Key Peninsula Preschool
Forest Friends
Forest Friends of the KP is an all day nature school designed for children in the community to help them thrive, grow and play in the beautiful woods on the Key Peninsula.
Benefits to Nature School
Through positive outdoor experiences, children are encouraged and inspired to participate in engaging, motivating, and achievable tasks in a woodland environment, where each child has an opportunity to develop intrinsic motivation, and keen emotional and social skills.
At forest preschool the children visit the same woodland on a regular basis and are given the freedom to play, opportunity to explore and learn about the natural environment, and support while learning how to handle risks, solve problems, and cooperate with their peers. Preschool runs all year, where children learn and play in the woods in all weathers: sun, rain, snow, warm and cold, (barring high winds or other extreme weather). As the forest is ever changing, each day brings new and different exploration opportunities. Children play, learn boundaries – both physical and social - grow in confidence, and become self-starters. Children in this environment learn that there are different ways of solving problems and they develop their critical thinking skills daily.
Children will become:
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more self-aware
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able to self-regulate
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intrinsically motivated
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empathetic
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learn how to interact with adults and their peers
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assert their independence
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have a positive mental attitude, and self-esteem
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given the opportunity to grow in confidence every day
Children, and indeed all of us, need time to thoroughly explore our thoughts, feelings and relationships. Children develop a deep understanding of their world, the environment, and everything within it. Through imagination and exploration, their world opens up to endless possibilities.
Is my Child safe at Forest Friends?
It is a powerfully beautiful sight to step into the forest and see children playing.
There are children who have dug holes and sit in them covered in mud. There are children stretched out on the ground staring into the sky and majestic trees. There are children sitting still in a tree or running by as fast as their feet will carry them. There are children climbing on stumps, dirt piles, or onto the low branches of the trees. All of this activity raises an incredibly important question. Is my child safe at Forest Friends? The climbing, running, and zooming risks they seem to be taking are merely pseudo risks that will foster a greater respect for their own abilities and limitations. Children may begin their tenure here not being able to do the things mentioned above, but peer apprenticeship and adult encouragement quickly bolsters confidences and bodies are set in motion. Children do not generally take risks beyond which they feel comfortable, nor do they like to experience pain or fear. The teachers are watching the kids extremely carefully but not obviously. The student/teacher ratio is such that we are never more than a few feet away from an intrepid climber or a few inches away from a busy shelter builder.
And if danger looms, there is always our one rule: Do not hurt yourself or anyone else.
Additional safety protocols:
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Low adult to child ratio of 1:5.
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Children wear matching brightly colored rain suits in the cooler months and matching yellow or orange vests in the warmer months.
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Children must stay in sight and sound of their teachers at all times.
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Teachers constantly count making sure all children are in view.
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Children are given clear physical boundaries.
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We limit outsider adult to child interactions, when encountering the public, teachers talk to adults first.
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Children are not allowed to go to the bathroom without an adult.
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We only allow children to be picked up by designated friend and family members.
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We use pickup and drop off locations that are safe, have ample parking and low traffic risk.
*All teachers are CPR and First Aid certified, and we have a clearly written risk management plan that is reviewed and improved regularly. There is bear spray at each location to be used in the unlikely event of an animal encounter, and teachers are trained in what to do if there is a dangerous intruder. In many cases the perceived risk of being outdoors is higher than the actual risk.