AIBU to hate Forest School?

[thetreelooksnice]

That's it. My kids hate it. They get cold and muddy. It was OK when they were younger but now they want to stay in the warm to study!

jalpie Er, read the post three above yours lol!

Great idea in principle. Children do learn from activities. I’m concerned it is allowing not particularly exceptional candidates to go from being TA level, do foundation degrees focussing on gimmicks like forest schools which in turn allows them to gain a top up full degree, teacher training added on and to fill quotas we end up with a future pool of teachers with non traditional qualifications plus box ticking add ons to gain progression- no real intelligence or vocation to teach.

It's very faddy, in my opinion.
We had the option to send our toddler to one, but chose a Montessori instead.
dd gets plenty of outdoor play, but is also taught a wide variety of subjects, and is doing well.
The kids I know who go to them just seem to saw a log in half every day, from speaking to the parents. Or sit around in a circle and talk about nature. Or wander in little circles, doing sweet FA.

We take our DD out to forests etc at the weekend, in our own time. As it's, you know, a leisure activity, not an education.
What will be next I wonder, interprative dance school that all children MUST attend or they are missing out?

Each to their own, I hated and still hate team sports, from netball to football and including hockey.
Much rather have spent the time I wasted being mocked and humiliated in pe studying instead.

My eldest did forest school as a rising five as does her brother now. They both love/d it. They definitely need to have all the gear, warm and waterproof. I love picking my ds up and him smelling of bonfires! And my dd being able to have a wee behind a tree has been invaluable!

What happens if it’s pissing it down with rain? Sit outside getting wetter and wetter? Sounds horrendous to me.
It sounds fun for primary kids but I can’t imagine older kids liking it much.
And yes, many schools that are situated in cities/towns wouldn’t be able to have one.

Jalpie no one has expressed fear of the outside. I think the environment is hugely important and I have the joy of a demo about building on green belt land next week.

I also love insects.

None of this Forest School business is going to help in those battles. In fact I'd be worried it would put children off, especially at the OP children's ages.

Yes, I think the problem is that this is becoming something schoolchildren must do, with no proper support/teaching structure/concept of the needs of different schools or different DC. For some, it will be wonderful, and involve some decent teaching and useful activities - for others, it will be a cold, wet, tedious couple of hours with some poor agency teacher going, is that a sparrow? Or just a plastic bag caught in a tree? And there will be the urban schools where the 'forest' consists of a badly-drained corner of the playground with a bird feeder, a vegetable garden full of fag ends and a dead privet hedge...

We have forest kindergarten here (Germany). Our neighbour called it Kinder Guantanamo All the kids here are pretty familiar with the great outdoors but the forest kindergarten seems a bit tough - only one heated room, and they're out in all weathers.

But you've extrapolated there jalpie when I am working I am a dog walker and also I am a runner - at least 4 x 7 km a week. I even love this cold weather, far prefer it to hot, I can manage more distance when it's cold. My dd especially will walk for miles with our dog and me, their best holiday was proper camping - camp fire etc; they're most impressed by my fire skills. What they can't be doing with is sitting around on logs and generally just being aimlessly outside. They see no point to it. I don't blame them, I think you're outside because you've got something to do - work, dog walk, run or go and see something or be camping.

I'm assuming they don't drag the kids to a local bit of wasteland and call that forest School?

Actually they do!

It's a bit dull pointless beyond early pre school, in my opinion. Beavers, cubs, scouts do the same sort of thing, and more, and with purpose.

It all seems a bit forced to me.

Agree. And we're keen hikers, like geocaching etc and outdoorsy people in general.

There's an incredible forest school near to us and it's just gorgeous. I teach Reception in a 'normal' school and have been on some FS training recently because I love the idea of children spending far more time outdoors.

We've two DCs who have always been outdoorsy so FS would have been perfect for them if there was one nearby. The one I did my training at keeps them busy, warm and occupied and the behaviour I witnessed was genuinely incredible; the children were so much more confident in what they could do and how they could do it. I can imagine for some children it wouldn't be the right place because there's no one-size-fits-all.

My daughter - 8 loves our local forest School. They visit schools but they do holiday clubs. The kids love it. Dd has learnt to use a knife safely, make soup, collect logs and make a fire. It's brilliant. She wears thermal leggings and waterproofs, plenty of layers and walking boots.

Suppose it depends on the child. The one we have is all about getting kids outdoors and learning skills. I think it's really positive.

Well done, it can be amazing - with a large enough area, and a really expert leader, there's plenty to engage and occupy older children.

Badly done, in a tiny or unsuitable area with no real aims or challenging activities, it can be awful.

As with all things educational, it is not WHAT you do - whether that be Forest School or Latin from 6 or a daily mile run - but HOW WELL it is done.

Yanbu.
Middle class faddy nonsense.

OP YABU
I have worked on Forest School with 10/11 year olds and it’s great for them. At the first session they were freaking out at every bug and bit of mud, most had never eaten a wild blackberry before; but I loved how by the end of the year they were so relaxed and familiar with the environment.
They spend so much time indoors at this age, they have SATS, preparation for secondary school, and to be honest a lot of them obviously need a bit more exercise. So it’s great they get this time to do activities which are a break from studying and computers. The school provides waterproofs. Warm clothing doesn’t have to cost a fortune - Lidl, Decathlon, Primark all do it. If any families were really too hard up to afford a coat I am pretty sure the school would help (as they already often do with food).

The other thing that really struck me when I did Forest School was that it’s a great opportunity to teach them about sensible risk taking. Children are so wrapped in cotton wool now. It was explained to them that wild spaces are not as safe as school there are dangers like thorns, nails, splinters, fire etc and it’s up to the children to assess these risks and be sensible. Good useful life skills.

We are a city school so the space isn’t exactly forest but it’s a wild area that’s been dedicated to local schools and community groups and I think it’s fantastic.
It’s only an afternoon so really no hardship - the attitudes to some people on here to their children being outside is pretty sad I think.
I feel a bit sorry for OPs kids that their childhood is about studying for Common Entrance and being outside is seen as a waste of time

The one we have is all about getting kids outdoors and learning skills

What kind of demographic/area is this aimed at? Because that sounds a little patronising 'getting kids outdoors'

Feelit, to be fair, the school I know of which did it best - and where it was most valuable - was anything but MC. About 35% Gypsy / Roma / Travller, about 35% SEN, entrenched rural poverty. One of the fantastic things it did was reversed the 'status' of the GRT kids - who were brilliant in the outdoors scenario - in comparison with the classroom environment. Brilliant for self-confidence and engagement, and a place where quite a lot of literacy and numeracy could be taught ibn a manner that was much more 'acceptable' to GRT boys in particular than in the classroom.

When done properly, it’s invaluable.

1. Some children (and adults) enjoy being outside more than inside. For those children, they experience the indoors, formal environment for the vast majority of their education.
2. The argument around what parents should or should not teach their children is moot, as this is subjective and differs from family to family. That’s before you begin to take into account what families can provide for their children.
3. The skills taught in Forest School are actually far more likely to be needed in the real world. Problem solving, resilience, making decisions. We institutionalise our children and are surprised when they struggle in the workplace.
4. There is time for it in the curriculum. Your “basics” won’t suffer. Schools are incredibly invested (like it or loathe it) in successful data outcomes. They wouldn’t do it if they thought that their data would be negatively impacted.

As for the clothes, my personal experience is that schools have enough spares to layer children up. It is part of the Forest School structure to have a fire burning throughout, so any cold children can go and warm up.

I know people have mentioned their dcs with additions needs enjoying it - but ds would genuinely struggle with the layers of clothing and different temps/weathers.

I work with children with disabilities some of whom would definitely not manage a long session outside, I wonder how schools that do this regularly manage with children with disabilities?

elektrawoman You haven't actually read my posts have you?!

Middle class faddy nonsense.
No, the good forest schools can teach things like identifying poisonous bushes, plants, fungi. That's not faddy nonsense it's a lifeskill.
I'm 60 this year. We didn't have forest school as we know it now, but we did cross the road once a week and go for a walk on Wimbledon Common. We learnt about plants and trees and wildlife. In turn I taught my children. It's useful knowledge, it's exercise, it's Vitamin d - much needed as a return to Rickets has been noted.

Look, it’s all very wholesome but frankly if I turned up for work and the boss told me it was forest office day, and I had to work outside far away from my swivelly chair and pack of custard creams, I’d not leap at the prospect.

gert1e - I think generally speaking, children these days spend less time outdoors playing, nothing to do with demographics. Lots of children spend far too much time in front of a screen, surely getting outdoors and learning new skills that they may not get chance to develop is a positive thing?