Little Finch Forest School

Forest school is a unique experience that goes beyond trips to local woodlands. Finch Forest School is about how children use a unique space to develop social and personal skills. Our goal at Finch is to positively connect young children with nature by immersing them into the natural world that stimulates the children s innate curiosity about nature. One of the cornerstones of Finch's educational philosophy is that there is no prearranged curriculum. Rather, our lesson plans flow organically from what nature presents us with each day. We believe that children between the ages of 2-6 learn best through direct experience with the natural world.

Why should you choose a forest school? Close contact with nature contributes to young children's motor, sensory, social, emotional, moral and cognitive development, as well as children s physical health and mental well-being. Science has long discovered that long chunks of uninterrupted outdoor time, is greatly needed, especially for those who spend considerable amounts of time indoors and in front of media. It seems that too often green time is replaced by screen time. We value unstructured time in nature as it provides opportunity to immerse in nature with no sense of rush. The timelessness allows children to find their own rhythm as they absorb all the lessons nature provides.

You may ask if my child is just playing in the forest, what they are learning. One must first see the inherent value of play and second, be aware of the how exploration in nature contributes to learning. In order to keep parents knowledgeable about the children s experience at Finch we will provide a monthly newsletter for parents to demonstrate how the children are leaning in the outdoor forest school. Neuroscience have discovered that young children learn best through direct hands on experience, through play and anything that stimulates the child s imagination and creativity. The curriculum will be carefully constructed with the children s interests, needs and curiosity as the basis of the explorations offered to children on a daily basis.