Forest Mondays! - Trek Light Gear

Forest Mondays!

This just might be the best article we've read in a long time. Please take a second to read and share this and if you know anyone who teaches, pass this along and maybe this little seed of inspiration will grow into a #ForestMonday revolution.

Did you have outdoor experiences or classes that shaped your life as a kid? Let's hear about it!

Out Of The Classroom And Into The Woods

In this Vermont kindergarten, every Monday is "Forest Monday" a day that gets students out of the classroom and into nature.


Every Monday morning, the kids suit up for a day outdoors. Rain or shine — even in the bitter cold — they go out. They head to the woods next to their school where they've built a home site with forts and a fire pit. First thing, the kids go to their "sit spots."

These are designated places — under a tree, on a log — where each kid sits quietly, alone, for 10 minutes. Their task is to notice what's changed in nature since last week.

There are very few rules in the woods. Take care of yourself, take care of others, don't wander too far away; that's pretty much it. The goal is to let kids experience independence and help them learn the self-regulation skills that are so important to becoming a successful adult.

"Kids are so resourceful out here," says Minnucci. "In the classroom, we chunk everything into small pieces. We teach them discrete skills and facts and they put it together later. That's a good way to learn, but it's not the way the world works," she says.

"I like giving them the opportunity to be in a really complex place where they need to think about how to build a dam with a peer and at the same time, think about staying dry and staying warm."

Read the full article: http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/05/26/407762253/out-of-the-classroom-and-into-the-woods

Forest Mondays! Philby Illustration/Corbis

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