Forest school - Why? AIBU - probably?

[perplexedagain]

OK looking for some people to explain to me very simply and without any jargon why forest school is so important, what children are supposed to get from this experience, the benefits etc.

DS did forest school in reception last year and it was OK - he came home and talked about looking at the trees and finding and learning about bugs. This year he's doing it again. The entire class has been out for the equivalent of a school day already and more to come.

I'm not getting the benefits. DS says everyone just runs around / climbs trees /or builds something with twigs (which is pretty much what they do every lunch hour).

Meanwhile I am expected to do homework every night - spellings / reading and support with handwriting. I feel like the time at school would be better spent on helping DS with these skills - DS still doesn't know how to form letters correctly rather than the extended playtime that is forest school. I don't even know if it's a compulsory part of the curriculum?

[LondonGirl83]

YABU

Children develop confidence and resilience through unstructured social activities.

Also, young children learn concepts better through physical play. Nature is a great place to start intuitively understanding ideas and applying skills like pattern recognition, counting, estimating etc.

However, the physical benefits are worth it alone. Children who get more access during the school day to outdoor play actually learn more and perform better. The link between cognitive performance and physical activity lasts through adulthood and old age.

[alicej1974]

I just spent15 mins writing lots on why the Forest School approach is so beneficial nearly finished and page just disappeared.

[alicej1974]

I have qualified and worked as a primary school teacher with early years specialism, but decided to train as a Forest School practitioner as unhappy with the way schools are working.
Forest School is not just learning outdoors, but inspirational, aspirational and transformational holistic education in a natural environment.
What does this mean?
The basic concept of Forest School is that In order to better understand our world, ourselves and our place in it we need to explore it. It recognises that learning needs to about the whole person, not just the intellectual, but the social, emotional, spiritual, physical and communication growth and needs being met. Reflection is key whether direct or indirect in artistic form. Thus I aim to provide opportunities for participants to safely play and discover, allowing children to pursue their intrinsic interests and lead their own exploration of the world. This freedom is also beneficial as it accommodates the fact that we develop naturally with different learning styles and recognises participants different levels of ability. Forest School is inclusive and supportive of all learners including those with additional needs or presenting with challenging behaviour. To allow time for progression it is best for regular Forest School to be an ongoing experience for as long as possible. Involving learners in looking after the natural environment. In order to allow learners to lead and develop their own learning sessions will as far as possible be flexible, balanced with the activities planned.. Studies have shown that the Forest School approach increases learners self-esteem, independence, co-operation, problem solving, innovative thinking, communication skills, resilience and gives them a stronger sense of who they are.

The level 3 qualification is important as it ensures that the practitioner is able to plan, carry out and assess their practice with true recognition and understanding of it. We learn about woodland management, practical skills and tools with health and safety, risk assessment, legalities, first aid, learning theories, progressive/ alternative education ideas, inclusion, planning, assessment and have to demonstrate all this. In many ways like teacher training.

Personally working with Year 6 pupils for just the last half term in a Primary for last 2 years whilst training and just after finishing they really saw the benefit. They all said it helped stress with the pressure they constantly feel under (especially following SATs) with time to just be silent and still in a space and a more relaxed approach to time and allowance to return to what they had begun the next week. They said they would use this to help themselves. The open ended learning gave them all a chance to achieve and have success and they all grew in confidence.

[getthemoutside]

I am a FS leader - we live in south oxfordshire and most kids have access to the woods in the village and nature. HOWEVER, very few go out in the rain, get muddy, or are allowed to make their on choice and learn consequences.
I do everything form letting them explore and get bored (so that they learn how to amuse themselves), light fires, build zip lines, cook all sorts of things, climb trees, make dens, make ladders, put up hammocks, tie knots etc. They also make their own fun and games and it is amazing to watch and hear. All of these things are so so so vital to their mental developement. FS at our school takes place of one PE session and this is great. Not all children are the sports type and the things they do at FS enhance all skills. We have drilled holes in conkers with palm drills... this helps fine motor skills which are needed for hand writing - tying knots does this too.. and other activities. We make rope swings -when wa the last time you saw a child on a rope.. there aren't really any in playgrounds.. all swings are with chains and only move front to back.

I totally hear your point about hand writing but all children learn at different rates. At afternoon or even 1 day out of 5 in the woods is not the reason your child can't form letters.. I would be thankful that your school spends the money and see the benefit in looking after mental heath and social development. It is way more important at that stage of life than correctly forming letters. Hang in there, it will come. x

[perplexedagain]

Thanks for the balanced approaches. As a poster said upthread it's all about balance, not that I think FS is rubbish or useless ...

[Chilledout11]

I am a teacher& have twi children if a similar age and I actually agree with you op. I know the benefits of forest school but I would be over the moon with one afternoon a week not a full day every week. I love new metholodogies and hands on learning but they do need classroom based tasks too.

[getthemoutside]

I hear you but one of the benefits of FS is that t is unstructured (apart from a few rules). It is a time within school that the children are not bound by walls but learn all sorts of social, physical, psychological etc skills way beyond what a classroom or home environment would give.
Children have extend time to play.. way beyond break times, they have time to work through issues (physically, mentally and socially) and come out the other side... there is no other environment that does this. They also have time to make/take calculated risks and learn over time to overcome fears, anxieties etc.

I would talk to the forest school leader about what observations they see at FS, how this helps in the classroom and get feedback that way. You could also go along to a session, but bear in mind that children do behave very differently when parents are around in these sessions!

[aSofaNearYou]

Setting aside the pros and cons regarding development, you could view it as a positive thing for a generation of young people to grow up with a strong attachment to nature, it could become increasingly necessary given the environmental climate. Arguably more so than a lot of the things we learnt at school that we take for granted as essential.

[getthemoutside]

an afternoon is only really 2 hours and from experience it isn't long enough... if you eat to fit in decent circle time, tools, free play, cooking over a fire. A day in the woods is such a gift. Rather than challenge it, I would go along and see what they do, how the FS leader and the teacher think it benefits then, what behaviours they see etc... they definitely wouldn't spend the money on it if it wasn't beneficial x

[FlatheadScrewdriver]

We've experienced two types of "forest school":

1. we paid for this one, weekly sessions, structured activities to choose between, climbing trees, scrambling, cooking over a fire, building stuff, learning to work together with other kids, getting very muddy. Was brilliant. Would definitely do it again but DC are a bit too old these days.

1. school's version. A weekly afternoon (or sometimes whole day) of hell. Alternated between activities they would have been able to do a million times more easily and effectively in a classroom than in the middle of a muddy field with a clipboard (writing paragraphs in the rain tearing the wet paper with their pencils...) or total chaos in the "breaks" when the kids ran around hitting each other with sticks. The teachers spent a good ten minutes after each break writing up the incident forms and behaviour forms, while the parent-helpers patched up the crying or injured and everyone counted down the minutes until it ended.

After a few terms I found it was extraordinary how often I managed to book doctor/dentist/optician appointments for the "forest school" days if I really tried.

[BubblesBuddy]

The OPs DS is in y1 and is spending 20% of his school hours in forest school. So something else is being dropped to allow for this. I can see why the op is concerned. It is difficult to see how they fit the wider curriculum in.

[user1374384]

I have paid a fortune over the years for my children to attend forest schools. I went to visit a school last week that offers 50% forest school and one parent couldn't understand it, and was asking about books and concerned she was seeing too much play indoors too. I was so sad to realise that such an educated parent (she told me her profession) could be so ignorant about how children learn.

There are tonnes of books on Forest School curriculum and benefits so I'd suggest buying one to get a true picture.

Before a child can learn to write well, they have to be able to cross the midline. If you imagine a line down the middle of their body, this is simply coordination of the arms and legs being able to cross over to the other side. Easier said than done with a toddler/young child. But these gross motor skills need to be mastered and perfected to build on fine motor skills like drawing and writing. The more time they have to develop gross motor skills the better their fine will be later.

It is proven that children play more creatively, more spontaneously, more imaginatively when outside. Watch any child child on a beach or in a woods compared to a toy shop and you'll agree. Sticks and stones and acorns and pinecones are wonderful open ended maths and science resources in the hands of children.

Children that partake in pure child led play, learn more quickly and remember more than imposed learning by rote.

In forest school children are free to take risks, climbing piles of tree trunks in all weathers for eg, that will not only improve their gross motor skills and coordination but will improve their behaviour (listening to risks, working on impulsivity) and build self esteem.

I could go on and on about forest school, but I feel passionate about it just from watching my children play there. There is plenty of time for sit down classroom learning, it's truly valuable to allow them the chance to learn through play in the fresh air, in all weathers as long as possible. Schools that offer this and not just token sessions once a term are gold standard.

[EugenesAxe]

Forest School is really good for getting back to the basics of learning. Highly sensorial environment; I’ve seen improved social interactions, improved problem solving and spatial awareness, and as mentioned, gross motor improvement will help with writing. For reserved children or hyper children, Forest School can really help bring them out/ calm them down, somehow!