Forest School – A different way of learning
Imagine your children starting their morning sitting on stumps under the shady canopy of a Grandfather Oak. They are having a discussion about how their day will be. The possibility of going to a nearby stream to read, or maybe designing and building a fort from fallen limbs. This picture is drastically different from how most school age children spend their morning at traditional brick and mortar schools. Justine Wilson of Curious and Kind, and Erin Melia from Mangrove Forest School join WMNF’s the Sustainable Living show to talk about a different style of education.
In recent years, the Scandinavian concept of Forest School has gained popularity as an option for parents who want their children to have more hands-on learning experience, complete with exploration and a more direct connection with nature. Justine Wilson, of Curious and Kind Education in Sarasota, explains that Forest school “for us, means that we do social emotional learning in a forest setting, where kids can have authentic and autonomous experiences in their day.” She goes on to say that ,”when kids are given autonomy and space, it looks like play.”
On their 2 acre campus, there is a lot of tree climbing, creek exploration, fort building, fire making, and cooking on fires. She states that one huge benefit of forest schools is that they promote physical activity through a variety of outdoor tasks. “Children climb trees, navigate uneven terrain, build structures, and explore. These activities improve fine and gross motor skills, balance, coordination, and overall fitness. Making a comparison to brick and mortar public schools where recess is often limited to 45 minutes, it’s not hard to see why parents would choose this as the healthier option.”
Erin Melia describes her school, Mangrove Forest, also located in Sarasota Florida, as having “tributaries that lead to a sparkling river which are service, meaningful curriculum, and development. For us to encompass all of these things, we apply child development to everything else we do. The nature component is starting off first and foremost with reverence. From a very young age, the children learn that when we go into a forest, we are going into the living room of other beings.” Melia points out how important she feels it is for children and adults to establish “a core routine with nature, in an information heavy time. We want children to be in their bodies and listen to their senses. Remembering our original instructions. We are nature.”
Erin reflects back on her years in secondary school, sitting in science laboratories with no windows, and feeling a desire for more of a connection to nature. “My earliest thought of a career was a park ranger. I really thought that would be such a cool career. To be outside in nature, but somehow forgot that along the way.” She sees forest school as helping to awaken and continue to foster that desire in young people and to help them “discover their personal truth.”
The benefits aren’t only physical though, both Wilson and Melia agree there is plenty of evidence about nature’s calming effect on the nervous system. The American Psychological Association cites studies( Nurtured by nature) showing that students make fewer mistakes when given moments to stop and look at nature and are also at reduced risk of many psychiatric disorders later in life, including depression, mood disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and substance use disorder when they had the ability to be surrounded by green spaces.
Perhaps the most powerful and maybe simplest benefit of forest schools is that they foster a natural love of learning which hopefully lasts a lifetime. The curriculum may not be the same as public school, but encouraging a love of learning, and not memorization gives students the ability to thrive not only academically, but also emotionally, leading to a more regulated human and hopefully, to a better world.
Find out more about Curious and Kind Education as well as Mangrove School of Sarasota on their websites.
If you love the Sustainable Living Show, make sure to tune in every Monday at 11am on 88.5fm or listen to past episodes in the archives here. You can also stay up to date with show happenings on our Facebook page. Head over to the tip jar and direct your donation to Sustainable Living to show your monetary support. Remember, it takes a community to build a community.
Leave a Reply
