Why Forest School?
Children are naturally curious and instinctively imaginative. They are hardwired for play and the outdoors provides a natural landscape for children to engage their senses and utilize their strengths.
However, children's opportunities for independent outdoor free-play have decreased dramatically over the years and as a result, children are suffering from childhood obesity and something Richard Louv refers to as "nature-deficit disorder". In his book Last Child in the Woods, he hypothesized that "children are spending less time outdoors resulting in a wide range of behavioural problems, decreased ecological literacy, and a lack of respect for natural surroundings."
There are many reasons for the cultural shift in decreased outdoor play such as:
urban sprawl and decreased forested areas in neighbourhoods; an increasingly technological culture and increased time indoors in front of various "screens"; more involvement in structured extra-curricular activities and less 'free' time; a shift in perceptions around child safety and risky behaviour; changing standards for parental supervision, to name just a few.
As a result, children spend less time outdoors then previous generations did when they were growing up. As educators, we believe this makes outdoor play during the school day more important than ever!
In our experience, students are not only engaged in the outdoors, they flourish as they: take risks, solve problems, collaborate, share, take turns, create, discover, investigate, explore, communicate findings, share ideas and use imaginations.
We value the benefits that stem from outdoor explorations such as:
developments in well-being
improved social skills
enhanced self-esteem
increased resilience and confidence
decreased anxiety
broadened empathy
As you will see in our This Week at School Blog section of this website, Math, Literacy, Science, Phys-Ed, Social and Emotional Skills, and the Arts are also easily embedded into outdoor experiences. And the wide natural spaces and open-ended opportunities in the outdoors make it possible to differentiate learning to meet a variety of learning needs.
Children are naturally curious and instinctively imaginative. They are hardwired for play and the outdoors provides a natural landscape for children to engage their senses and utilize their strengths.
However, children's opportunities for independent outdoor free-play have decreased dramatically over the years and as a result, children are suffering from childhood obesity and something Richard Louv refers to as "nature-deficit disorder". In his book Last Child in the Woods, he hypothesized that "children are spending less time outdoors resulting in a wide range of behavioural problems, decreased ecological literacy, and a lack of respect for natural surroundings."
There are many reasons for the cultural shift in decreased outdoor play such as:
urban sprawl and decreased forested areas in neighbourhoods; an increasingly technological culture and increased time indoors in front of various "screens"; more involvement in structured extra-curricular activities and less 'free' time; a shift in perceptions around child safety and risky behaviour; changing standards for parental supervision, to name just a few.
As a result, children spend less time outdoors then previous generations did when they were growing up. As educators, we believe this makes outdoor play during the school day more important than ever!
In our experience, students are not only engaged in the outdoors, they flourish as they: take risks, solve problems, collaborate, share, take turns, create, discover, investigate, explore, communicate findings, share ideas and use imaginations.
We value the benefits that stem from outdoor explorations such as:
developments in well-being
improved social skills
enhanced self-esteem
increased resilience and confidence
decreased anxiety
broadened empathy
As you will see in our This Week at School Blog section of this website, Math, Literacy, Science, Phys-Ed, Social and Emotional Skills, and the Arts are also easily embedded into outdoor experiences. And the wide natural spaces and open-ended opportunities in the outdoors make it possible to differentiate learning to meet a variety of learning needs.