On November 5th, 2013, the Montessori Children’s House of North Barrington (MCHNB) was happy to host another exciting educational presentation by the Citizens for Conservation (CFC). MCHNB is proud to continue its collaboration with CFC’s youth education program for the second year. Following our Montessori school’s focus on exploring nature with children, we have spent the last two years developing and enhancing our Outdoor Classroom for MCHNB students.

For this Fall presentation we invited Susan Lenz, an expert from CFC, who gave an exemplary presentation devoted to Native Birds and their Wildlife Habitats. The children enjoyed watching for different birds in our wooded yard, followed by learning about the characteristics of birds, observing different types of bird eggs and nests and becoming acquainted with the types of birds found in Illinois. Additionally, Susan shared some differences between migrating and residential birds as well as information about nocturnal birds. The children were full of questions and enthusiasm and participated in all the activities, from listening to the bird’s songs and learning parts of a bird to making pinecone bird feeders. It was wonderful to see the eyes of the children burning with curiosity as they made discoveries about nature in their own schoolyard.

Montessori Children’s House recognizes the importance of connecting children to nature in their everyday life – as nature always supplies an ideal environment for growing, moving, learning and developing their imagination.

After the presentation, the presenter, Susan Lenz, shared: “I thoroughly enjoyed the class at your school. It was wonderful to be able to hold the Native Bird class in your beautiful outdoor classroom and to be able to go on a bird walk as well! The children are a joy to work with as they always are so enthusiastic and have such great ideas”.