Our four day complete Forest homeschooler program is for children 4-11 who thrive in an outdoor setting and with experiential learning. 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 learn best within a child centred approach to learning that is place based which 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 have Annishinabek facilitators and are partnered with Anishinaabe community members, Knowledge Keepers and Elders to build a relationship to provide place based culture to the families in our program.
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. The older children are able to more deeply integrate their knowledge into their being and the younger children and older children learn to value each other as a community.
Forest and Nature School Hybrid Micro-School – This program is a 4 day a week program for homeschoolers. Family is seen as integral to the learning process so families partner with the school for integrated learning. It combines two forest days and two family days for our fall and spring sessions. On family days learners work with the facilitator virtually to develop an inquiry they want to pursue with their family in the forest or natural area close to their home. They then meet back after to share their adventures. On Forest days learners meet as a class in the forest. This is a flexible drop off program. They can choose an inquiry or can dive deep and benefit from the facilitators expertise for dynamic learning during play with other students. Younger siblings are accepted in the program as well. Please message for details.
Cost – $99 per week
Dates
Monday – Thursday
Summer/Fall Session
September 12-Dec 2 – Program Full
Winter/Spring Session
February 13-June 9 – contact about entry into spring (April)
Barrie Forest and Natural Learning School 