In July 2022 Michelle Lozowski shared her intention to bring ‘Forest Fridays’ to West Chester Friends School as part of her Kindergarten curriculum. (The original article is shared below) I had the pleasure of following up with Michelle and receiving updates on the program.
“Forest School is going very well. During the month of September we spent our time at Hibernia park. Each week we hiked, did yoga, explored in the Brandywine Creek using nets and bug catchers, talked about how turkey vultures clean up the earth for us, listened to stories, talked with a fisherman and heard about his fishing adventure and the best time for all of the children was fishing at the children's pond.
When I asked my class to share what they think of Forest School here were their comments:
We had fun walking in the forest.
These trips are fun!
I loved fishing! (repeated 17 times)
The bus ride is fun because we talk to our friends and share books.
We find sticks to build and play with.
We get to eat our lunch in the forest.
We get to discover things!
I collect a lot of rocks.
The parents have shared that their children are sharing what they are learning about nature, and how important it is to be good to the earth. Some also shared that they are seeing less fear of bugs and insects, and their children are bringing home books from our school library about nature.
The school has purchased new boots, rain gear and waterproof mittens for each student.
Because you published information about our Forest School, a resident from the Hickman, Jessica Raymond, contacted me and asked if she would be able to volunteer each Friday. So Jessica has been Teacher Jessica on Fridays and the children have shared how much they enjoy spending time with her.
We are still looking to secure funding with this project.
October and November we will be hiking the trails of ChesLen Preserve.”
Naturally my follow up to this was “How can Friends donate towards this project as funding is being secured?”
To which I received: “Currently, people can write a check to West Chester Friends School in any amount they wish to donate. In the Memo section of the check, they can note that the gift is for Forest Fridays.
Checks can be mailed to:
West Chester Friends School
c/o Development Office
415 N. High Street
West Chester, PA 19380
Individuals can also donate online through our secure website and donation page https://wcfriends.org/give/ Once on the donation page, they can designate the gift to our Annual Fund or select "Other" and note that it is for Forest Fridays. If you have any questions email: Kim Walters <kwalters@wcfriends.org>
The Original Article:
Kindergarten’s Forest School at West Chester Friends School
(published July 2022)
Michelle Lozowski has taught at WCFS for 22 years, the last 16 in kindergarten. She is a member of West Chester Monthly Meeting. Michelle’s experience and observations lead her to feel that increasingly, children are not outside playing in nature, discovering things that interest and delight them. She incorporates field trips to natural areas, particularly forested areas, in her regular curriculum. This fall, Michelle hopes to expand and enrich this practice, by taking her students to “Forest School” once a week, exploring a variety of natural areas such as ChesLen, Stroud, Marsh Creek, Valley Forge, and Shaw's Bridge Park.
Michelle will incorporate Quaker testimonies as part of the forest day experience, focusing on:
-The simplicity of the forest, as animals and plants work and live together.
-The integrity we use as we honor the environment and leave the forest as we discover it each week.
-The peace we find as we experience walks, play and quiet writing and art time and reflection, as we visit the forest each week.
Author Richard Louv created the term, Nature Deficit Disorder, in his seventh book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from NatureDeficit Disorder. He describes the documented dwindling of outdoor time for students, a phenomenon that has prompted many physicians to prescribe outdoor time as a vital aspect of a healthy childhood. Even simple, joyful activities such as listening to the birds’ chatter can prepare young children to recognize basic word sounds. Many educators note that natural materials, as well as variable weather conditions and the conditions they create…mud, for instance, provide a setting for both independent learning and collaborative activities.
Teaching outdoors is not new to West Chester Friends School. Due to the pandemic in FY21 we taught all “specials” classes, such as Spanish, Library, Science, and Art, entirely outdoors. Students dressed appropriately, arriving at school in snowsuits on some days. Several teachers continue to teach outdoors in FY22. T. Michelle spends a good deal of her class time outdoors and enjoys “listening to them read to the chickens, seeing the children having the feeling of success when they hear the chicks talk back to them, in our “chicken forest” here at school.”
T. Michelle says “My inspiration comes from my kindergarten students. Taking a group of kindergarteners into the forest opens the door to discovery, learning and questioning what they see, hear, touch and taste in nature. The wild, lush, beautiful surroundings open all their senses and imagination to so much.” She loves to observe and listen to the children as they exclaim “look at what I found,” “It has so many legs!" “I touched a toad for the first time today!" 'Let's build a bridge to walk over the creek together then it won’t take so long!"
Student's shared `` Thank you T. Michelle for having us spend the day of fun outside!"
About Teacher Michelle Michelle Lozowski has been an advocate for outdoor education for many years. She developed an outdoor classroom at WCFS, used extensively by the kindergarten and pre-kindergarten classes, and as a natural setting for early childhood study. She developed a small chicken yard with two resident laying hens. In 2017, Michelle organized and led at WCFS a peer gathering for the Friends Council on Education during which early childhood educators presented ways to integrate nature in their curriculums. The Brandywine Red Clay Alliance awarded Michelle the Watershed Teacher of the Year Award in 2018.
Cowritten by: Pam Sapko, Michelle Lozowski and Karen Iacobucci – WC Friends School
To download and read the Full Newsletter when the original article was published: July 2022