forest school

to say we are having a good time at home during school hours is an understatement..

for several months ago, Jane brought up an idea of starting a forest school with our boys... "an innovative educational approach to outdoor play and learning."  And because I was already planning on having the majority of this school year's curriculum from the boy scout merit badge requirements, I thought it would be awesome to combine the two ideas.  We invited a few of our neighboring homeschooling friends and before we knew it, my van was FULL of little boys (+Roma) and we were on our way to Red Rock Canyon.

We spent the first hour in a "classroom" setting, meaning we sat in a beautiful meadow without any classroom walls and talked about ecosystems, biomes, animal habitat and the food chain!  Each of the kids brought their own outdoor journal, and took some quiet time to write in it and enjoy the perfect outdoor weather.  I set a timer on my phone and told the boys not to talk while we listened to the sounds around us... and was amazed at how quiet they could be (aside from Simon who announced when he's quiet, his tummy gets sick.)  Jane took the little ones aside and sang songs and kept them occupied.. it was exactly the kind of classroom environment I want for my kids!  At the end of the hour, we hit the hiking trails and mountainous rocks!  These little boys were in heaven!

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(for some reason my pictures aren't uploading... coming soon.  My laptop is having issues....)

Can't wait for our future outdoor adventures in forest school!