What is Forest and Nature School?
Forest and Nature School (FNS) is an educational ethos and practice that puts nature and the child at play at the centre of learning. Children and educators build a relationship with the land through regular and repeated access to the same natural space over an extended period of time. Learning is supported through a pedagogical framework that is rooted in place and play, directed and inspired by the child, and driven by a process of inquiry.
The history of Forest and Nature School (FNS) is an educational approach that has existed worldwide since the late 1950s. FNS goes by many different names (i.e. Nature Kindergarten, Outdoor School, Waldkindergarten, etc.) and can take many different forms. The activities that happen in FNS also vary depending on the season, climate, landscape, animals that have visited the night before, trees that have blown down in the wind, the kinds of provocations elicited by the educator, various tools and loose parts for building and creating, the children who are in attendance, how long the group has been formed, and, most importantly, what interests the child.
FNS is frequently described as a ‘magical’ thing to witness, as it’s often a microcosm of collaboration, communication, trust building, and a working model of consensus building. Despite all of this variation, all FNS programs are informed by these three pillars: Trust, Reciprocal Relationships and Freedom.
Visit: www.childnature.ca for more information about Forest School Canada and the Child and Nature Alliance of Canada. You can download the Forest School Canada handbook as a PDF.
About Wildhearts Forest & Nature School
We are a new Forest and Nature School program located in Prince Edward County, Ontario. We believe in educating children holistically through nature-based and child-led emergent learning. Our programming centres creativity, curiosity, respect, community and relationships (to land, one’s self and others). Our model of pedagogy is committed to imparting a socially, culturally and environmentally conscious curriculum.
In the interest of decolonizing education, Indigenous land-based pedagogies and ways of knowing and learning guide our programming. We hope to inspire and encourage a generation of land stewards, activists, artists and thinkers.
Our vision is for all children to be able to play and learn in a safe and inclusive environment. A space where they can be free to explore without walls and learn at their own pace through supportive relationships and play.
A typical day
The holistic well-being of each child is at the foundation of Wildhearts. We provide guidance and facilitation to children based on their unique social, emotional and physical needs. We believe that children are inherently curious about the world, and we nurture this curiosity by guiding them in their own experiential learning that can only be had in nature.
A typical day will see us engaging in emergent play-based learning, nature and inquiry exploration, storytelling, crafting and creative exploration, learning indigenous ways of knowing and being, mindfulness, tool use and lots of age-appropriate opportunities for risk-taking and confidence-building. We have guest community artists and mentors regularly visiting our program to create a deeply personalized experience for the children that further sparks creativity and curiosity in our participants.
Benefits of Forest School
Learning at Forest School promotes:
- Open ended, child led play
- Risky play with the safety and scaffolding support of an educator
- Learning about nature, animals, and the natural world around them
- Supporting creativity and imagination
- Supporting the development of a regulated nervous system. Being in nature with supportive and caring educators supports coregulation and emotional regulation skills.
- Develop executive functioning skill such as problem solving and confidence development
- Improved confidence, social skills, independence, communication and concentration Improved physical development including balance, coordination and stamina
- Mentors and builds community. A forest school program builds strong adult-child connections. Through consensus, group-building and cooperative learning experiences, we strive to build a sense of community and cohesion within the group.
- Educates the whole child. Their heads, hearts, hands. Mind, body, spirit
- Promotes the development of resiliency and resourcefulness
Our Team
Julie Fowler (she/her)
Founder & Lead Educator
About Julie
Julie Fowler (she/her)is the founder and lead teacher at Wildhearts: A Prince Edward County Forest School. Julie brings over 15 years of experience supporting children in traditional and alternative education settings. Julie is a Registered Early Childhood Educator, Resource Teacher and certified Forest and Nature School Practitioner.
Julie and her family currently live on Big Island and are thankful for the shores of the Bay of Quinte that they are surrounded by. Her family has a strong love for camping, canoeing, making and listening to music, community arts, hiking and strengthening the relationship with the animals, plants and birds they share a home with.
Julie hopes that through Wildhearts, children will feel a sense of connection and belonging. This is what she wants for her daughter and everyone in her community. Connection not only to land but to each other and ourselves. Julie looks forward to sharing her enthusiasm, curiosity and love for learning with the children and their families.
Julie’s Qualifications
Originally from Hamilton, Ontario, Julie moved to Toronto to complete her Early Childhood Education certification through George Brown College and MET University. She worked at George Brown College in the Early Childhood lab schools as an Educator supporting Preschool, Kindergarten and School-aged children for many years. She also worked in a pedagogical mentorship role supporting College students who were completing their practicum. She later became the program manager at Fashion District Ryerson labschool for Kindergarten and School Aged children.
Julie went on to co-facilitate an alternative holistic nature and arts-based Kindergarten program called Bellwoods Playschool. The pedagogical framework supported social, cultural and environmentally conscious curriculum with a focus on themes of social justice, art, music, land stewardship, and cultural understanding.
Passionate about inclusion and supporting children with diverse learning abilities, Julie continued her studies and completed her Resource Consultant/Teacher certification. She worked in a mentorship role, supporting educators with resources and strategies that were inclusive. Passionate about inclusion, supporting regulation and children with diverse learning abilities, Julie continued her studies and completed her Resource Consultant/Teacher certification.
The reason behind Wildhearts
Julie and her partner found themselves in Prince Edward County by way of Toronto in 2016. Julie continued to work in the field of Early Childhood Education, supporting in Kindergarten settings and as a Resource Consultant offering mentorship, resources and strategies to build inclusive early learning environments.
During the pandemic, Julie and a few families in her community came together to co-create a cooperative style learning pod for their children. Co-creating this learning pod re-ignited Julie’s love for alternative education models that place community and nature at the center. Being laid off from her full-time employment, Julie used this opportunity to bring together her love for the natural world and alternative ways of learning and completed her Forest and Nature School Practitioner training through the Child and Nature Alliance of Canada. In 2022, Julie created Wildhearts: A Prince Edward County Forest and Nature School. It is her dream to create a space that educates holistically, through nature, community and art. A space that inspires creativity, resiliency, resourcefulness, connection and play. Thank you for being here!
