MEET ARIANA
Nowadays, children especially those from sheltered homes or with family support are rarely allowed to explore unfamiliar spaces. They spend most of their childhood trapped behind a house or the school. It is perhaps one of the main reasons why we seek to have exploratory days outside of our school.
At Narnia, the psychological, physical and social wellbeing of our children is very vital to us and we believe that there are many benefits of excursion especially in building the depth of experiences for children.
On the 12th November 2021, Narnia Daycare and Pre-School took a group of children from 2 to 4 years and some team members on an excursion to the new Freetown City Council hall, where they were led by Mrs. Mariatu Williams from the education department on a tour.
We believe that our class rooms and outdoor spaces are great to teach children new skills but teaching these skills in just one environment does not allow the children to learn how to apply these skills elsewhere. Excursions are the beneficial remedy for this fear because it encourages children to use their skills in new environments. Different skills such as asking questions and participation allow them to be involved learners and also help them to be able to communicate their thoughts and understand different environments around them.
Team Narnia believes that by going out and exploring, children get to know the different spaces in their community and experience their natural environment outside of their immediate world (center). It also gives them the time and space to move their bodies, to learn new things and to feel good.
In addition, we teach social awareness and emotional intelligence in the class rooms but on excursions, we get to see how these children promote these topics actively. They actually stopped to say hello to passerby’s and thank you when they were complimented- isn’t that amazing? Such external behaviours form some key parts of children’s development because it shows that they have developed a sense of empathy and they understand the importance of relationships.
This excursion also gave the children the opportunity to see and to hear from professionals in different careers such as engineers, receptionists, decorators, security personnel etc. Team Narnia believes that this experience will help the children to connect to what they are learning in school with what happens in the work place.
We keep lessons learnt through frequent ‘Career Friday‘ as part of our school curriculum where we invite several talented professionals and entrepreneurs from different fields to carry out interactive and practical sessions with the children. Our goal is to help them understand the world around them.
It must be our everyday plan that children get to see their environment unfolding and have experiences they might have missed out on. A happy childhood is the best thing that can happen to any child.
Team Narnia is thankful to the management of the Freetown City Council, especially the Education Department for a wonderful time spent.
