Come closer!
Happy New Year! We’re off to a beautiful, wet start around here.
Come closer!
We recently had some experiences that led me to believe we are doing the right things, according to others we interact with. It’s beauty of having a tiny school, a microschool, if you will, in which we care about our neighbors and environment. We have been fortunate enough to:
Be eating snack just off a trail, then have a coyote walk over and sit down about 50 feet from us. We watched each other for a time before it lay down, eventually getting comfortable enough to rest its head on the ground and close its eyes. It looked like it was enjoying some sunbathing!
Watch a hawk land just over our heads. It was scanning the ground, and we got to see it hunt and eat what looked like a large earthworm. What a surprise!
Have Cafee come over to us again, getting in some pets and head butts. I didn’t realize this was where the term “bullied” came from until this particular experience!
Have tree workers wave us in closer. We loved the sensorial overload and getting to watch for long enough that we really got to see how the crew and equipment worked together. And, the park will be safer for all this Winter as some drought-damaged trees got just enough trimming done to them. ¡Gracias!
Enrollment
Now enrolling!
-Remainder of the 2022 - 2023 school year,
-8 Week Peek! (Application deadline is 1/16.)
-2023 - 2024 school year,
-2023 summer camp.
For more information, please go to www.outside.school:
Inspiration and Resources
“Erosion”
I recently wrote up a “lesson plan” about erosion. With my style of teaching, “lesson plans” only get written up after the fact, and only if I feel like sharing them with the wide world. ;)
Squirrel!
I saw a Gray Squirrel recently in our neighborhood, after years of only seeing Fox Squirrels. I love these large, endemic beauties! Find out more in this article by C.A. Clark for Bay Nature, “Are Fox Squirrels Replacing Gray Squirrels in California?”
Street Trees!
Years ago, I attended a conference where the keynote speaker was Richard Louv. The bulk of the content however, was about our Bay Area urban forests, and the majority of attendees were municipal arborists. I learned a ton! Street trees often have short lives, but have a major impact on the health of the local community- whether that’s human or animal. I was so excited to learn of this new plan in San Francisco, using local residents and off-freeway space to create a nursery for an improvement in the local urban forest. Check out more information in this Landscape Architecture Magazine article by Lisa Owens Viani:
Childhood Illness Study
One of my social media friends is involved with this study, and I promised to share it in case anyone reading this may want to participate. To those with caring for children with chronic health conditions, my heart goes out to you!
Yum, stick bread!
Before Winter break we made some stick bread over the fire. Kids love making it and cooking it! I found out from a Swedish friend that it can be wrapped around a sausage. I’d like to try that next time for sure!
Suicide Prevention in Children
We all know by now that being outside is good for health. With the recent holidays, I was thinking about mental health, and learning more about how it impacts children. Did you know that even elementary age children think about and complete suicide? In fact, it’s the second leading cause of death in people ages 10 - 14. I took some very informative online classes to inform myself and be better prepared for if and when children in my care talk about or exhibit warning signs of suicide. I highly recommend these courses, which offer continuing education units for elementary, middle school, and high school teachers, and provide us as educators, as well as parents and counselors, with valuable resources and information that could save lives:
Childhood Independence
My dad sent this article, and I agree with it wholeheartedly! I saw this coming and have done something about it by creating Outside School. Check out “KQED: ‘Today’s 18-year-olds are like the 12-year-olds from a decade ago.’” by Let Grow Staff:
Please feel free to be in touch!
Take care,
Heather
Heather Taylor, EMT
Founder/Director/Teacher, Outside School (www.outside.school)
Founder, Teach Outside (www.teachoutside.org)
California Master Teacher
From the internets. I have been working on some papers about death and the outdoor teaching environment. Remember to be kind; if you are grieving, my heart is with you. 💞
Connect
Feel free to forward to anyone you like!