Welcome to Forest School at Mosaic Montessori!

What Is Forest School?

Elementary Forest School is an immersive, outdoor learning model where the local ecosystem becomes our classroom. Rather than following a rigid outdoor lecture, our days flow through a natural arc driven by the passions of the student and their desire to learn. Drawing from years of leading nature connection programs, my role is not to simply hand down answers, but to act as a mentor—asking guiding questions, fostering curiosity, and supporting students as they navigate real-world risk, seasonal changes, and collaborative problem-solving in the woods.

A typical Forest School day may look something like this:

We start off our morning with a themed game to orient ourselves to our day and our bodies, such as running a race in the forms of animals like bears, raccoons, and quail on an animal tracking day. Next, we will have a morning circle to bring inspiration and unity to our group, before settling into focused exploration of our environment and hands-on crafting, such as shelter building or making wild berry jam. We will conclude each day with reflective storytelling and community sharing with lessons learned from our adventures and inspiration for future ones.

My instructional approach in the outdoor classroom aligns closely with the core philosophy of Montessori education.

Just as your children already practice independence, self-directed focus, and respect for their indoor environment at Mosaic, Forest School Fridays translate those exact principles into the natural world. Out in the woods, nature provides its own lessons and mysteries to pique your child’s curiosity, from crossing fallen logs that invite teamwork, balance, and spatial awareness, to investigating brightly-colored leaves that lead to questions about why some trees lose their leaves when others do not. By honoring each child’s innate drive to explore at their own pace, as well as drawing upon the knowledge they already have individually and collectively as a class, forest school deepens students’ sense of self-reliance, builds resilience through physical challenge, stokes their passion for self-driven learning, and cultivates a profound, lifelong relationship with the living world around them.

How can I prepare my child?

Because Forest school is held almost exclusively outdoors, please send your child in warm, waterproof layers.

Warm: Non-cotton clothing, such as wool or synthetics, are the best choices for our cool, damp PNW forests. Cotton, unfortunately, holds onto moisture and cannot insulate when damp.

Waterproof: even on non-rainy days, the plants hold onto dew and become a “forest car wash” that can get you soaked from walking through bushes. Please check that outer layers such as rain coat (with hood!), rain pants, or rain suit/bib are waterproof, as water resistant clothing is not sufficient to keep out PNW rain. Waterproof rain boots/hiking boots that cover the ankle tend to work better than waterproof shoes that get flooded after the first puddle.

Layers: Layering systems tend to work the best outdoors where the weather rarely stays the same all-day: 1) Baselayers of wool or synthetic (non-cotton) closest to the skin help keep us warm even if we get damp. 2) The middle layer, such as a removable fleece long sleeve and sturdy hiking pants (no jeans, please!) are the standard outfit, and fleece can be removed if we get warm moving about. 3) Outer waterproof layer of either A) raincoat and rain pants or B) rain suit/bib. This layer can be removed, but should be stored in the backpack just in case. As the weather gets cooler, additions of beanies, wool or synthetic gloves, and hand warmers are incredibly useful.

Sensory needs vs. outdoor gear:

The struggle is real. If your child needs a different clothing setup based on their sensory needs and you’d like some tips and ideas, I’ve been in the business of teaching neurodivergent children and adults outdoors for 6 years and have a few tricks I’d be happy to share! Playing outside should be fun and inviting, not scratchy, constricting, or overwhelming.

Extra clothes: please pack a whole outfit of extra clothes (socks, underwear, shirt, pants) in your child’s backpack sealed inside of a ziplock gallon bag, just in case. Extra snacks: Many students find that they need more food on Forest school days to refuel from the energy exerted in outdoor play and regulating their body temperature in all seasons. Please pack extra snacks at least for the first couple of forest school days until your child gets a sense of whether or not they need the additional calories.

Thank you in advance! Thanks for reading, I’m looking forward to meeting you and your children and exploring the nature of Camp Don Bosco on Friday!

Chirp,

Brooke Kale Mosaic Montessori Forest School Teacher