Build a Playground by Tanya Ryskind
Tanya Ryskind examines the benefits of building a playground
After several years as a Montessori
parent, I changed
careers to become a Montessori
teacher. Today, I am the
Head of NewGate School, the Lab School of
the Montessori Foundation, and charged with
establishing a COVID task force to guide our
school’s policies and procedures to mitigate
risk and open safely. Our local health departments
told us that maintaining physical distance
and working outside was one way to
reduce exposure and transmission.
This year with the stressors of COVID-19,
social tensions, and the uncertainty of whether
to send our children to school or keep them
home, my husband and I started to reflect upon
what kept our children in Montessori through
high school. We also wondered how parents
of young children and elementary school-aged
students were handling the situation. Did they
feel safe sending their children back to school?
Did they live in a state that closed schools indefinitely?
How would I respond to parents’
needs at NewGate? How does a family stay
connected to their teachers, their children’s
friends, and follow state and local guidelines?
I found my husband’s words profound. I listened
to him from my new perspective as a
school leader. He said, “What your school
needs to do is build a playground like we did.”
Last year, the NewGate buildings and
grounds committee helped transform the
peace garden into a contemporary rock
garden giving the heart of our campus an
inspirational renovation. This year, however,
we needed to do more, we needed more appropriate
work environments for our students.
At the toddler level, we needed to
rethink and add to our playscapes. At the
elementary level, we needed to do more gardening
and botanical studies. Our secondary
students needed more outdoor seating that
protected them from the sun while adjusting
for social distancing.
In a comprehensive manual from Harvard T.
H. Chan School of Public Health, “Schools
for Health, Risk Reduction Strategies for
Reopening Schools,” June 2020, the authors
outline multiple essential strategies for reopening
schools and mitigating health risks.
To help envision the true potential of these
outdoor spaces, I went backward in time.
“You need to build a playground like we did,”
is what my husband said. When our children
were in the infant/toddler and early childhood
classrooms, our Montessori school had
to move the playground to accommodate a
building project. Over several weekends, my
husband and I would make the 30-minute
commute to our school on the weekend to
volunteer to move the playground. Relocating
the play area included cutting the sod and
carrying it to the new location. It was backbreaking
work. Having the three-year-old
and infant in tow, I spent time pouring water
and hanging out with other parents who had
children. Throughout these weekends, we
bonded. We discussed the hopes and dreams
we had for our children. The laborers kept
their energy up by sharing jokes and talking
about their jobs. Mostly we heard, “How did
we get roped into this?”
Twenty-four years later, a group of masked
NewGate parents came together to shovel
gravel in the heat of the Florida sunshine
to create a bike track for toddlers. They
trimmed hedges and cleared areas where
beautiful wooden playscapes and a treehouse
would sit. The adults laughed and shared
their hopes and dreams for their children.
They cracked jokes. When family isolating
is the protocol, in the open air, six feet
away, parents of young children were bonding.
What I saw reminded me of our family’s
experience at our Montessori school.
My husband and I believed then and now
that we were in partnership with our Montessori
school; the teachers, administrators,
and other parents. The image of NewGate
parents on the toddler playground showed
me the replicable nature of our schools.
NewGate parents were working as a team
for the betterment of their school. Remembering
our playground days and watching
NewGate’s playground days highlights how a
Montessori education gives us an education
that focuses on partnership, independence,
mutual trust, and respect, on both individual
achievement and collaboration.
The Harvard public health manual’s healthy
activities section specifically outlines five pertinent
areas: provide recess; modify physical
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