Why I love Forest School
A friend and recent mom asked me the other day: “Why do you love forest school so much? What does Frank learn in his forest school?”
I was taken off guard and began to rattle off a bunch of gross motor skills, social emotional learning, love for nature, etc.
Yes, all those are true.
What I wish I had said was it’s what he doesn’t learn that I love.
He doesn’t learn to prematurely rattle off the alphabet without any meaning. He doesn’t learn that he is behind in language development or ahead in number acquisition or vise versa. He doesn’t learn to ignore his body and sit still at a table for hours. He doesn’t learn to follow instructions or color in the lines. He doesn’t even learn to keep his area clean. These are all valuable lessons and skills that he will have plenty of time to master later. But for now, for now, that he is the ripe old age of 3 (or 2 or 4 or even 5) I want him to perfect the skills he is designed to be great at right at this time in his life. There will never again be a time when he is this curious, this good at play, this fearless about inspecting bugs, this close to the ground, this excited about puddles, this fascinated by rocks and dirt, this interested in hitting everything with sticks, this good at rolling down slopes or climbing up hills, this good at digging and digging and digging and digging, and this pleased with turning tree stumps into rocket launching pads.
I want him to have a happy childhood; for me that means to allow him the space and time to do the things he is already great at doing and build on those skills naturally.
In what other setting does a 3 year old get to be the lead? Without a curriculum, the teachers do not instruct but rather follow the kids, intentionally and occasionally, sharing information they are privy to due to their years on this planet. They observe the kids’ exploration and guide them to new places of discovery, being curious together with them, letting land and weather be the teacher.
He is with friends, he practices taking turns and sharing, he accidently gets hit (and hits!) with a stick. He learns his boundaries and those of his peers.
Through self-directed, natural experiences his body and mind develop a foundation for a life full of gathering and synthesizing information all around him. His 5 senses are continually activated through post rain scents, rough barks and squishy mud, bird songs and scurrying chipmunks, wind, changing leaves, occasional yummy berries and probably some dirt. Balancing on a rock, climbing trees, hiking on rugged terrain, following the sun across the sky, developing the sense of space and time and bodily awareness dubbed by occupational therapists as the sense of proprioception and vestibular sense, often overlooked yet important for a human to thrive.
Who knows, maybe in the near future, forest schools will be the norm…
Note: Of course all of this is not exclusive to 'forest schools' and it is virtually impossible to prove any sort of causality between having these experiences versus not and any current or future development, success or life satisfaction. There are myriads of circumstances to navigate, personal values, and many other factors that must be considered when choosing an educational path for a child. As with everything in life, there is no 1 size fits all. This is my personal opinion and perspective and reasons for why I choose this educational path at this moment.