Read more about the Treehouse

THE VILLA TREEHOUSE
Where We’ve Been
“
Dear Villa Community,
Our school offers its students
something no other school
can: a magnificent campus
that abounds with whole-child
learning opportunities. Your
generosity for the 2014 auction
fund-a-need, “Working Our Way
to the Water,” was the beginning
of our journey to maximize
our campus, one of our most
valuable assets.
Villa is committed to
creating a seamless,
whole-child curriculum
that moves between
outdoor and indoor
learning experiences
with full utilization of our
unique campus learning
spaces.
“
Where
We’ve Been,
Where
We’re Going
Villa Outdoor
Education Committee
For the last two years, our
community has joined together
with experts to weed, plant, build,
rebuild, and, most importantly, to
explore the possibilities of outdoor
learning.
But we’re excited to tell you where
we’re going! The focus of this
year’s auction fund-a-need is the
next chapter: “Working Our Way
to the Water II.” Your generosity
will enable us to build The Villa
Treehouse. It’s the next step in
creating a seamless whole-child
curriculum for your children.
Sincerely,
John Milroy
Fr. Stephen Okumu, John Milroy, and Jody Elsner at
Dedication Ceremony for the rebuilt Villa Grotto
Where We’ve Been
Update: Working Our Way to the Water
March 2014 - Fund-a-Need Success
Our generous community gave over
$175,000 to fund this important initiative.
August 2014 - Professional Development
Villa’s entire faculty and staff attended
an outdoor education workshop at the
Island Wood Outdoor Education Center
on Bainbridge Island.
Fall 2014 & Ongoing - EarthCorps Days
Students worked with their buddies
and EarthCorps volunteers to remove
invasive plants and plant native species.
February 2015 - Outdoor Education
UW’s Department of Landscape
Architecture team led faculty, staff, and
student discussions on how to further
incorporate outdoor education within our
various curricula.
Spring 2015 - Garden and Greenhouse
Students and their buddies helped redesign and re-plant the school garden
adjacent to the new greenhouse.
May 2015 - Restoration Day
Over a hundred parent, student,
faculty, and staff volunteers created
garden paths, built trellises for the
garden, weeded native plant areas, and
refurbished and built upper woodland
trails.
May 2015 - Historic Grotto Rebuilt
20 stonemasons rebuilt our historic
grotto, refining their skills in the art
and craft of dry stonewalling with the
assistance of world-renowned dry stone
masons Andrew Loudon of London,
England and Dean McClellan of Toronto,
Canada.
Part of the approach is to
“Challenge the Walls.” Villa
faculty already utilize a wide
array of teaching techniques
and, with the richness of our
school’s outdoor environment, it
is a logical extension to promote
learning beyond the confines of a
traditional classroom.
“
“
Pete Nelson,
Treehouse Masters
The treehouse tells
a story as old as
architecture, or perhaps
more clearly, as old as
human shelters...To be
protected, to escape,
and today to find peace
and proximity to nature...
Some principles of our “Challenge
the Walls” approach include:
• Learning takes place on-site on
the school grounds
• Learning focuses on local
themes, systems, and content
• Learning is personally relevant
Philip Jodidio,
to the student
• Learning is interdisciplinary and
Art Historian and Author
tailored to the age/abilities of
(Tree Houses: Fairy Tale
students
Castles in the Air)
• Learning is grounded in and
supports the development of a love of one’s place
• Learning serves as a foundation for understanding global and regional issues
“
Where We’re Going
In 2015, the UW Dept of
Landscape Design worked with
Villa students, faculty, and staff
in development of an outdoor
learning roadmap—an approach
that builds on existing curriculum
to enhance our children’s learning
experiences.
Climbing up into a tree
calms us. Our heart rates
actually drop when we
get up into trees.
“
Why a
Treehouse?
As the UW specialists gathered input from Villa students, it emerged that a
treehouse was their most highly desired feature...”accessible from the ground
level with a formalized overlook and gathering space to take advantage of views
of Mt Rainier and Lake Washington.” Clearly, a treehouse is personally relevant to
our students!
MYOO.com Design/Green Architecture
2015 Villa Outdoor Learning Initiative Plan
“
Where We’re Going
“
In childhood, treehouses hold sway over the
imagination. They provide shelter but also a respite
from an adult-sized world. They give kids a vantage
point from which to see the world as it appears
sometimes in dreams.
The Villa Treehouse:
Deconstructed
Recent research shows that time
spent outdoors makes for better
students! Our treehouse will
provide a new platform for a new
perspective on learning.
OBSERVATION
POST
OUTDOOR
CLASSROOM
KIDS THRIVE AND
LEARN IN
THE OUTDOORS
STUDENT
INPUT
LONG-TERM
PLAN
COOLNESS
FACTOR
Our campus is
a unique asset
and we plan to
make the most
of it to facilitate
learning! Plus,
treehouse =
cool!
UW
EXPERTS
PROJECT-BASED
LEARNING
WE LOVE
OUR CAMPUS
Villa students are working on
design input incorporating math,
science, and imagination! They’ll
present concepts to University
of Washington outdoor learning
experts.
Kids Thrive in the Outdoors
“
Passion is lifted from the earth itself by the muddy
hands of the young; it travels along grass-stained
sleeves to the heart. If we are going to save
environmentalism and the environment, we must
also save an endangered indicator species: the
child in nature.
Richard Louv, Author
(Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our
Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder)
OUTDOOR
CLASSROOM
OBSERVATION
POST
KIDS THRIVE AND
LEARN IN
THE OUTDOORS
Villa 3rd and 6th grade buddies tend the school garden
Kids Thrive in the Outdoors
Daily Contact with Nature:
Positive Impacts on Children
Supports multiple development
domains. Nature is important to
children’s development in every major
way—intellectually, emotionally,
socially, spiritually, and physically
(Kellert, 2005).
Supports creativity and problem
solving. Children engage in more
creative forms of play in the green
areas of schoolyards. They also play
more cooperatively (Bell and Dyment,
2006). Play in nature is especially
important for developing capacities for
creativity and problem-solving (Kellert,
2005).
Enhances cognitive abilities. Proximity
to, views of, and daily exposure to
natural settings increase children’s
ability to focus and enhances cognitive
abilities (Wells, 2000).
Improves academic performance.
Schools that use outdoor classrooms
and other forms of nature-based
experiential education support
significant student gains in social
studies, science, language arts,
and math (American Institutes for
Research, 2005).
Reduces Attention Deficit Disorder
(ADD) symptoms. Contact with the
natural world can significantly reduce
symptoms of attention deficit disorder
in children as young as five years old
(Kuo and Taylor, 2004).
Increases physical activity. Children
who have school grounds with diverse
natural settings are more physically
active (Bell and Dyment, 2006).
Improves nutrition. Children who grow
their own food are more likely to eat
fruits and vegetables (Bell & Dyment,
2008) and to show higher levels of
knowledge about nutrition (Waliczek,
& Zajicek, 2006). The healthy eating
habits continue throughout their lives
(Morris & Zidenberg-Cherr, 2002).
Improves eyesight. More time spent
outdoors is related to reduced rates of
nearsightedness (myopia) in children
and adolescents (American Academy
of Ophthalmology, 2011).
Improves social relations. Children
are happier and better able to get
along with others when they have
regular opportunities for free and
unstructured play in the out-of-doors
(Burdette and Whitaker, 2005).
Improves self-discipline. Access
to green spaces, and even a view of
green settings, enhances peace, self
control, and self-discipline (Taylor, Kuo
and Sullivan, 2001).
Reduces stress. Green plants and
vistas reduce stress among highlystressed children, especially in
locations with more plants, greener
views, and access to natural play areas
(Wells and Evans, 2003).
Excerpted from Benefits of Connecting Children with Nature InfoSheet produced by the Natural Learning
Initiative at the NC State University College of Design. Referenced studies available at the Children and
Nature Network website www.childrenandnature.org/research/.
Kaiser Family Foundation, 2010
Villa P5 students release butterflies into the school garden
“
Kids Thrive in the Outdoors
“
Most American children today spend their
summers staying indoors, glued to television
screens and video games, and rarely ever venture
outside. Studies now show that the average
American child, age 8 to 18, spends nearly eight
hours per day, year round, indoors, looking at
electronic screens.
“
A New Platform for Learning
“
“When children move into a new place to learn,
outside of the classroom, they are able to become a
different kind of student. They no longer sit in rows
looking at a board and teacher, taking in information
as they have done year after year. Suddenly, there
is a new kind of learning happening. There is space
for students to become involved. And they do. They
take charge of their own learning, ask questions,
manipulate their environment, investigate, and
strive to understand. They are no longer passive in
their learning. They are in control of it.”
Villa Outdoor Education Committee, Treehouse
Relevance to STEAM and Project-Based Learning
The Treehouse
is truly a new
platform for
learning—both
physically and
metaphorically.
It will serve
academics in a
variety of ways!
STUDENT
INPUT
UW
EXPERTS
PROJECT-BASED
LEARNING
A New Platform for Learning
From the Faculty: How a
Treehouse Supports Students
New Perspectives
“How thrilling will it be to
go ‘up’ into a classroom?
How truly wonderful will the
children feel overlooking
the trees? Who wouldn’t
want to learn perched in
the treetops? It’s a way to
unlock the imagination.
When you change a child’s
perspective, really change
that perspective, you broaden
their world just a little more.”
Whole Child/Whole
Learning Outcomes
“The quality of learning
outside is different. It’s a
shame to try to understand
it with graphs, bottom lines,
and estimates. We should be studying the whole learning outcome. If you
could see the awakened curiosity, the joy and health in their faces, and hear the
thoughtfulness in their ideas, you might realize you’ve been asking the wrong
questions about children learning out of doors.”
The Value of Silence
“True silence in the classroom is tremendously hard to generate. There is always
the scratching of pencils on paper, the noise of the playground, the sounds of
children passing in the stairwells, the media in the room next door. Yet, to reflect
deeply, nothing is more necessary than quiet. It is needed when one wants to
disappear into a book, record thoughts and ideas on paper, or reflect. It can be
found in the outdoors quite easily.”
Movement Matters
“Children who need to move, those who fidget when they sit in blue plastic chairs
for too long, find great comfort sitting under leaves and the open sky.”
There are many ways a treehouse
can serve as a platform for learning.
Here are a few examples:
• In-field geometry and
mathematics, exploring fieldbased measurements in height
and angles
• A space for small performances
and creative, social play that
sparks imaginations (like playing
house or adventure stories)
As children observe,
reflect, record, and
share nature’s patterns
and rhythms, they
are participating in a
process that promotes
scientific and ecological
awareness, problem
solving, and creativity.
“
• Writing a story of Villa’s history
from a tree’s point of view or
sketching the landscape from a
bird’s eye view
Deb Matthews Hensley
• Promoting adventure and the wonder of possibility. Reading to children in a
tree house, especially a story of bravery and overcoming odds
• Villa as a bird sanctuary: identification, biology, and habitat. Students
participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count. Ongoing tallies recorded in
treehouse classroom. Keep multi-year data as part of a longitudinal study of
our environment
• Tree identification, biology, species mapping, and native vs. invasive species
• From our local “habitat” in the tree house, look outward to examine the
habitat of the greater region and implications around history/economy/
transportation
• A peaceful, quiet place for
religion, meditation, and
prayer time
“
• A home base to create
outdoor art and site-specific
land art sculptures using
natural materials (like British
sculptor Andy Goldworthy)
“
A New Platform for Learning
“
A Platform
for Learning
We want to do EVERYTHING
in a treehouse! Every single
day!
Villa 4th Grade Students
A New Platform for Learning
Our Proposed Treehouse: A Real-World
Example of Project Based Learning
At the heart of Villa’s STEAM initiative is Project Based Learning. It’s not merely
“doing projects.” It’s a way of educating children that sees them as investigators
who explore difficult questions and critical thinkers who learn to make
connections across subject areas.
As mentioned earlier, the idea for a Villa Treehouse came from our students in
a campus-visioning process with the University of Washington. Our proposed
treehouse became a launching point for a special focus in the 7th grade, where
students:
• learned about the biology of tree growth
• explored the dynamics of how structures—a tree and a building—work
together
• learned about the considerations involved in choosing appropriate trees and
siting a treehouse
• gave their input for what elements were desired in a treehouse
• designed and created their own treehouses, as seen on the following pages
Arborist Scott Baker with students at the treehouse site
A New Platform for Learning
7th Grade: The Treehouse from A to Z
Objective: Students will be able to
design and create a treehouse to
scale, gaining real world knowledge of
the importance of math, learning how
math is applied in architecture, be able
to use and understand scale factor
and circles, and increase their group
collaboration, critical-thinking, and
problem-solving skills.
Learning Standards covered:
• CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.7.G.A.1
Solve problems involving scale
drawings of geometric figures,
including computing actual lengths
and areas from a scale drawing and
reproducing a scale drawing at a
different scale.
Students measuring one of the trees
• CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.8.G.A
chosen to support the treehouse
Understand congruence and
similarity using physical models, transparencies, or geometry software.
• CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP5 Use appropriate tools strategically.
• CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP1 Make sense of problems and persevere in solving
them.
Students with Jason Medeiros from UW working on treehouse planning
A New Platform for Learning
Monday, Feb. 1 - Tuesday, Feb. 2:
Brainstorming
Students gather into groups and
begin brainstorming. Students
are sent a set of links with ideas.
Students must complete a
project proposal, a scale factor
graphic organizer, and a sketch.
“
Coming up with plans
for a treehouse that can
actually be built requires
an active imagination and
problem solving skills
that extend beyond the
treehouse to other areas
of life.
“
Wednesday, Jan. 27:
Project introduced
Students hear about the project
and meet with Villa arborist Scott
Baker, treehouse expert Bubba
Smith, and their teachers. They
examine the treehouse site and
learn more about what conditions
make certain trees appropriate
for treehouses.
Treehouse Guides
Wednesday, Feb. 3 - Friday, Feb. 5: Creating Blueprints
Students create blueprints (using software, paper, or both) for the footprint of
their treehouses and for the inside design.
Monday, Feb. 8 - Friday, Feb. 26: Building the Structures
Students work on creating the structure to scale. Making sure to measure along
the way to ensure that their project is the appropriate size. Daily log completed.
Monday, Feb. 29 - Wednesday, March 2: Preparing Presentations
Thursday, March 3: Final Presentations
Presentations to demonstrate mastery of process, design, and construction.
Villa teachers, Erin Flotte, Roger Crafts, and Lindsay Kapek,
designed the 7th grade Treehouse Project
Kathy Simons, Villa Art Teacher
“
A New Platform for Learning
“
The perspective of a treehouse will help students
see the world in a new way and inspire them to
record what they see more creatively. It can turn
off the part of our mind that says,”You know what
that is...you have already named it, so just draw a
stick, and six slanted lines coming down from the
top, then you will have a nice tree.” Brain shortcuts
can stifle creativity, and learning to work around
them has many applications in the 21st Century
world.
Making the Most of Our Campus
Making the Most of Our Campus
Not a day seems to go by without
another newspaper article, online
feature, or TV segment about the
growing importance of Outdoor
Education. Villa has a unique
opportunity to leverage our
amazing campus resources in
support of the whole child—and
become a leader in this arena.
Not only will the Villa Treehouse be
a great companion in our students’
learning, it increases our school’s
Awesome Factor for prospective
families.
New York Times article featuring a Bellevue
preschool that travels to the UW Botanic Gardens
regularly to spend time outdoors. Villa students
are lucky: nature is abundant right on our own
school grounds!
LONG-TERM
PLAN
COOLNESS
FACTOR
WE LOVE
OUR CAMPUS
The Villa Treehouse
What will our treehouse look like,
exactly?
Well, that is a work in progress...
great progress, we might add.
We aren’t doing this the easy way
with a prefab plan. It’s been an
organic process with our students
suggesting all kinds of things:
“
I think it should be crazy
big so we have lots of room
and we are not squishy.
Villa P5 Student
“
Treehouse
Specifics
• Shape: Many kids favor hexagons, or—reducing a side—having a “stop sign”
shape, as preschoolers call it
• Levels: There were many suggestions for two sections of the treehouse, one
higher than the other
• Safety: We want all ages of Villa students to access the treehouse
• Accoutrements: Everyone wants bean bag chairs!
Blueprint for a treehouse model by Villa 7th grader
The Villa Treehouse
Treehouse Specifics Continued
What Will it Cost?
What we can ultimately build depends on our Fund-a-Need donors. Our goal
is to raise $100,000. That will get us our treehouse, but if we can stretch to
$150,000, we meet the UW’s guidelines for additional design flexibility.
The Site
The area proposed
for the structure is
at the edge of the
upper property to
the north of the
recently rebuilt Villa
Grotto. The site
slopes from west
to the east and the
land is vegetated down to Lake Washington.
The Trees Supporting the Structure
The two trees selected to support the structure are both Douglas-fir
(Pseudotsuga menziesii) trees. This is a long-lived, native conifer species that is
relatively decay resistant and an excellent choice for a tree-supported structure.
The structure would also be supported by posts where appropriate. The sloped
site is ideal, as it will allow an easy entry that could meet ADA-accessibility
requirements and be well above grade, giving it the treehouse feel.
Design Team:
• David Geisen, Wild Tree Woodworks, LLC
• Bubba Smith, Treehouse Workshop
• Scott Baker, Tree Solutions, Inc
• Ryan Erickson, Villa Facilities Director
• Architect selection in process
The Design Team and our UW outdoor experts
will attend the 7th grade treehouse design
presentations the week of March 1.
Design Considerations:
• Plan for ADA-compliant access using the slope
• Plan the building to control access when the
classroom is not in use
• Plan ahead for vegetation management in the area of the project
• Build the structure with an over-built roof and an easily-repaired roofing product
Reading Recommendations
Visit VikingNET for more reading recommendations and links to online resources.
Online Resources
Children and Nature.org - links to dozens of studies
http://www.childrenandnature.org/research/
National Wildlife Foundation’s Nature Play & Learning Places
downloadable PDF
https://www.nwf.org/What-We-Do/Kids-and-Nature/Programs/Nature-Play-Spaces-Guide.
aspx
Mental Health & Function at Green Cities: Good Health
University of Washington, College of the Environment
http://depts.washington.edu/hhwb/Thm_Mental.html
Books
Jodidio, Philip. Tree Houses: Fairy Tale Castles in the Air
Louv, Richard. Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From
Nature-Deficit Disorder
Nelson, Pete. Be in a Treehouse: Design / Construction / Inspiration
Books for Children
Cole, Rachel Elizabeth. Kids in the Tree House series (beginning chapter books)
Griffiths, Andy. The 13-Story Treehouse (grades 3 - 5)
London, Jonathan. Froggy Builds a Tree House (PreK - grade 1)
Osborne, Mary Pope. The Magic Treehouse series (grades 3 - 7)
Stiles, David. How to Build Treehouses, Huts and Forts (grades 7 and up)
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