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[quote=Anonymous]Just a little review on forest school for those considering :)

My child just completed a year of Forest school preschool; he just turned 4.  This was not originally planned but due to covid, we felt it was the safest option.  Our particular program was NOT full-time but there were two sessions (M,W or T/TH) and we picked both to get as much time as possible.  We did have to hire other sitters to help with transportation, after-school care and friday care and that was a pain.

The negative: They pooped in holes mostly and that was REALLY difficult for my child who potty-trained the week forest school began! We thought initially it was going well but after 6 weeks, accidents began happening and we much later learned that he had been holding his poop so the poor buddy is on some miralax now to help....that and juggling all the childcare pieces were the HARDEST parts.  It was sometimes challenging with all the accidents, making sure he had enough clothes.  It had to be specific types of clothing too which added up as we had to get lots of back-ups.

Now with the positive.....my child grew in confidence and was JOYFUL.  I mean...his previous daycare pic looked like a mug shot compared to the 300+ ADORABLE photos that show just pure childhood JOY.  Seeing that profound level of happiness, honestly brought tears to my eyes as I reviewed old pictures.  He developed friendships, loved his kind and patient teachers, and got to explore so many beautiful natural areas.  I got to visit their last week and just see how they are were SO SO curious, brave, and content.  It was just really impressive to see.

My child also has had a speech delay and worked with early intervention until he aged out and now has private therapy. I noticed a drastic increase in his speech skills.  In his last daycare: he had some challenges including some hitting, some biting, and just saying "no" which is all of course, totally developmentally appropriate.  This year, he essentially had NO behavioral concerns....in fact he was little forest school rockstar and used every sense to immerse himself in his environment and explore.  It was quite the change!! He was previously found eligible for a speech impairment and was just re-evaluated and found ineligible because of the significant progress he's made. I honestly feel that a lot is due to his emotional and physical needs being met at forest school (in conjunction with weekly speech therapy dec-may).

All this to say, while the cost was intense and there were certainly challenges, I have no regrets.  If you have a local program, I'd definitely recommend exploring it to see if it's right for your child. [/quote]

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