What do the kids learn?

Forest School creates a container filled with inspiring options to help children get deeply into their play - and play is a child’s natural way of learning! They learn so much about themselves, each other, and the land through being given opportunities to explore what interests them.

We create structures for learning that lead to enthusiastic inquiry, curiosity, inspiration, and deepened relationship with the land, introducing activities that can help develop important skills, including dexterity, sensory awareness, agility, sensitivity, problem-solving, creativity, and so much more...

Expanding natural literacy is a big part of Forest School - knowing the names for things, the smell of things, the feel of things in nature - and it happens through being on and with the land regularly, building relationship with place, and conversing regularly in the languages of the land. Bird calls, leaf shapes, bark patterns, animal tracks - these are some of the things we will learn about!

We help children learn the vocabulary, phrasing, and stories of the land, furnishing them with guidebooks and our own attuned awareness. If we don't know the answer, we will help them find it! We learn research skills as well!

Attuning to nature is a skill-set that has been largely lost in our modern world (most of us recognize more brand logos than plants!). Attunement is not just about processing names and words, but also about learning to process so much visual, audible, and other sense-based information about what is happening on the land.

Importantly, everything a child learns at Forest School is intrinsically motivated, and learned enthusiastically, in a naturally emergent, relaxed rhythm, and through play - which has been shown to have the best learning outcomes.