Kindergarten outside? Yes, indeed. It’s part of a growing worldwide trend toward outdoor education. The schools are called forest kindergartens.
The numbers are small so far in the U.S., but the idea is well established in Europe, with schools in Scotland, England, and Switzerland. By far the most such schools are in Germany, which has more than 400 forest kindergartens.
Some schools feature several hours of outdoor schooling. This is certainly the case with the Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs. Children there will be venturing out on the nearby Hemlock Trail to learn more about the natural world. Some lessons are focused on nature; others are academic topics delivered in a natural setting. In all cases, students are active-not sitting at desks or on mats on the floor but walking, running, jumping, solving problems like how to get the mud off the bottoms of their shoes before their parents find out.
Seriously, the focus is on activity at these schools. Studies have shown that children’s immune systems actually get stronger after all of the outdoor activity, and that graduates of forest kindergartens show a higher ability to learn when they progress through their academic careers.
Other schools are all outdoors, all the time. This is the case with the Cedar Song Nature School, on Vashon Island, Washington. Students at this school spend their whole three–hour day outdoors, in a private five-acre forest, doing all kinds of physical activities.
At these forest kindergartens, students learn science by observing and doing it, learn math by applying it to the natural world around them, learn letters and words by putting them together using sights and sounds. These students learn how to get along with one another, individually and in a group. They also develop healthy levels of self-confidence.
Nowadays many children bee obese(肥胖的) because of sedentary（久坐的） activities like watching television and playing video games. These outdoor schools give children chances to learn just as much, if not more, from opening their eyes to the real world around them.
【小题1】What do we know about forest kindergartens?A．The first one was created in England.B．They are very popular in Germany.C．There are 400 all over the world.D．Their number is huge in the U.S.【小题2】What is special about forest kindergartens?A．Kids learn more than those at ordinary kindergartens.B．Students go outside when weather permits.C．They value activity very much.D．They are situated in forests.【小题3】The main difference between the Waldorf School and Cedar Song Nature School lies in .A．the subjectsB．the activitiesC．the outdoor timeD．the teaching methods【小题4】Which of the following would be the best title for the text?A．Get close to natureB．A new trend of educationC．Forest kindergartens are popularD．Outdoor education benefits kids a lotB
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(答案→)B
解析：本文主要讨论的是子啊欧洲出现的新型的幼儿园的话题，这些幼儿园里学生主要是在户外活动的，学到很多自然方面的知识。
【小题1】B 细节题。根据第二段最后2行By far the most such schools are in Germany, which has more than 400 forest kindergartens.说明在德国这样的幼儿园最流行，故B正确。
【小题2】C 细节题。根据文章3,4,5段第一句Some schools feature several hours of outdoor schooling.和Seriously, the focus is on activity at these schools.以及Other schools are all outdoors, all the time. 都说明在这样的幼儿园里，户外活动是最看重的，故Ｃ正确。。
【小题3】细节题。根据3,4段第一句Some schools feature several hours of outdoor schooling. This is certainly the case with the Waldorf School 和Other schools are all outdoors, all the time. This is the case with the Cedar Song Nature School, 说明the Waldorf School只有几个小时的时间，而在the Cedar Song Nature School则是都在外面，故时间上的差别是最主要的，故C正确。
【小题4】主旨大意题。本文主要讨论的是子啊欧洲出现的新型的幼儿园的话题，这些幼儿园里学生主要是在户外活动的，学到很多自然方面的知识，故D正确。