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Forest Schools- Into the Woods 
an Investigation in England, Germany, Denmark, Scotland, and the Netherlands

A journey investigating Forest Schools across the globe.

Barnkids

12/9/2019

 
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The first location that we visited was Barnkids.  Barnkids is a children’s nursery and Forest school on a 70 acre property in Surrey, located near Chiddingford and Haslemere.  For those map enthusiasts, it is about one hour and 15 minutes south of London.   To give you an image, think the beautiful, green rolling hills of Kentucky, lined with fences, enclosing either fields speckled with horses or sheep.  Ok, yeah, now you get it.
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The Property
This  property has several buildings, which is vastly different from the Forest Schools I visited in Germany, where they had a small shelter at the very most.  Here, there are several buildings that house varying ages of children from infants to age five. The older children literally had a barn as their home base.  The children whose families had elected for them participate in the Forest School start in the barn and make their way through two very large fields.  I would say that this is at least a half a mile that they walk ( or in their case run) to the location of the Forest School area.
 
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​​This group of children were between the ages of 3 and 4. As soon as we sat down one child told me his name and explained why he was wearing an eye patch, how long he needs to wear it, and when it was going to be changed.  Another child interrupted the optometry issues of the other to inform me that last night he fell down a rabbit hole. (Of course he did!) I asked him what he found, he said it the cutest British accent, “Peter Rabbit was down there, and a river, and Mike helped pull him out.”  (Mike is one of the instructors at Barnkids).  So, from the first 5 minutes of interaction with these small humans they devolved medical issues (sorry HIPPA) and their fanciful stories.  It was all amazing!

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​  ​Side bar, Lucy who has a degree in Chemistry, has saved Manatees, has worked with the reproduction of dolphins, and runs the garden and naturalist center at Stono (so basically as super scientist) was beside herself.  I have explained Forest Schools to her and she was all on board, but did not fully (and could not) appreciate the magnitude of impact it has on these children.  She could not get enough, and I think some children adopted her as one of their own.  I honestly, enjoyed watching a non-education major fully grasp what Forest Schools can offer to children and what they can learn from “playing” in the woods. BTW- it is a lot!


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    Who I am

    I am an Associate Professor at the College of Charleston and a former public school teacher of 15 years and now the Department Chair of Teacher Education,  This blog began as a documentation for my sabbatical in 2018. It was a journey through Germany  Netherlands.

    Since then I have visited Forest Schools in England, Copenhagen, the USA and Scotland. I investigate how the arts are infused in their daily curriculum.

    A side bar- I feel like I am playing pokemon.. I got to get them all. Each location is so different, but they alll have the same concept. Learning through play and a deep appreciation for nature. And the arts are a serious part of each location as well.
    DANKE!!!!

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  • HOME
    • About me
  • Art Infused Class & Study Abroad
    • Art Infused Class
    • Study Abroad
  • Forest Schools
  • Research
    • STEAM Research
  • STEAM Camps
    • Camp Inspire
    • Camp ART ATTACK!!!