The Coombes Approach: Learning through an Experiential and Outdoor Curriculum by Susan Rowe and Susan Humphries

Abstract

 2014 Children, Youth and Environments Children, Youth and Environments 24(2), 2014 The Coombes Approach: Learning through an Experiential and Outdoor Curriculum Susan Rowe and Susan Humphries (2012) London and New York: Continuum Books, 215 pages. $39.95 USD (paperback). ISBN 978-0-826-44044-0. Having heard of the Coombes School in Berkshire, England several years ago, when I learned that a book had been written about this school and its educational and environmental vision I rushed to buy it. I was not disappointed. If you are an educator interested in hands-on experiential learning that connects young children to the natural rhythms and systems of their local place this book will be of interest to you. Written by the founding headmistress and her colleague, the authors tell the story of a collaborative process that created a nurturing community of educators, children and parents. Begun in 1971, the Coombes School has been thinking deeply about education for very young children for over 40 years now. Thoughtfully and with great care, this unique school has articulated a curriculum that connects children’s learning to the natural world. The educators have worked collaboratively to build a program that would help children “thrive socially, emotionally and spiritually” while working within the goals set out by the UK’s National Curriculum. The original educators started with shared beliefs about working together and building relationships within a culture of kindness. An early school decision was to teach outdoors as much as possible, giving the children a “deep respect for the land and its natural systems and a sense of connection to every other form of life” (9). Starting with a standard outdoor playground that included a field and a parking lot, the educators built their program as they built and enriched the outdoor environment. They observed the children to understand what was needed; they noted the children needed to climb and hide so they brought in large hardwood tree stumps and then embarked on a tree-planting program. The first trees planted did poorly. Realizing the soil on the school grounds was poor they arranged for the municipal fall leaf pick-up to be dropped off at the school. They added home-grown leaves each fall, and as the leaves decayed the soil became richer and the trees began to survive. Forty years later the school has a thriving woodland with fall mushrooms, spring bulbs and trees to hide behind and climb. They added an orchard of fruit trees, wild flowers and raised beds for annual planting. Utilizing one of the multiple opportunities that nature offers, each June children sow a handful of sunflower seeds; when the children return in September, the sunflowers are in full bloom. Welcoming the children’s return, the sunflowers are an inspiration for classes that look at sunflower paintings by various artists, walk Book Review: The Coombes Approach: Learning through an Experiential… 243 among the tall plants, have each child take one plant and parade with the other children in a celebration of sunflowers, and ends with each child drawing and examining his or her particular plant. Through such experiences the children experience the rhythms and traditions of the seasons. This book shares with the reader the careful discussions and thinking that have gone into developing the educational practice at the Coombes School. There are nuggets of wisdom along with practical advice, e.g. log piles are put in various locations in the gardens to add to the wildlife value—providing homes for beetles and other insects. Children can then watch the insects at work, the birds gathering seeds, and the worms enjoying the rain, and generally experience the vast community of which they are a part. “All species are parts of a whole in which each makes a contribution to others; we all fit together” (43). Ceremonies are used to connect children both to the rhythms of the earth as well as to spiritual traditions and ideas. Believing that each child “has a spiritual need and potential” (88), the school explores the religious traditions of the Church of England along with other traditions, often acting them out, with the belief that children will be better able to choose...