Forest Schooled | Learning & Development

Learning & Development

Posts discussing the value of holistic educational approaches like Forest School and the role of adults in promoting learning and development to foster resilient, confident, independent, and creative learners

Guest Blog: Children are natural caretakers of other living things

Landere Naisbitt

Jun 9
7 min

Guest Blog: Children are natural caretakers of other living things

Forest Days is a program that Blue Hill Heritage Trust piloted at the public Surry Elementary School for the 2019-2020 school year. We are

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Guest Blog: How Forest School Soothes Our Seven (Yes Seven!) Senses

Romina Kramer

Apr 21
5 min

Guest Blog: How Forest School Soothes Our Seven (Yes Seven!) Senses

“The more exposure your child has to sensory experiences throughout the day, the more integrated and organized the brain, senses and body be

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Guest Blog: Environmental Education (and Magic!) in the Mud Kitchen at Forest Days

Landere Naisbitt

Apr 9
7 min

Guest Blog: Environmental Education (and Magic!) in the Mud Kitchen at Forest Days

What is a mud kitchen, you might ask? It might sound dirty (which it is); it might sound like silly nonsense (which it is not); it might

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How do we advocate for more Nature programs, like Forest School?

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Apr 1
6 min

How do we advocate for more Nature programs, like Forest School?

I was sitting in a wooden chair at a table in the school principal's office wondering how it all happened so fast to get me here

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Starting a Program from Scratch Again (Or not)... Part 3

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Jul 1, 2021
6 min

Starting a Program from Scratch Again (Or not)... Part 3

Learning about and reflecting on all that I don't know We often say, "Start with what you know"... but what if we said instead, "Start...

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Starting a program from scratch again (Or not)... Part 2

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Mar 12, 2021
4 min

Starting a program from scratch again (Or not)... Part 2

Several months ago I shared a bit about my desires and reservations for starting up a new program since moving to a new place. See...

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Supporting behaviour through relationships, instead of rewards and punishments...

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Jan 17, 2021
6 min

Supporting behaviour through relationships, instead of rewards and punishments...

"What do you need to feel safe?", I asked. "I don't want to get hit by sticks!", he said. I was standing between two boys whose play had...

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Starting a program from scratch again (Or not)... Part 1

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Sep 27, 2020
5 min

Starting a program from scratch again (Or not)... Part 1

Over three years ago when I moved countries from England to the USA I was full of inspiration from all the things I'd learned while living

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Growing from 'Forest School' to 'Nature-rooted learning'

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Sep 16, 2020
4 min

Growing from 'Forest School' to 'Nature-rooted learning'

Language is funny. Sometimes I can’t quite find the right words to describe what I truly mean. I have this problem all the time when trying

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What am I going to do to keep myself uncomfortable?

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Aug 31, 2020
5 min

What am I going to do to keep myself uncomfortable?

Years ago I attended a brief workshop at a conference that, in just a short two-hour window, provided me with lessons that have stuck with

233 views0 comments

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Aug 17, 2020
3 min

Storytelling Resources

Ever since gathering a group of storytellers together at the start of the global shutdown in 2020 for weekly livestreams, I've been getting

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Considering Ecological Relationships, Impact, and Reciprocity in our Outdoor Programs

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Jun 14, 2020
6 min

Considering Ecological Relationships, Impact, and Reciprocity in our Outdoor Programs

Okay I have something to confess... it’s been a weight on my shoulders (and on my ecological conscience) as an environmental educator. It's

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Forest School Perspectives: Making Space for Diversity in Practice

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

May 26, 2020
6 min

Forest School Perspectives: Making Space for Diversity in Practice

This blog was first shared by the UK Forest School Association. You can view that post HERE. Imagine something exciting happened to you an

195 views0 comments

Learning when to stop asking children questions, even when it's in the name of “inquiry”

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

May 9, 2020
5 min

Learning when to stop asking children questions, even when it's in the name of “inquiry”

I’ve written before about my use of questions to prompt or assist children (and adults for that matter) to consider something more deeply..

611 views0 comments

Guest Blog - Early Childhood Ways of Knowing:

Landere Naisbitt

Dec 1, 2019
10 min

Guest Blog - Early Childhood Ways of Knowing:

How Kindergarteners Teach Me About Nature Connection and How to Live in Healthy Relationship with the Earth This is special. This...

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Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Nov 3, 2019
3 min

Forest Schooled Evolves... Again

Well, I’m dusting off the ol' Forest Schooled keyboard. It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog here. Life moves and sways, shifting...

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Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Sep 1, 2019
3 min

Forest Schooled, The Book

Okay, you know that feeling when you have an idea and then someday that idea becomes a reality? It's an amazing feeling and one I am so...

297 views0 comments

Emergent Curriculum... when the lessons emerge with the Land

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Jun 30, 2019
6 min

Emergent Curriculum... when the lessons emerge with the Land

There was a nest. It was high up in one of the pine trees. We thought it was just the remnants left over from the previous year until a...

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Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Jun 21, 2019
4 min

Backwards Planning

I’ve been delivering Forest School programs for several years now, mostly with school age children ages 5 to 12, and so my methods for...

41 views0 comments

Why I'm grateful Forest & Nature School is long-term

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

May 16, 2019
1 min

Why I'm grateful Forest & Nature School is long-term

We’ve been coming to Forest School one afternoon each week for over 30 weeks now. We’re comfortable in the forest, have a familiar set of...

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Facing Colonization in our Work with the Land

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

May 1, 2019
1 min

Facing Colonization in our Work with the Land

& Building our Understanding of Indigenous Perspectives Growing up in the United States, and more specifically Hawaii, it always felt...

281 views0 comments

Lessons learned from starting programs from scratch...

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Apr 27, 2019
5 min

Lessons learned from starting programs from scratch...

After starting a handful of programs from scratch, there are so many things I’ve learned from the process. (See Starting a Forest School...

216 views0 comments

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Apr 12, 2019
5 min

“So what do you do about puddles?!”

“So what do you do about puddles?!” I could sense a slight panic in her voice as she asked me this. And it was a valid question from...

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Integrating Forest School into a Public School Day

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Mar 24, 2019
9 min

Integrating Forest School into a Public School Day

In the Starting a Forest School Program from Scratch series I described the steps I took to get a couple of programmes up and running in...

680 views1 comment

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Jan 21, 2019
4 min

Learning through taking risks...

I took a risk. It was the coldest day we'd had in the school year so far and nobody was quite back in the mindset of playing in cold...

403 views0 comments

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Jan 5, 2019
6 min

Intervening in Children's Play...

This is a tough one for me to write, but here goes... One of my missions in Forest School and even through writing this blog has been to...

943 views0 comments

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Dec 16, 2018
3 min

Delivering programs at night...

This has been a really exciting time of year for me because it's the first time I've delivered Forest School sessions in the dark! I...

167 views0 comments

It's not your dam, Mother Nature gave the rocks to you...

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Oct 11, 2018
4 min

It's not your dam, Mother Nature gave the rocks to you...

"I'm going to build a dam!" a six year old named Carter said. And off he went to the stream where he started to move rocks from the...

205 views0 comments

Children's risky play and experiencing 'scary-funny'

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Sep 30, 2018
4 min

Children's risky play and experiencing 'scary-funny'

The other day at Forest School a five year old named Ryan approached me with tears in his eyes. He was calm, but also clearly upset. He...

712 views0 comments

Nature is not always nice... And that's why I do this work

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Jun 29, 2018
4 min

Nature is not always nice... And that's why I do this work

I went to a conference recently that was all about connecting children with nature. Sounds like something that should be right up my...

222 views0 comments

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Jun 22, 2018
5 min

Learning with storytelling...

I've taken a huge leap in my practice recently. I've started telling stories. Now, I know that might not sound like such a big deal, but get

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A History of the UK & US Forest School Movement

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Jun 3, 2018
1 min

A History of the UK & US Forest School Movement

If you've been following along with me over the past several months, you may have caught my ramblings here and there about how I'm...

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Starting a Forest School program from scratch: Part 5

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Apr 29, 2018
5 min

Starting a Forest School program from scratch: Part 5

Preface: I've called the first post in this series "Part 1", but a friend reminded me that there is so much more that comes before this...

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Starting a Forest School program from scratch: Part 4

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Mar 18, 2018
4 min

Starting a Forest School program from scratch: Part 4

Preface: I've called the first post in this series "Part 1", but a friend reminded me that there is so much more that comes before this...

1,567 views0 comments

Starting a Forest School program from scratch: Part 3

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Mar 9, 2018
4 min

Starting a Forest School program from scratch: Part 3

Preface: I've called the first post in this series "Part 1", but a friend reminded me that there is so much more that comes before this...

1,570 views0 comments

Forest School as a mindset... as well as a set of activities

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Feb 25, 2018
3 min

Forest School as a mindset... as well as a set of activities

I've been thinking about why it's such challenge for me to explain what Forest School "is" to people who are not familiar with it. One of my

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Starting a Forest School program from scratch: Part 2

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Feb 12, 2018
2 min

Starting a Forest School program from scratch: Part 2

Preface: I've called the first post in this series "Part 1", but a friend reminded me that there is so much more that comes before this...

2,476 views0 comments

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Jan 29, 2018
4 min

Whole body learning...

We've had snow on the ground for weeks now, but a few days ago the temperature rose and it rained. This started to melt the snow... but then

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Starting a Forest School program from scratch: Part 1

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Jan 7, 2018
3 min

Starting a Forest School program from scratch: Part 1

Preface: I've called the first post in this series "Part 1", but a friend reminded me that there is so much more that comes before this...

7,648 views1 comment

Why being wet and cold can be a good thing...

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Dec 17, 2017
5 min

Why being wet and cold can be a good thing...

If you've been following the Forest Schooled blog for a while, you might be aware that earlier this year I moved from southern England, UK

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How perceptions of 'danger' can change after making fire with four year olds...

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Nov 29, 2017
5 min

How perceptions of 'danger' can change after making fire with four year olds...

I find it interesting how our perceptions of what's 'dangerous' are highly influenced by our cultures, in other words, what seems to be the

380 views0 comments

Remembering someone special and the value of intergenerational learning

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Nov 21, 2017
3 min

Remembering someone special and the value of intergenerational learning

"How old do you think I am?" he asked me with a smile. We'd only met a few times before and didn't know each other very well, so I...

157 views0 comments

Fire and Food: Playing with Outdoor Cooking...

Caylin (Forest Schooled)

Oct 22, 2017
4 min

Fire and Food: Playing with Outdoor Cooking...

If I had to take a guess I would say that marshmallows are the number one food 'cooked' over a campfire. It's just so easy! You stuff it on

1,680 views0 comments

Guest Blog - A New Zealander's Perspective on The Benefits of Outdoor Activities for Learning

Alex Cordier

Oct 15, 2017
3 min

Guest Blog - A New Zealander's Perspective on The Benefits of Outdoor Activities for Learning

Please enjoy this guest blog by Alex Cordier who resides in New Zealand! Alex wanted to share her perspective on the benefits of learning...