For 6 years I was a teacher in the public school system. In that time I saw countless energetic children slowly conform to the social norms of what public school required. Students so full of life learned that sitting quietly was not only expected, but rewarded. Students yearning for play and connection with friends, eventually learned that toys were left best at home and connecting with friends only happened in a small 15 minute period called recess.

As children were slowly learning to conform, I was also learning something. I was teaching in a system that was created for a child, but that had completely forgotten the child. The very system we entrusted with our children’s education was merely taming our wild and wonderful children.

I longed to provide a different educational experience for my children than the one I was giving to my students. I couldn’t stay one year longer and continue to enforce rules on students that I myself did not believe in. As a teacher, who clearly experienced what didn’t work, I had to ask myself what did work. I found that for every question I asked and wrestled with in asking what is the best education for a child, I always found that playing outside was always the answer!

This is what led me to start Wild & Wonderful Forest School. I wanted to create the very best classroom for children! Playing in the forest for children is absolutely essential to any amazing education. Free play in nature allows children the freedom to self regulate, find intrinsic motivation, practice empathy, work on social communicational skills, independence and confidence, resilience, positive attitudes, adaptability, and so much more! Playing in nature is crucial to the overall development of every child.

It also allows a child to take part in their own education. In a forest school teachers are the observers. The observations then create the curriculum! The natural interests and curiosities of the child are leading their every day learning. Children are able to explore why a leaf falls from a tree after it changes colors or investigate how paint can come from a rock. They are able to dig deeper into the creatures they catch in the creek and able to take risks while jumping from one log to the next. Children and nature are truly the most beautiful friendship you will ever witness in this lifetime.

Teaching children the importance of connecting with the earth in a communal way is the very best lesson we can teach them. It will have lasting impacts on our future generations if we get children back out in nature where their hearts and bodies belong!