Special Courses
More Than Just Fun!
At Pictou County Forest School, we believe in experiential education.
Winter/ Spring 2022 programming at Pictou County Forest School will consist of three 5-week sessions. Children will attend one day per week during each session. Our education team includes two experienced and highly regarded classroom teachers, a Montessori trained educator and an experienced outdoor guide.
PCFS operates during school hours – won’t my child fall behind?
This is the most common question from parents. Children will inevitably miss some classroom content by taking a day away. However, research and experience from other outdoor schools indicates that a child’s participation in a weekly nature immersion program supports success in their other weekly endeavours. This can mean higher grades, more positive social interactions, increased participation in family and household activities and chores, and a generally increased sense of autonomy and well-being.
Our programs are designed to complement conventional classroom learning and homeschooling/ unschooling choices. Our goal at PCFS is to work with schools and classroom teachers to help students reach their full potential.
Summer Learning Academy
Summer Learning Academy
Date: Thursday, July 14th
Time: 9am – 5pm
A day in the life of a Forest School:
The purpose of this day is to help teachers build a toolbox to feel confident and excited taking students of all ages outside. When students are brought outside they learn more and learn in ways that are not always possible inside the walls of the classroom. This day will have 4 to 5 stations where teachers will experience the life of a forest school student. It will be hands-on and experiential. After an introduction to forest school and each other, we will begin a series of stations.
Station 1 will be our tracking station.
Tracking is all about being a great detective and looking at the who, what, when, where and how of animal signs. We will look at a variety of animal prints and other animal signs and look at the different ways animals walk. We will go and find animal prints and make a plaster cast of the print for teachers to take home (this is always a huge hit with students of any age). We will go for a walk to find other animal signs in the woods.
Station 2 will be our plants and biodiversity station.
The activities will include a bio-blitz where we give groups a 50-foot rope to make a circle with. Each group looks at the amount of diversity in the circle and some of the factors that influence biodiversity(soil acidity, temperature, canopy etc.) We will also look at different ways to identify the age of a tree and what influences how fast that tree grows. We will introduce a couple of fun ways to do scavenger hunts to learn about a variety of species in our forest. We will also show some games related to plants to make all of this really fun and turn what we do into invisible learning. We will have a brief look at our reforestation project and its impact on removing carbon from the atmosphere. We will walk together to a forest that we have recently planted. We will look at the environmental impact that this forest of 2500 trees is having in terms of removing carbon from the atmosphere and how this amount will increase each year until the forest reaches maturity.
Station 3: (Orienteering course)
We will teach the basics of map and compass. Teachers will then complete the orienteering course (or at least part of it). At each spot, they have to find there is a fun group challenge they have to complete.
Station 4: Games and initiatives station.
This station will have a series of games and initiatives that we play/use at Forest School.
We will end the day by looking at some great Forest School resources and an opportunity to ask anything about a Forest School.
Enrolment Information: Cost Per Child: $150/ Session
***Space is limited in order to maintain our low student to instructor ratio ***
For more info: pictoucountyforestschool@gmail.com or phone/ text Scott Ross at 506.292.1778.
Register: Please use the following link for the Google Registration Form to register. Payment via e-transfer due upon acceptance of registration.
