Making connections

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our community pot luck was a special evening as children, parents, grandparents and siblings came together with educators to build connections through engaging exploration of our School and the Forest and Nature School classroom. We invited the children to bring their family members to the forest classroom area to share their experiences and show them around. The children led the way with confidence, guiding everyone down the path. Once we arrived the children began to describe the different areas of the forest:

“ this is the balancing log

“this is the dangerous area, so be careful!”

“the water is this way”.

“ the salamanders live here”

I stood back for a brief moment to take it all in. This display of intergenerational interaction was magical. Children where excited to share their understanding of this part of the world with others. Their sense of belonging to this area was revealed as they confidently climbed the fallen logs, navigated through deep mud puddles and stooped under logs. The children led and encouraged parents to join them on their adventures. This sense of belonging to the greater community of place, family and educators validates the importance of place based learning and its invitation to explore with our bodies, minds, and senses.

 

As we stood by the water, one of the children’s fathers gently placed a yellow crab spider on his child’s arm. She held her arm straight out to accommodate the spider, recognizing it’s need to move. Her excitement was contagious as she shouted for everyone to meet the crawly creature. This form of education effortlessly evolves into inquiry based learning for those who are scientifically inclined by stimulating questions, developing theories and problem solving. For others it remains a lens of mystery and magical thinking to engage in creative ideas and make meaning of the world around them (HDLH, 2014).

Children ground us by bringing our attention to the sound of the leaves ruffling in the wind and the way a spider web delicately holds raindrops. They are intrigued by the crawly insects of the forest and are compelled to research their questions.  Other children take us on a journey of enchanted story telling, where creatures live in castles and tree tops and the villains who sleep in the forest trees try to steal your treasures. The spark of imagination appears to be limitless while surrounded by towering trees that whistle in the wind inviting birds to fly above while surrounded by the charming sounds of creatures who live here.

 

As parents and educators support children’s thinking we provide a space of development that cultivates children who are capable of empathy, kindness and genuine problem solving skills that many leaders of this world are lacking. However this type of space appears to only exist in nature when children are “free” to explore and within this exploration begin to discover and understand their own self identity.