Sharing an Experience

This week's forest school experience brought us back to Carpenter Woods, but under very different circumstances. In the spirit of exploration, Jane's Group made the walk over to join our usual crew, bringing with them their own enthusiasm and curiosity.

Soon after everybody's arrival, projects started organically emerging that brought groups of children together spanning the age spectrum. One of the more extensive projects involved collecting and sculpting the natural clay from the creek bed. Other activities included traversing "the tunnel," hauling and building with the beautifully reddish colored lumber of a fallen tree, going on hikes, finding familiar creatures like woodpeckers and snakes, and noticing new and unfamiliar plants, as well as the ever-popular climbing, jumping, balancing, splashing, and digging.

I think the whole experience proved to be quite special for the kids, offering the youngers an opportunity to invite their older friends into their forest school world and witness in return a somewhat different form of play and exploration than usual. And for the olders, it not only offered a rich new context to learn and grow in but also an opportunity to see a side of the youngers that they don't usually see, all made possible by the particular magic of the forest.

I want to extend our collective appreciation to all the parents who helped make this day possible. As teachers, we believe forest school is an experience that really matters for the kids, and your support means so much to us all.

More Photos from Carpenter Woods

Location, Location, Location

While our ultimate goal is student exploration and discovery, careful planning by the adults makes a difference in the possible depth of those child centered experiences. As parents, you make sure your child gets a good night's sleep and comes dressed in appropriate layers...as teachers we make sure to pack supplies conducive for that day's weather and location. A lot of thought goes into making those decisions. Dorian, Jason, and I reflect on recent Forest School observations, thinking about the students both individually and as a group. We think about questions they asked, discoveries they made and frustrations they experienced. We use this information to build and enhance our next experience. Recently, I have been thinking  a lot about the importance of location. I love the days where we make a camp...designated with boundaries from which the students can roam freely. I enjoy scouting new areas for the perfect site... a place that will both reinforce past experiences and introduce new possibilities. Our Carpenter Wood camp was one of those sites. 

From the broadest viewpoint, Carpenter Woods provides a location close to school, has a shallow creek for creek walking and water play, has multiple trails for hiking and as a bird sanctuary, is filled with a wide range of bird species for us to discover. From a more detailed perspective, our specific camp was chosen by the bank of the creek. Our camp was  between a wooden bridge (imagination play...think Billy Goats' Gruff) and a log that had fallen across the creek but was only 2 feet off the ground (balance, safe risk taking, and supporting your friends). Other considerations were a mud bank ready for digging and a lean-to built out of sticks by some previous group. Here's how our day played out:

Izzy enjoyed discovering the mud wall. We brought some of the "clay" back to school and are going to try firing it in the kiln. 

I handed Gil and Izzy a new Forest School item..."what is it?", they questioned. "Open it and find out", I replied. "A hammock!", they discovered. 

James and Zion spent time mastering the fallen log bridge. 

Dorian and I went on a hike with Dontrelle, Eric, Aliyah, and Nyasiah. We discovered a Garter snake (above) and a Downy Woodpecker (below)

Gil spent some time cleaning out his boots...somehow, Sylvie just lost hers. 

James, Nyasiah, Izzy and I took a long creek walk.
"The creek is your map...it will tell you where to go...I felt like an explorer, learning new things." - James