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Why Do We Go Outside Every Day?

February 23, 2022 | Kristen Jordan

Beginning in January, we started going to the playground in Church Square Park several days per week during our park time.  At the playground children were able to explore a new kind of play with each other and they have really been enjoying climbing, sliding, spinning, and of course, running!

Children are working on gross motor skills as they use the playground, building strength, stamina, and balance.  They also must have patience and perseverance!

Enjoy these photos of the Rivers children having fun at the park!

Of course, we still go to the fields sometimes too, where children dig, explore and run!

And on the rare days when it is too cold to go out, the LEGOS come out!

Hooray for play!

Kristen Jordan

Teacher, Rivers Class

Kristen Jordan began helping at Mustard Seed School in 2006, after her daughter had been a student in the preschool. She substituted for many years in all grades; in 2011, she returned to the classroom and has been a teacher in The Nest ever since.

Prior to the birth of her daughter Clara, in 2002, Ms. Jordan worked in Brooklyn as a first grade teacher with the New York City Public Schools. During this time, her school collaborated with the Brooklyn Museum, and this work helped Ms. Jordan develop a real interest in the parallels between the process of making art and the process of writing in the classroom. She thoroughly enjoys teaching both art and literacy to preschoolers.

Ms Jordan’s background includes work with the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. While at Teachers College, she trained with esteemed educator and author Lucy Calkins. Early in her teaching career, Ms. Jordan did not think that she wanted to teach very young children but her view has changed! She now really enjoys and takes great interest in young children and their development.

Ms. Jordan enjoys reading, working out, hiking, cooking, and spending time with her daughter and family. Although she has lived on the East Coast for a very long time, as a native of Oregon, she really loves the mountains!

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