We created BEA because…
- Learning in nature helps to reduce the ‘nature deficit’ in children and families, strengthening their connection with the natural world.
- It encourages a reconnection with instinct and intuition, cultivating a more organic, spontaneous and essential side of our being.
- Nature is seen as a teacher: we observe, experiment and learn through a curious and respectful relationship with our surroundings.
- It stimulates critical thinking, whilst valuing each child’s individuality and sense of self.
- The child takes an active role in their journey, learning through direct experience and engaging their whole body.
- The bond between child and carer is central, allowing for close support tailored to each individual process.
- It incorporates values that go beyond the material dimension, opening up space for other ways of perceiving the world.
- It promotes resilience through respect for natural rhythms and the challenges encountered.
- It awakens food awareness and the importance of sovereignty over what one consumes.
- It inspires care for the earth, for people and for the future, in line with the principles of permaculture.
- It also values silence, stillness and observation as fundamental parts of learning.
The pillars of BEA are:
- Forest School
- BEA takes place in a space that combines the forest, in its natural, wild and free aspect; with the farm and the permaculture principles: Caring for the land, caring for people and caring for the future. The shelters, in this context of nature, are understood, not only as a physical refuge, a place of warmth, points of arrival and departure; but also as a place of cosiness, safety and protection of affections.
- Free play
- Flow learning and walking are the guiding threads of discovery of nature and the learning that comes from observing, feeling, smelling, tasting, doing, thinking and questioning.
- Conscious and respectful support
- Adults look at the child in its individuality making the school invisible and leaning on nature as teacher.
- Community
- Bosque Escola Avelãs is a project that dreams of being free, free of charge, and that always remakes itself from the community to the community.