Bosque escola takes place come rain or shine, because we believe “there’s no such thing as bad weather with a good coat”. In outdoor early childhood education clothing is an essential factor. Children have to be dressed appropriately for the season.
During rainy days you have to be equipped with a waterproof jacket and trousers, and water boots. For cold days, the onion method is best, wearing several layers of clothing and including a hat and gloves.
For the heat, they have to be equipped with a hat that protects from the sun. Our farm has plenty of shade, so direct exposure to the sun is very low. There is a shelter-cabin and several spaces where the children can take refuge if necessary, there are large areas of shade and water to cool off in.
Safety is an issue that is always taken into consideration. We follow a safety guideline that both adults and children must adhere to during their time at Forest School.
The escorts carry a first aid kit in their backpack and have specific training.
We also have personal accident insurance that covers children and adults during the activities.
The sun is the source of vitamin D, which is responsible for several functions in the body, such as fixing calcium in the bones, ensuring the proper functioning of the liver and intestines; regulating hunger, thirst and sleep urges;
Strengthening of the immune system, physical endurance
Nature teaches us that time is not linear, but is based on cycles (day and night, seasons, rains) with long, constant and patient intervals. This allows us to relax and trust life, to learn to accept ourselves.
The activities children engage in while jumping, climbing or running means they are exercising the body as a whole. The development of movement is key to developing other skills further down the line, such as language.
Between the ages of 3 and 6, contact with nature is crucial for a child’s development, because they need to move, explore and interact with everything that lives around them.
A game accompanied by one or more adults. Normally 1 adult accompanies every 5 children.
-A routine that alternates unstructured phases in which children have more autonomy and freedom, with structured phases when the adult demands it, for example, when eating or telling a story.
-In these unstructured phases, children choose who, where and where they want to play. They invent their own games with their own rules. It is their own interest that drives them. Through play they learn using materials that nature itself offers, such as sticks
stones, leaves, flowers, etc. At this stage, the adult has the role of ensuring the children’s physical and emotional well-being, paying maximum attention, but not interrupting when they are immersed in their activities, intervening only in case of conflict or safety.
Learning outdoors is based on experiences that stimulate all the senses and students develop their own ideas of the world around them. The classroom is nature and unlimited materials are available to interact with.
– Outdoors, the senses develop together. Smells, noises, or different textures perceived at the same time. In addition, the horizon is wider so that peripheral vision is developed, which allows us to situate ourselves in space.
-Fantasy and Creativity are awake as children create their games and toys (there are no manufactured toys in the school woods).
-The activities that children do while jumping, climbing or running means that they are exercising the body as a whole. The development of movement is key to developing other skills further down the line, such as language.
-Between the ages of 3 and 6, contact with nature is crucial for a child’s development, because they need to move, explore and interact with everything that lives around them.
Nature helps their development in (at least) three ways simultaneously. In cognitive skills, promoting creativity, concentration and language. Social skills, promoting a sense of responsibility and respect. In physical development, as we said earlier.