Our class loves being in the Maple Forest!

Students love to explore, discover, create, build, construct, imagine, play, climb, touch, hypothesize, and notice. They have choice, they are immersed, engaged, and are happy.

Spending time on the land, playing on the land, and having open-ended time on the land, allows students to build deep connections to the places we spend time in. Students truly enjoy their time in the forest. They built connections to the land, they want to care for the space, they want to pick up garbage, they want to clean it up, they want to take care of the plants. Through spending time in the forest, they developed a love and appreciation for the land and were actively showing stewardship for the place by advocating for the care of the space.

The land provides and satisfies a variety of different sensory needs. In the forest, there is more space, there is no expectation to stay seated, they can run if they want, they can be challenged physically by climbing up and down the steep banks beside the creek, some of them satisfy sensory needs through heavy lifting, carrying around logs to go across the creek. If they need a quieter less stimulating environment, there is room and space for them to remove themselves from the group and do something quiet on their own. If they need space away from certain students, there is lots of space to do so. If they seek peer interactions, then they can get together with who they want to and converse the whole time, several students can often be found sitting on a rock chatting with each other. Some are quiet observers, some are loud, some are builders, some are creators, and some are explorers. The forest allows each student to get from it, what they need.

Students are engaged with nature and are eager to let the land lead their learning and discovery. Students notice what nature can teach them, and they are eager to share their discoveries and hypothesis. Nature has become another teacher in our outdoor class.

Mrs. Lehnert