It may seem like a hipster movement for only the privileged and rich kids of pseudo hippy parents, but i have always genuinely loved the idea of forest school. I have considered the regard that traditional schools have for a child’s happiness, and as a difficult student i recall many times when i spent the lesson staring out of the window at the weeping willows and flowers and sunshine outside on the school playground. I personally think that if my parents were wealthy enough to send me to forest school, i would be a more well rounded, stable individual. Nature is vital for a child’s development, in order for them to understand the way the world works, the cycle of birth, life and death, and the impact that humans have on the earth. Self awareness and a ‘woke’ mentality would give many, if not all children, a profound sense of purpose and meaning. It would discourage them to litter, fill their bodies with unhealthy substances, and help them to identify nature as their playground. Too many schools rely on the shocking component of the ‘educational iPad’ and subject their students to an abominably scheme of screen time, when they should be out, getting muddy and being HUMAN.
Forest schools are like a wake up call for many, but unfortunately only those who can afford it. In my opinion, the government should invest in these forest schools across the country, so our children reconnect with nature and the real world.
I found a wordpress site for this company that runs various forest schools:
https://broadtree.co.uk/ – They don’t mention the price, but from the outset it looks wonderful. they claim that the attention span and emotional development of the students vastly improves across the duration of their programmes, which all in all, is more important than grades. At the very least, all children should be given a natural start in life. Before the grades become important, it is more worthwhile to build fundamental skills like integrity, social and emotional intelligence.
http://www.atoddlerinthetrees.com/q-a-how-much-does-forest-school-cost/ —
This blog is super interesting, written by a couple regarding their young daughter, whom they enrolled in a forest school in denmark.
“To be totally transparent, we pay about 1500 DKK per month to keep our daughter in forest school. When we first started, that was about $300 (or about $3600 per year since the school goes year round). Right now, with the benefit of some exchange rate fluctuations, the cost is about $230 per month (or around $2760 for the year, give or take). My understanding, based on what was explained to me, was that these fees are assessed based on your income, so if you make more, you pay more – if you make less, you pay less.”
So taking from this, it seems fairer than expected. Of course, the price is expensive, and out of the question for working class families, but at the very least, the forest school (at least the one they picked) is lenient to some degree on the admission fee when they take into account the parent’s income.
CS6025 LEARNING LOG 