BOISE, Idaho — While most students are preparing for a day inside the classroom, young learners at the Jim Hall Foothills Learning Center are getting their education from Mother Nature.
Students ages three to five at the City of Boise preschool are learning outside year-round, stepping out of traditional classrooms to explore the seasons through hands-on lessons in the dirt.
"We are by and large outside all of the time, rain, snow, cold weather," said Mary Jo Surges-Prokop, early education specialist.
On Monday, students baked mud cakes, climbed trees, and dug into their surroundings as they returned to the trails for the new school year.
WATCH: How outdoor learning builds confidence and friendships —
Surges-Prokop said the nature-based lessons build self-awareness in the children.
"One day they might not see anything, but a few days later they begin to notice something, and then they create an awareness. An awareness for themselves and for just the things in nature and their surroundings," Surges-Prokop said.
The early education specialist, who has taught at traditional schools, said the outdoor learning instills in students a love and respect for nature.
"There's definitely a calmness about them. After we've been playing around outside for a full morning, they're able to enjoy their lunch sitting. They're all around calmer," Surges-Prokop said.
The outdoor environment also helps children develop friendships in unique ways.
"Friendships here are built when children are trying hard things and they're helping their friends or encouraging them," Surges-Prokop said.
The team acts as active participants, giving the kids guidance while they embrace the natural environment.
"They're out on the trail hiking, helping kids notice things, helping them to share, helping them to work out any conflicts that might come up," Surges-Prokop said.
The City of Boise's outdoor preschool program has two locations. While the curriculum is the same, the environment is what makes each location different.
"Here in the Foothills, we have our beautiful environment that is our classroom, and at BUGS, it is the big beautiful garden," Surges-Prokop said.
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