Stickland

10:15. 

We are getting ready to catch the bus. I arrive in the foyer where the children have been gathering what they need for the day and getting dressed in their warm clothing. Teresa, the forest school trained practitioner has also been very busy gathering up all that is required for a happy day in the woods. Snacks, water, spare clothing and the like. As they are waiting for the bus they are singing a song

One two three

Kieran's ready, Kieran's ready

Bag and boots, bag and boots

Waterproof and wellies, waterproof and wellies

Thank you Keiran, thank you Keiran. 

Sung to the tune of Ferra Jacka. 

There is discussion about Stickland as well as singing the song for each of twelve children. Other children have joined in this gathering and are welcomed, although it's not their day to go to the woods. 

10:30 and we are on the bus. There are bags of supplies and a box of food. Children and educators are chatting away, noticing things in the city as we drive towards the woods. Some sit quietly watching out the window. I feel quite sleepy. The city gives way to wider roads and suburbs, with houses rather than tall buildings. 

We arrive at a green space. It's alive with trees, moss, birds and even deer. There is a community area where different groups have structures to support  their 'programs'. There's a tipi that the scouts use, a yurt used by the nursery school, some timber shacks and a fire pit. We stop in the yurt for snack.

11:00

It's time for an adventure. Teresa waits for the children to finish their snack, to be ready to join the group. Some children wander off nearby, others stand with Teresa. It's not until all have decided to join the gathering that they move off together. The first stop is the public toilet. Again children busily investigate the environs nearby while others use the toilet. There's no pressure or stress to be quick or no expectation that they line up or stand waiting. When everyone is ready we move to the next spot, decided by the children. All agree to head to the river. Here we negotiate steep paths, exposed roots, rocks and low branches. We go down a steep incline to the water below. Here we come to a bridge, a bit of timber that has been placed there. It only goes part way across and the children tentatively make their way, carefully placing feet on the wobbly timber, then onto rocks and logs to get across. It doesn't take long for someone to get enough confidence to place their feet in the water, then even less time for them to be splashing and wading. Such fun and some do get wet, but that is their decision and there are cloths to change them into later. If they choose to be cold and wet while on the adventure, so be it. 

The adventure continues. If children choose to stop, we all do. 

I watch Teresa respond to some conflict. One of the children hurt another with a stick. She was immediately there, speaking calmly, comforting the child that had been hurt, drawing the child that did the damage near, gathering all the children together to share in this. She pointed out how much it hurt, suggested what could help, listened to the child crying and was ready to listen to the other. The situation ended in a hug and I observed that child being  very kind to his peer for the rest of the day. 

This child was behind the group and I stayed with her. There was a big gap between us and the rest but we weren't hurried or pressured. She had a great interest in the flowers that grew on the forest floor.

Here are some images of the woodland play space. I played hide and seek in amongst the greenery and watched that little girl roll a flower into a squishy ball. Note the fine motor as her fingers work the gooey mass. Note the language as she says "this is going to be all gooey and mushy now". 

Me in my happy place again.

12:00

Lunch in and around the yurt

12:30 

I watched a small boy laying in a pile of dirt for about an hour. During this trip I've seen a lot of this: children getting as close to the earth as possible, as if they can become part of it. They lie down and soak it up. The earth embraces them. This child spent over an hour making a mound and poking a hole in it, very carefully, then looking through it. It was a work of engineering and a work of art. 

"The silence, only broken very occasionally by a lone bird call, spoke of peace & tranquility & as he lay on the sand, felt the earth reaching up to embrace him, to hold him as its own & to help him exist at that moment in harmony with it and all around him. It's rare to feel this comfortable & this connected" (something a friend wrote to me recently which I think fits well here).

1:30

Some children ran full pelt across the field to a play area. Others stayed near the yurt. 

2:00

Children were called together to reflect on the day, sing a few songs and get ready to board the bus

2:30 

Back on the bus. 

3:00

At the centre the children needed to change and put things up to dry. They then played in their rooms or outside. 

4:00

I met with Lynn at last, who is the head of the centre. We had a fantastic long discussion about her PHD research in transition to school. Lynn has followed the experiences and progress of children from Cowgate to the early years of school. We talked about children's and parents ideas and attitudes towards school. Lynn found that many expected certain things of school and a lot of it has to do with fitting in and conforming, which I thought was really interesting. When parents were asked if they would like their child to be seen as an individual or someone who fitted in, most said fitting in. Again, I could have spent hours discussing this but it was time for me to go and for her to get on with her busy day. 

I came back to the apartment feeling sad and a little lost now that my study tour was finally at an end, and increasingly daunted by the mountain of clothing spilling out of my bag, spreading and cascading like an Edinburgh mist, the result of my not being able to find my camera charger a few days ago. 

So now I have the trip home to face and the job of putting all this into some sort of sense to talk to my colleagues about on Monday at our preschool conference. Who's idea was that? Oh yes, that would have been me. 

Thank you for joining me on this journey. I have really loved having you all along, knowing that there are people from all over the world interested in this concept and my discoveries. My email is posted on the blog in my profile so please feel free to contact me if you'd like to. 

I may have a few things to share as I make my way home, but if I don't, see ya!

A day of forest school training

http://www.mindstretchers.co.uk/Mindstretchers%20story.cfm

Forest school training

I am on my bed smelling of smoke and defrosting my toes and fingers as I write this. I'll have to be quick because I'm going to meet some of my new friends for a meal at their hotel in about half an hour. One of the things I haven't liked much about this trip is spending evenings alone. I get a bit lonely, even though I quite like my own company it's not nearly as good as spending time with people you enjoy being around. So I was thrilled to be able to join Katrina and Sarah, two practitioners (as they call educators here) who are in Crieff for forest training. 

I met seven early childhood practitioners today and we packed quite a lot into our time together. We learnt about the history of forest schools, developed environmental impact matrix's and then spent the afternoon preparing all the ingredients, utensils and tools for a big camp fire cook up. We had to consider all the items we would need at the fire house to accomplish the meal. We worked cooperatively and collaboratively to achieve this and once everything was organised and prepared we made our way to the fire house. 

We started with the soup cooked in a cast iron pan, baked bread inside orange skins and wrapped around bamboo poles. We also had steamed fish (not me of course, I don't eat things that had faces), vegetable kebabs, potato chips and roasted marshmallows pressed between two chocolate oat biscuits. I'd like to say it was all delicious but everything had a rather smokey flavour and charcoal texture. What was delicious was the process, the collaboration, cooperation and camaraderie that can only occur around a camp fire. It brings people close together, drawn by the warmth and the the necessity to work together for the benefit of everyone. The circle that is created around a fire is symbolic of the human need to belong. 

We learnt how to set a fire, how to keep it blazing and how to whittle sticks for the kebabs and marshmallows. We had to consider what to cook first, what needed flames and what needed coals, and to work out the most effective methods of placement on the fire. These are forestry skills that children learn when they are a part of the nature forest programs that are dotted around the country. 

We also got to carve a ball inside a cube with a raw potato and a knife. It was amazing and put me in that zone where the task takes so much concentration that the time just melts and you only realise you have a sore back and stiff wrists and fingers from the effort when you're about done.

Then came the cleaning up and that also took considerable cooperation and time management. It was freezing by the time we left. 

The other highlight of this day was an evening with two lovely ladies who are here for the training. Over a nice meal and a bottle of wine we shared our professional journeys. It was interesting to hear that Katrina and Sally have many of the similar worries that we have. How to provide the fifteen hours a week, how to manage with limited funding, how to get a lunch break, how to fit in all the demands of the regulators and how to document effectively as well as efficiently. How to fit it into the work day and not take loads home. How to convince co workers and parents that outdoor play in the woods or park is of such tremendous value that it's worth the effort, the hard work and problem solving over the many constraints. We were amazed at how much we had in common, across the other side of the globe. 

I'll leave you here with this. It's taken about three goes to get this written so I'll post it and hopefully not be too late for the last day of forest training. 

Post if you can. Tell me your one biggest worry in your early childhood centre. I won't attempt to find a solution but I'm interested. 

Talk tomorrow

Ruth