Forest schooling offers children time and space for tender-hearted interactions and quiet observations of living beings. We believe all children can be guided and encouraged to notice the needs of other living things within a culture of care and compassion.
#forestschool
#kindnessforallcreatures
#learningoutside
#outdooreducation
#kickapoovalleyforestschool
#kvfs
#lafargewi
#lfsd
#driftless
FOREST SCHOOL
"...facilitates more than knowledge-gathering, it helps learners develop socially, emotionally, spiritually, physically and intellectually. It creates a safe, non-judgemental nurturing environment for learners to try stuff out and take risks. Forest School inspires a deep and meaningful connection to the world and an understanding of how a learner fits within it. Our approach to risk means that learners constantly expand on their abilities by solving real-world issues, building self-belief and resilience. We believe that risk is more than just potential for physical harm, but a more holistic thing, there are risks in everything we do, and we grow by overcoming them. Forest School therefore, helps participants to become, healthy, resilient, creative and independent learners."
-Forestschoolassociation.org/what-is-forest-school/
Autumn has been so kind to us! Leaves for jumping in, walnuts to crack open for food and for making dyes, music time outside while the grass is still green, and a thrilling visit for the 1st graders to learn about fire rescue and saftey from the La Farge fire department! Just to name a few!
#publicforestschool
#charterschool
#kvfs
#lafargewi
#alwayslearning
#optoutside
#learningoutdoors
#firerescue
#musicclass
KVFS chomped some yummy apples last week for the Great Apple Crunch! Which celebrates farm to school programs, healthy snacks and local farmers.
#greatapplecrunch
#farmtoschool
#forestschool
#localfarms
#kvfs
#kvr
#lafargewi
#kickapoovalley
#healthyschoolsnacks
How much can you see?
There earth is teaming with life and KVFS students love discovering! There are so many living being to come across while out on a hike and even indoors as beetles will slip in under doorsills and ride in upon shirt sleeves. Sometimes nature will land on your arm in the form of a large, furry looking moth called Hyles Lineata, also known as the white-lined sphinx moth or hummingbird moth because of its bird like size!
#natureschool
#fieldguides
#forestschool
#charterschool
#learningoutside
#forestkindergarten
#firstgradeintheforest
#lafargewi
#kickapoovalley
#kvfs
#kvr
"Learning, thought, creativity and intelligence are not processes of the brain alone, but of the whole body....Memory is not stored (solely) in the brain (but in) neural pathways that fire together as patterns throughout the entire body."
- Dr. Carla Hannaford, author of Smart Moves: Why Learning Is Not All In Your Head
#forestschool
#publicforestschool
#kvfs
#kvr
#lafarge
#learningoutdoors
Making friends in the forest.
From shrieks of joy and delight to tears and hurt feelings. It's all part of learning how to express care and concern for ourselves and others. Teachers at Forest School will use language like "I see that our friend is upset, let's check in with them." and "let's wait for all our friends to arrive and then we will start our hike". With support from their teachers students will learn that it's okay to experience a range of emotions. It's okay for friends to take space or alone time and that friends will return to play when they are ready.
#makingfriends
#socialemotionallearning
#forestfriends
#forestschool
#charterforestschool
#publicforestschool
#kvfs
#kvr
#lafargewi
Our intrepid 1st graders are out exploring! Discovering trails, critters, rock formations, new games and so much more!
#firstgradeintheforest
#kvfs
#outdoorlearning
#puclicforestschool
#charterschool
#optoutside
#lafargewi
#kickapoovalley
#kvr
Enjoying acorn pancakes around the fire with the beginning of the fall leaves dancing around us!
#schoolsnackprogram
#forestschool
#farmtoschool
#americorps
#wildedibles
#forestkindergarten
#forestfirstgrade
From ABC's to climbing trees Forest School is a great place to be :)
#kvfs
#forestschool
#lafargewi
#kickapoovalley
#driftlessregion
#learningoutdoors
#optoutside
#forestkindergarten
#firstgradeforestschool
Working hard or hardly working?
Purposefully unstructured free time in nature provides space for all sorts of creative play and play is a child's work.
You'll find them excavating decomposing logs, building detailed townscapes out of pieces of nature and asking lots of questions as they come across new bugs, plants and natural materials.
They are definitely hard at a work :)
Happy Friday and first day of Autumn!
#forestschool
#unstructuredplay
#kvfs
#lafargewi
We live in a changing world, and it is important to learn how to assess and face the unexpected. In Forest School we have plenty of opportunities to practice assessing situations for safety, planning next steps and taking healthy risks. All of this sets our students up for success in a changing environment. The Forest is such a great place to learn.
#learningallthetime
#learningoutdoors
#learninngindoors
#kvfs
#kvr
#forestschool
#forestkindergarten
#firstgradeintheforest
Children are designed to be messy and unpredictable, playful and imaginative, and to be very different from both their parents and from each other. The variability and flexibility of childhood lets them innovate, create and survive in an unpredictable world.
~A. Gopnik
#forestschool
#kvfs
#learningoutside
#emergentcurriculum
#optoutside
#lafargewi
#kvr
#excellentquotes
KVFS First Grade takes off for their inaugural scooter ride on Old Hwy 131. But not before learning important safety and trail etiquette! They came back sweaty, tired and beaming from ear to ear!
“Uncertain times require personal responsibility, independence of thought, self-initiative, self-assertion, flexibility, creativity, imagination, and willingness to take risks.”
—Peter Gray (2013)
#forestschool
#kvfs
#learningoutdoors
#scootertofreedom
#3wheelscooters
#1stgrade
#kvr
#lafargewi
" What we learn with pleasure we never forget." - Alfred Mercer
And what a delight it was for students to meet (and attentively study) a few baby snappers that had just hatched and where making their way down to the Kickapoo River!
#forestschool
#Kickapoovalleyforestschool
#learningoutside
#snapperbabies
It was a great first day of school!
Students circled up to meet their classmates and prepare for a day of scholastic and outdoor adventures.
Meanwhile parents chatted around the coffee cart and got to meet some their peers as well!
Looking forward to an excellent school year!
#kvfs
#forestschool
#learningoutside
#optoutside
#kickapoovalleyforestschool
#lafargewi
#lafargeschooldisctrict
#educatingoutdoors
#firstdayofschool
#kvr
#kickapoovalleyreserve
KVFS staff prepare for the school year by exploring play spaces and carefully noticing sensitive areas and species while considering our impact. KVFS is fully committed to engaging children in nature while moving with care on the landscape.
#backtoforestschool
#forestschoolteachers
#learningoutdoors
#outdooreducation
#movewithcare
#kvfs
#kickapoovalleyforestschool
#mushroomsgrowingeverywhere
#wisconsin
#lafargewi
#kickapoovalleyreserve
#kvr
The Governance Council and Leadership Team extend a HUGE thank you to The Quack Attack for choosing KVFS as a recipient of proceeds from the 2022 Duck Race!
Nearly $2500 was donated- pictured is Governance Council member Jen Oium accepting the donation (third from the left).
To the whole crew at The Quack Attack, and KVFS parents Damian and Ashley Dinger, especially- we are so grateful!
Pizza Night Fundraiser for KVFS at Sittin Pretty Farm!
- Online ordering time slots with limited walk in availability
- Bar offerings include on tap rotation featuring Driftless Brewery, kombucha, wines, hard ciders, sparkling waters, and sodas
- Outdoor banquet table seating or bring a picnic blanket
- Indoor seating for rainy weather
- Sunset walks along the ridgetop with views across local farm fields
- Come and take in the farm's curation of old farm machinery, trucks, lily pond, permaculture gardens, and rustic building designs at the woods edge
Thanks to the KVFS staff and families that participated in the La Farge 4th of July Parade earlier this week!
We were surprised by an unexpected thunderstorm, but as the forest schoolers we are, still had tons of fun!
We have a few spots left for 2022-2023 school year... message here, email us at kvfs@lafarge.k12.wi.us, or visit kickapoovalleyforestschool.org!
#LearningFromTheOutsideIn
