yes, it is. You know, I mean, I think we're always there talking them through it. But yeah, I think I mean, risk.
Management is one of those things with nature education that they tell you you need to do. I mean, it's really good for the kids, but you're always kind of talking to them. you know, think about how you're going to get down. you know, and you might be there. Yes. In case, but like foot placement. Yeah, but it is important to let them take some risks. This thing is cool. Yeah, it's usually a little tighter. We've loosened it to help the trees,
They get in it, I kind of thought it was just for crawling through, but you get in it and it turns really easily. So, you know, sometimes, yeah, there'll be one child in it and maybe they're just lying there looking up at the sky. So it's more like a hammock, but all of them get in it and they start turning it. And it could almost kind of go upside down, but they love it. And then the ropes course is here
Eventually, usually, I mean, they start out, they get on the ropes course, they're in the twos, they're holding on, they're working on that core strength and the fine motor. And they're just kind of in one place trying to balance. But then by the time they're five, they often can make it from the top to the bottom without touching. This is Dirk's edition because he used to teach outdoor education at Go Hill Outdoor School. He did their high ropes courses. And he said, I said, what should I do with this area? He said a low ropes course. I said, okay. You put that up.
Kara: OK, we're going to go through the Through the gate. Yeah, right. I love it.
Stef: This is a part of Nature Explore where they said you need gateways to different areas. interesting. Yeah. It's beautiful. I got to just mix the difference. wow. This is so cool. Nature, art, and building. I've got little tree cookies in there, which are little slices of tree, basically. So blocks, but kind of more natural and open -ended material. Right.
but we get at all kinds of things. If I do art out here, kids are 10 times more likely to do whatever our project it is than if I'm up in the counter in the kitchen, which is my other art area. It's really funny. They can't wait to get over here. I might do science here, messy stuff. You know, can just hose off the table. Messy play is over there officially. I know there's actually two signs that actually say messy play. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, right. That's so great. You're allowed to get messy. Yes. Encouraged.
Here's more balancing with the stumps. And then we have the mud kitchen. And we put water in the little sinks, but it could also be snow or... Are you explaining to what a mud kitchen is? It's a place for kids to kind of go and pretend to cook usually. So you just see it and they just automatically do it. You don't have to give them any... Because we have more things out there during the year. They're little dishes and spoons and they just go over and they start combining things and they can get things, you know,
tell them what they can gather from nature for their cooking or their pie. And then they start to learn how to make mud. And they're so excited that I'll let them make mud. And they go to the dirt digging area over there. And they might bring the dirt over and mix it with the water. And then we'll bring the water over there. And then I don't know. just... Perfect. And then they decide on some group project. Sometimes they're going to have a party around a campfire. Well, how are we going to do that? And then they're like taking the milk crates, their loose parts, and they're making them
you know, seats and then they're making a campfire and pretend campfire. And then they're cooking for the party. And then there's the sandbox boat. There's a sandbox boat. Which was duplicated over Goshen Farm in the nature play space, which I'm on the committee of. that's right. So you will see a mud kitchen and a boat and some balancing. And I helped to design that area because I really wanted. I knew that that's right. Yeah. I really wanted other kids to be able to just come and enjoy a nature play space too.
This was given to me at the moment of my graduating classes and built by one of the dads. that's so So his architecture has lived on. And now an Eagle Scout did that for their project. came over, they measured, and they did that. that's just kind of really neat. We've got the outdoor chalkboard. isn't that clever. Yeah. Could be art or just chalk
You could write with water or whatever it is. It's so peaceful. And you have a ravine behind your house, essentially, right? Yeah, a ravine and a stream. So that's where we go on our famous woods hikes. Got it. And it is a steep hill. Dirk put a rope there also for kids to hold onto. Yep. And we talk about how to do that. Yeah, so that's a whole different habitat than here in the schoolyard. And we get to have our adventures.
Kara: So what do you think the benefits are of starting your child early on with an experience like this that you offer?
Stef: The thing for a lot of families, they say academically my child is right on target, but I'm kind of like socially like. And actually research does say that those kids who go into kindergarten socially at the place that you want them are really likely to succeed. Even more than the academic part being important is that social part. We do a lot with that.
I haven't even mentioned that, but we do a lot with coming in the morning and how are you feeling today and not just happy, sad, mad or whatever. There's other feelings. We talk about what the feelings are and how do we handle them. We problem solve, we model. a big life skills component. Yes, there is definitely a huge life skills component. And I do think it changes kids' ability to enjoy nature and appreciate nature if they're in it from an early age. It changes
brains in a good way. part of what they're learning is it can also be, you know, a retreat, you know.
Kara: And also, we're hoping because they're gonna, when we're older, they're gonna be taking care of us. Take care of the environment. Yeah, the earth.
Stef: If you haven't had experience hiking and wading in a stream and whatever, you're not gonna know necessarily that that's important or even really care about it. So I think it's really important to have those early experiences.
Kara: You're building good citizens at an early age, essentially.
Stef: We're trying.
Kara:
Thanks to Stephanie Schwenk, AKA Miss Steph, for chatting with me. You can learn more about Best Beginning Preschool on our website at capesaintclairepodcast .com. The Cape St. Claire podcast is produced by me, Kara McGuirk -Allison. Theme music by me, Mike Lyxx, and William Allison. You can find us on Facebook and Instagram to chat about the show. Please like and share our podcast with your friends because we all love living in Cape St. Claire.