Forest kindergarten is for children 4-7 who thrive in an outdoor setting and with experiential learning. The Anishinabe believe that the first 7 years of a child’s life is “the good life” so we are open to any child at least 4 years of age up to 7. The children take part in a huge variety of activities – making shelters, tracking, our forest theatre, mud playdough and mud/plant “cooking and baking”, river walks and more. We place special emphasis on child led inquiry learning.
Forest Kindergartens and Forest Schools believe that the children in their care need to spend the preschool years learning best within a child centred approach to learning that is place based so that it focuses on their connection with others and with their environment. Place based education is rooted in heritage, environment and the culture of a place. (from COEO). We are also dedicated to building a relationship with the cultural heritage and culture of Simcoe country, which is on traditional Anishinaabe territory. We are partnered with Anishinaabe community members and are working with an Anishinaabe organization to build a relationship to provide place based culture to the families in our Forest Kindergarten.
We believe that children learn best from each other in a mixed age group, the younger children learn from their older role models and older children meet the expectations of the younger children and have opportunities to be responsible and use their knowledge.
After completing two sessions of our Forest Kindergarten intro kids are eligible to be enrolled in the full day Forest Kindergarten/Unschool program!
Dates
February 12- May 23 2018 – Session Full
September 10- December 12 2018
