Center for Learning finishes second phase with nature-based learning coming in fall
Apr. 7—By Holly Marie Moore
MANKATO — The Mankato school district is finishing up phase two of construction for its Center for Learning, and several more early learning opportunities, including nature-based lessons, are expected to come to the site this fall.
Outdoor opportunities will include a combination of free exploration for students in order to get them to ask questions, as well as lessons in outdoor spaces that will utilize the facility's large grassland area, said Assistant Director of Early Learning Katie Gag.
"That nature-based learning is really going to be incorporated into our overall curriculum. The curriculum we use involves science, social and emotional learning, and things like that that lend themselves to an outdoor environment."
Lessons could include examining insects, plants and flowers, Gag said.
One of the primary goals, she said, will be to get students exploring and asking questions of their own to find out their interests and using curriculum to expand on that.
Gag said the district is working with its teachers on professional development to work on what nature-based learning could look like.
She added that the district also received a grant from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources it is using for outdoor learning materials.
Additionally, they are planning to develop their outdoor space to create calming areas for the kids. The center is at 15 Map Drive.
"The plan in this new site is for students to get outside every day and have lots of opportunities for creative play and exploration in those outdoor environments as well as teachers using that as an opportunity to do some structure or embedded learning in outdoor settings," Gag said.
Pre-school Program Supervisor Joan Morrison said outdoor learning could also include anything they already do inside that could be taken outside.
"We can do our story times outside. We can do work development activities, art projects, any of that can be done outside," she said.
Morrison said the opportunity is a chance for children to lead their learning as well.
"It's both a combination of child-led learning and teacher-led learning," she said.
Starting next school year, the site will be able to serve about 300 students in pre-school and will have six sections for 3-year-olds and eight sections for 4-year-olds.
Also new to the location this fall will be expanded ACES child care slots for 4-year-olds, which will create an option for a full-day experience at the site.
Kids in that program could attend from morning until end of day or when parents are done with work.
Phase one completion opened in the fall of this school year and included four pre-school classrooms that had up to a 90-student capacity.
This school year, the district has still been operating out of six different locations with pre-school.
Phase two completion allows the district to condense into just three with the largest being out of the Center for Learning.
The district will still be offering pre-school programming at its Eagle Lake and Kennedy locations with each site having one pre-school classroom each.
Plans for phase three construction are contingent on additional funding, likely to come from a referendum if the district chooses to hold one in the fall, Gag said.
If that comes to fruition, Gag said the next and final phase would include an expansion of additional classroom pods, the addition of a gym space and the movement of nutrition services and storage to the location.
The program is registration-based, and registration for the fall pre-school program and ACES are open.
Families are asked to register online or by calling 507-625-4620.
Registration will be open until spots are full.
