Students at a new school in the small Alberta mountain town of Canmore have a novel way of learning the alphabet. Rather than simply write a letter repeatedly, or sound it out, they might draw it on each other – and then go outside.
“They’ll … walk around and look for those patterns in nature,” said Ronna Schneberger, president of the Alpenglow Community School, an eco-focused “Forest School” founded on the belief that children are better served learning about the world around them by playing in it, rather than sit at desks and swallow numbers and letters before they’re ready.
There’s no reason you can’t learn math outside
A teacher might explain addition and subtraction using rhythm sticks, stories, pebbles, or pie, Ms. Schneberger says. They will spend several hours a day outside — even in the dead of winter, even when the weather is poor.
“There’s no reason you can’t learn math outside. Or reading and, obviously, science classes,” she said. “When we teach math, we teach it through movement as well, so that’s the goal.”
After its first successful cohort of Kindergarten students last year, Ms. Schneberger said Alpenglow — named for the time when the sun is setting on the mountains — has expanded rapidly; it now teaches the Alberta curriculum to 61 students between first and fourth grades in four classes.
Forest Schools Canada predicts that there are about 24 such outdoor-focused classes, some on their own, some in groups at dedicated schools, around the country. The number is likely to double within the next year, according to the advocacy group, which is trying to tally the trend.
Forest Schools have been set up everywhere from rural Ontario and B.C., to downtown Toronto’s Equinox Holistic Alternative School. This type of teaching has been popular in countries such as Germany, Finland and the Netherlands for decades. It’s only starting to gain traction here.
Of course, the philosophy is not without its critics.
Grover Whitehurst, director of the Brown Center on Education Policy and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said Forest Schools probably do no harm, considering the type of kids who are sent to them.
“It’s a legitimate parental choice, but there would not be evidence to suggest there’s a unique benefit,” he said, noting the sort of children who wind up in alternative education environments tend to come from higher socio-economic households.
“These kids are surrounded by rich verbal interactions at home. I bet almost everyone can already name the letters of the alphabet and is reading already by the time they show up in the forest.”
At Alpenglow, they use hand-me-down desks and blackboards. The school has also abandoned advanced toys, even Lego: Ms. Schneberger said the playthings on offer are made of wood, yarn and beeswax.
“The trend in early childhood movements is getting rid of the plastic stuff and replacing it with natural objects and simplicity,” she said. “There’s a sense of warmth in the classroom. It’s not overly stimulating. It’s a calming, home-like environment.”
It’s a philosophy gleaned from the century-old Waldorf system. Waldorf is a quasi-spiritual approach to education that tries to connect students to nature and the changing seasons. Based on the childhood development theories published by Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, it’s one of the most popular forms of alternative education.
It delays reading instruction until the first grade, believing children should take some time to learn about the world through playing. Academics shouldn’t be pushed; they’re there when the child is ready. The system also focuses on art, drama, poetry and dance.
Advocates point to studies showing that children who learn to read and write earlier don’t do any better in the long run than those who spend time in Waldorf-style systems.
Marlene Power, the executive director of Forest Schools Canada, said research shows that kids who start in free-form nature-based Kindergartens wind up faring better than those in traditional classrooms.
“There’s nothing in particular to recommend a forest pre-school,” Mr. Whitehurst responds. “What children need is plenty of interaction with adults and each other, to explore, to develop some sense of their efficacy and this can happen as well indoors as it can outdoors.”
Ms. Schneberger, though, said this kind of education should be particularly beneficial for young boys, who often feel cooped up indoors.
Alpenglow offers an after-hours forest play program that gets students outside learning bush craft skills. They are taught how to use a knife and carve, how to use bows and arrows and throwing sticks.
“We’re really trying to meet boys’ needs and raise them up,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of parents with these types of boys saying this is the answer to my prayers. My little guy, he’s got to move. He needs a good alternative because boys need to move, they need to test themselves.”
Kids at Alpenglow spend at least one 45-minute block per day learning outdoors. Often, they’ll stay in nature for several hours. Ms. Schneberger acknowledged there would be a transition period for students after Grade 4 as they moved to a more conventional school system. However, she hopes that by the time most of the kids get there, outdoor education will have caught on and more students will be spending time in nature.
In the meantime, the students require good winter clothes — and a certain level-headedness about the practicalities of life.
“When we have to go pee, we do wild pees,” Ms. Schneberger laughs. “If you’re a squeamish family, this program doesn’t work for you. We’re not going to haul all of the kids back into the building to go pee.”