Kindergartenoutside?Yesindeed.It’spartofagrowingworldwidetrendtowardoutdooreducation.Theschoolsarecalledforestkindergartens.ThenumbersaresmallsofarintheU.S.buttheideaiswellestablishedinEuropewithschoo

　　Kindergartenoutside?Yesindeed.It’spartofagrowingworldwidetrendtowardoutdooreducation.Theschoolsarecalledforestkindergartens.

　　ThenumbersaresmallsofarintheU.S.buttheideaiswellestablishedinEuropewithschoolsinScotlandEnglandandSwitzerland.ByfarthemostsuchschoolsareinGermanywhichhasmorethan400forestkindergartens.

　　Someschoolsfeatureseveralhoursofoutdoorschooling.ThisiscertainlythecasewiththeWaldorfSchoolofSaratogaSprings.ChildrentherewillbeventuringoutonthenearbyHemlockTrailtolearnmoreaboutthenaturalworld.Somelessonsarefocusedonnature;othersareacademictopicsdeliveredinanaturalsetting.Inallcasesstudentsareactive-notsittingatdesksoronmatsonthefloorbutwalkingrunningjumpingsolvingproblemslikehowtogetthemudoffthebottomsoftheirshoesbeforetheirparentsfindout.

　　Seriouslythefocusisonactivityattheseschools.Studieshaveshownthatchildren’simmunesystemsactuallygetstrongerafteralloftheoutdooractivityandthatgraduatesofforestkindergartensshowahigherabilitytolearnwhentheyprogressthroughtheiracademiccareers.

　　Otherschoolsarealloutdoorsallthetime.ThisisthecasewiththeCedarSongNatureSchoolonVashonIslandWashington.Studentsatthisschoolspendtheirwholethree–hourdayoutdoorsinaprivatefive-acreforestdoingallkindsofphysicalactivities.

　　Attheseforestkindergartensstudentslearnsciencebyobservinganddoingitlearnmathbyapplyingittothenaturalworldaroundthemlearnlettersandwordsbyputtingthemtogetherusingsightsandsounds.Thesestudentslearnhowtogetalongwithoneanotherindividuallyandinagroup.Theyalsodevelophealthylevelsofself-confidence.

　　Nowadaysmanychildrenbecomeobese(肥胖的)becauseofsedentary（久坐的）activitieslikewatchingtelevisionandplayingvideogames.Theseoutdoorschoolsgivechildrenchancestolearnjustasmuchifnotmorefromopeningtheireyestotherealworldaroundthem.

　　【小题1】Whatdoweknowaboutforestkindergartens?

　　A．ThefirstonewascreatedinEngland.B．TheyareverypopularinGermany.C．Thereare400allovertheworld.D．The