Keewatin Public School (Kenora)
Keewatin Public School in Kenora is proud to be delivering quality outdoor and environmental education based on Forest and Nature School ideology and pedagogy. Forest School is an educational approach that started in Scandinavia and has been around for 50+ years. Children foster their curiosity and develop great ideas in an outdoor setting by learning and playing in nature. Four school staff are currently training as Forest School Practitioners. Students follow the Ontario curriculum and as often as possible the outdoor environment serves as the classroom. Opportunities are provided for children to explore, create and solve problems in the natural environment through regular and repeated access to the same natural space. Keewatin Public School is surrounded by mature wooded forest, the Mink Bay Trail system, Lake of the Woods and the Winnipeg River. Keewatin Public School is a perfect location for outdoor learning and Forest School experiences and we look forward to watching the program grow and expand to benefit more of our students.
Lillian Berg Public School (Vermilion Bay)
At Lillian Berg, the focus of the new Forest Classroom program is having K-2 students in the outdoor classroom from 40 to 90 minutes a day. The program provides students repeated experiences in a natural area, where they can play, explore, create, problem solve, and learn from the land. Sometimes students and teachers build a fire and have some camp snacks, other times participants play freely, while teachers observe and make connections to the curriculum.
Other activities students enjoy at forest school include building forts, learning to use tools, playing in the mud kitchen, hide and seek, balancing on fallen trees, oral storytelling, learning about the flora and fauna of the area, and reflecting and relaxing in a hammock. Educators are trained to observe what students are doing, ask probing questions, and make connections to the Ontario curriculum. The outdoor learning taking place, touches on learning goals in most curriculum areas, especially oral language, health and physical education, and science.
