Wild & Wonderful Update: November & December

November & December

Mycelium & Mushrooms

In the month of November our emergent curriculum led us to learning about mycelium and mushrooms. Mycelium is the thread-like network of fungi that lives inside of dead wood and underground to break down organic material, recycle nutrients, help plant roots, and more. We learned that mycelium is actually so strong that it can be made into bricks that are used in insulating houses, packaging, furniture, and construction materials! We tried our hand at building our own mycelium brick.

We first gathered the materials, or the substrate, to make the brick. We gathered dead leaves, saw dust, coffee grounds, and more.

We then soaked it in hot water to kill any bacteria. We drained the water and pressed the damp material into a plastic mold.

Lastly, we added mushroom spawn to it. This is the brick after some time has gone by. The white growth you see on top is the mycelium growing. Once it turns fully white then we will bake it to stop the growth.

We also learned that mushrooms are the fruiting body of mycelium. When mycelium wants to grow it will shoot up a mushroom to spread spores around the forest floor in order to break down organic material. Mushrooms absorb water. We experimented with putting mushrooms in different colored water and were amazed at the results!

Mental Health Week

We took some time to talk about mental health. Thank you so much to therapist Will Messer for doing a lesson with the Littles class. We learned all about emotions and did some mindfulness activities to teach us how we can work through big emotions.

Medicinal Week

We had a wonderful time learning about how nature can provide amazing medicine for us. We learned about the states of matter and how to turn honey into a solid from a liquid. We then made homemade cough drops over the fire.

Trailblazers Class

The Trailblazers class for the month of November was an absolute blast! We enjoyed making eco prints together as well making our own henna.

We first learned that henna comes from the leaves of a henna shrub. It is used for body art and hair coloring in many countries, but it is also known to be a wonderful medicine.

It has cooling, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial properties used in treating minor burns, skin irritation, and helps heal athlete’s foot.

After learning the medicinal properties the students gave themselves some chic tattoos.

In the month of December we had a great time making chocolate chapstick & Christmas chapstick.

Forest School On the Move

For one week in December the Littles class met at Valley Park. We enjoyed learning about the circumference and height of a Redwood tree.

Enjoying lunch with the ducks.

Enjoying a visit from the Hurricane mayor!

Learning the difference between conifers and deciduous trees.

Measuring the length of a redwood tree if it were cut down.

Christmas Party!

We ended the semester with a fun Christmas pajama party!

We enjoyed eating together and playing several games of dodgeball.

Played a game of White Elephant.

We ended with some popcorn and an end of the year slideshow.

More Wild & Wonderful Moments

One of our many discoveries while out on our hike.

Morning yoga

Intro into nature journaling for our Littles class

Nature journaling with our Trailblazers class.

Echoes from the Forest

In this section, “Echoes from the Forest,” you’ll hear directly from parents & students as they share about forest school.

“Forest school is really good and I love everything about it. I like free play, hikes, and nature journaling time. ”

~ Shadrick, Littles class

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“I loved making henna with my class. It was fun! I also love taking hikes with my friends!”

~ Isaac, Middles Class

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“Forest School is re-wiring us to be more like our childhood selves…to stop analyzing every aspect of our hurdles, finding all the negatives, and instead see all the possibilities. It’s raining…wear a coat. It’s really raining…bring an umbrella. Poor preparation and inconvenience should not be what stops us from experiencing life. We are learning to get out of our own way and fill our days with richer experiences and build resilience in ourselves and our children. Thanks for reminding us we were once kids and we can still be just as strong as they already are.”

~Hilary, Littles class mother

Coming Up!

We will begin our next semester in January! We plan on planting a garden, building a chicken coop, taking some fun field trips,and so much more! See everyone next semester!

Bringing Childhood Back to Nature