The Jungle Gym of Speech: Speech training in a natural learning arena

Learning to speak is a life skill, and vital for the child’s assertion of identity. However, language is not developed alone, but rather as part of a set of skills that are interconnected and developed together: Linguistic skills, bodily-kinaesthetic skills, and social skills. These skills are necessary for the child’s growth, education, work, and indeed every aspect of life; thus these skills form part of the child’s identity. The project presented is one in cooperation with Tusenbein Barnehage, our close partner preschool near Mo i Rana. Here they have constructed a jungle gym in the woods not far from the preschool, where the children can work with social skills, bodily-kinesthetic skills, and linguistic skills; they call it the Jungle Gym of Speech. As a teacher in preschool teacher training, it is important to learn more about what the preschools find necessary to work with, and the methodology incorporated.