Written by Rachel Larimore, Chief Visionary of Samara Early Learning This piece of writing by Rachel landed in my inbox the other day (I'm a subscriber and you can be too) and I couldn't help but reply almost immediately saying, "Thank you for saying this!" and proceeded to ask if I could share it on my blog. Rachel kindly said yes, and so here it is. I've also added a few of my thoughts on the topic as an addition at the end. Okay, now over to Rachel... One afternoon last week I was looking out the kitchen window admiring the vibrant colors of the changing leaves as a cold October rain fell ..read more

Written by Jordan Manfredi, Founding Forest Mentor for Aishling Forest School “If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children." -Mahatma Gandhi We all know the headlines of fear and worry facing our children: bullies, school shootings, apathy, and disagreement. But our current responses—overprotecting our kids by keeping them in a nurturing bubble or overreacting by punishing them in advance with zero-tolerance policies and metal detectors—only worsen the problem. Our children are neither potential victim ..read more

Written by Landere Naisbitt, Outreach Coordinator for the Blue Hill Heritage Trust Forest Days is a program that Blue Hill Heritage Trust piloted at the public Surry Elementary School for the 2019-2020 school year. We are working with Kindergarten and First Grade for 1-2 hours every week all year long, building resilience in changing weather and relationships with each other and the natural world. Relationships are at the heart of this approach. The 3 agreements that we discuss and take seriously each session are: “take care of yourself, take care of each other, and take care of the forest ..read more

Personal post. Trigger warning: Pregnancy loss. There is so much we carry. We carry belongings from place to place, in bags on our shoulders or backs. We carry thoughts, minds often racing through our list of to-dos. We carry emotions, the hard ones and the beautiful. We carry memories, hard and beautiful too. We carry loved ones with us in spirit, whether still living or passed on. And some of us carry the next generation inside of our bodies, some too briefly in the womb. We use the word miscarry. But have you ever read the definition of “mis?” I have… it means “badly,” “wrongly” “lack of ..read more

I could see him shaking. His fists were clenched and his jaws clamped so tightly that the muscles were visible in the contour of his cheeks. He reminded me of a kettle over a fire when it's just about to boil over. The group was sitting in a circle and I happened to be the only staff member facing this boy named Mateo. Despite these signs being physically visible, he was almost silent and difficult to notice unless you had the full view like me. The group had returned from exploring in the forest and it seemed a younger (and very boisterous) child had not heeded the boy's request for space. I ..read more

Written by Romina Kramer, Assisting Mentor for Aishling Forest School “The more exposure your child has to sensory experiences throughout the day, the more integrated and organized the brain, senses and body become.”- Dr. Angela Hanscom As an occupational therapist in the public school system, I worked with a range of children with an array of abilities. Commonly, I served children with challenges in processing and integrating sensory information. These children faced academic, behavioral and social challenges that were often misunderstood for perceived lack of discipline, temperament, person ..read more

Written by Landere Naisbitt, Outreach Coordinator for the Blue Hill Heritage Trust What is a mud kitchen, you might ask? It might sound dirty (which it is); it might sound like silly nonsense (which it is not); it might sound like blissful fun (which it can be) and it might sound a note of magic as well – after all, many potions are created in this special place in the forest! Mud kitchens are play spaces, very simple ones, where a few pots, pans, and other unbreakable cooking ware are scattered under the trees, or stacked in a muddy corner. Some mud kitchens are fancier and built by adults f ..read more

Short on time? Listen to this blog post as a podcast. And subscribe to my podcast channel on ,Apple Podcasts, ,Google Podcasts, or ,Spotify. I was sitting in a wooden chair at a table in the school principal's office wondering how it all happened so fast to get me here. No, I wasn't in trouble if that's what you're thinking! I had been asked to join a meeting organized by a parent of two children who attended the school. It was all a bit of a blur how I'd become involved. I'd only just moved to the area (and the country!) six months prior and barely knew anyone. But because I had reached out t ..read more

I’m looking to grow my roots! And by roots I mean co-creators for Forest Schooled. By accident (or intuition?) I have built a platform with Forest Schooled that helps inspire, encourage, and enable others to bring their communities outdoors, and in closer relationship with the natural world. What a joy and a privilege. While Forest Schooled started as my hobby it has now become my business, and I’m on a mission to make business symbiotic with keeping the Land and communities at the heart of what I do. And while I’ve had lots of support from many people behind the scenes in getting my work “ou ..read more

I can still hear it despite being covered by a thick layer of ice and a deep blanket of snow. I just have to get a lot closer now because over the weeks of deep freeze it's become much quieter, a softer noise. A babble, some call it. Sometimes it sounds like voices and I look around to see who else may be out on the trail. But there's never any other human there, and I laugh because it tricked me. Other times, when I position myself just right, it sounds like a voice singing. Magical. And soothing. This sound of water running at the creek near my house can calm and improve my mood within minut ..read more