MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Winter 2021

29 O n the grounds of Free Spirit Forest and Nature School, children duck and run in a squealing game of fox hunt with co-founder Matt Simpson before he slips away to feed the campfire. A gentle bear of a man with kind, playful eyes, he cups his hands to his thick black beard and calls, “Cawww! Cawww!” At the sound of the crow, eight kids tumble together for morning circle. Bundled in layers and flushed from their post-drop-off play, each child in turn shares a thought of gratitude as the group calms and quiets. Matt sings the first notes of a woodsy tune and a few voices join, listening for familiar words. Heading into the woods, children fan out across the field in a haphazard procession. Three girls hoist to their shoulders a comically large birch limb, sharing the cumbersome load. A younger boy, not yet tall enough to help with the carry, scoops up cast-aside backpacks, relishing this porter role he created for himself. It’s maple syrup season, and children check taps dotted through the forest. Working together to schlep the heavier buckets, they pour sap into the steaming boiler. Kids use flint and steel to start the campfire that will warm them all day, and Matt chats about the sugar streaming in the maple trees, flowing from leaves to roots and back again throughout the year. There’s a hush while he reads a poetic book passage, describing finished maple syrup as “summer sunshine, flowing in golden streams to pool on our plates.” Someone spots a bird high in a tree, and they make note of its size, shape and colour. It’s clearly a nuthatch, but Matt keeps its name under wraps for now. After snack, the children will consult guide books to identify the bird on their own. What may appear to be a bunch of kids playing in the woods is in fact an intentional process of nurturing and educating children through play. It’s not yet 10 a.m., and these already-filthy kids have practiced three of the school’s core tenets: connection with self, connection with others, connection with nature. Beginning in Scandinavia in the 1950s then eventually spreading to the U.K., the popularity of outdoor schools has risen and recently grown across Canada. Models differ for various programs, but at its core the movement is about children learning through first-hand experience, outside, with an emergent curriculum (sometimes referred to as child-led learning). Free Spirit’s non-profit private school is certified through Forest School Canada, whose professional learning programs focus on a child’s “relationship to a place, through regular and repeated access to it, in the way that is most fitting to them: through play.” Founded by Matt and his wife Kim in 2016, Free Spirit’s school is well-established in the south Georgian Bay area with locations for ages 4-14 now at Wasaga Beach, Meaford and Highlands Nordic. But families interested in the concept certainly have no shortage of options, with at least seven outdoor schools dotted along the escarpment. As the first outdoor school in the area, Red-tailed Hawk Forest School’s founder Shannon Foley has seen her program evolve over the years. A board- certified teacher searching for a different path, Shannon discovered and completed the Forest School Canada Practitioners Course before pioneering her own school in 2015. Their nature-based board-certified education program follows the provincial curriculum with its now full-time JK–Grade 2 students, who spend the majority of their time in the woods. Shannon and her team are passionate about connecting to nature through exploration, play and music, with lessons led by local musician Joanna Horning. Joanna and Red-tailed Hawk created the CD Little Tracks: Songs From the Forest , with melodies and lyrics co-written by students. The CD project is part of Joanna’s hope that “We can create change and help heal our planet through music, and children falling in love with nature.” Opening just this past fall, Blue Mountain Wild School is the newest outdoor program established along the escarpment. Founder Jeff Barrett brings his extensive experience in outdoor education and adventure guiding to this leadership-focused private school for children from JK to Grade 6. Eschewing the label “forest school” and its focus on play, Wild School instead begins with the Ontario curriculum, moving it outdoors and bringing it to life, while remaining true to the student-led, experiential concept of other outdoor schools. Their living curriculum is fluid, integrating multiple subjects into a single project: When older students discover a steep hill that’s perfect for face-first penguin-sliding, the group discusses snow science, material selection, trajectory and speed, touching on historical sleds and their uses, then draws up plans for further exploration and sled-construction at next week’s class. Outdoor schools bring learning into the elements Nature as Teacher words & photography :: Kristin Schnelten There’s a hush while he reads a poetic book passage, describing finished maple syrup as “summer sunshine, flowing in golden streams to pool on our plates.”