Sideways School

Let Them Lead the Way We want our children to grow up to find their own way through life, but it's hard to let them go first on busy city streets! In the woods, though, we can invite children to choose their own path; we let them lead the way. Here they get much-needed practice being agents of their destinies. When adult...

"Just" poking a stick into the ground engages the brain and the body. There's intent focus, keen observing, and active experimentation: How much pressure does it take to puncture the ground?

The obsession with Pokemon cards continues! How can I get them to put them away? The best way to motivate children to do what you want them to: *natural consequences* and *choice*. I remind them that they need to have their hands free to clap for our Hello Song, and we can't move on to play until we complete the routine. They choose where to put them--one fits them in her backpack; another finds they fit into his jeans pocket! My having patience is also key--it takes as long as it takes! #naturalconsequences #outdoorlearning #earlychildhoodeducation #forestschool #learningthroughplay

New Blog Post Read below to discover some useful tools for fostering successful social interactions! Sideways School is child-led cooperative play and exploration in nature, with supported social-emotional skill building. Join us! Spots are still available for the Summer Session. Give your child a soft (re)start....

Are the two leaving the one out on purpose? Or is she hanging back because she doesn't want to play what they're playing, or because she doesn't feel like playing at all? It turns out to be the latter, and that's okay! Learning how to interact with others really means knowing yourself. Everyone wants some time alone, and we need to learn how to notice that in ourselves, and in others. Just because you don't want to play in the moment doesn't mean you don't want to be friends!

There's a great Frog and Toad story (of course there is!) called "Alone" that's a perfect representation of this.

How Pen and Paper Support Collaboration in Play Every child in Sideways School gets their own clipboard to decorate and then bring with them every class. I supply the paper and a varietydsf of writing and drawing utensils. These aren’t for writing or drawing assignments, however, but for practical use during play: It doesn’t take much modelin...

Great adventures become great memories when they’re preserved in writing, whatever form it takes! They started dictating the story of their Zombie Death Troopers battle, then Q took over. Pretty soon M wanted to write too. Dictation, invented spelling, scribbles—it’s all their own writing, and all critical to developing a love of literacy!

Playing outside is hard work! Children are actively moving and thinking, linking body and brain as they build new understandings of their world and how to get along with the other people in it. Nervous and sensory sytems can get overloaded and need time to rest and reset. Did you know that, given the space and time, children will take their own time-outs?

In the expanse of the natural setting, with unstructured time, I’ve watched children spontaneously pause and step away from the action. They find in some element of the landscape and its living things an invitation to stillness, to mindfulness, to focus:

· A child settles on branches angled just so to support him to rest head on hands in silence.
· As she marvels at a dragonfly that found her leg to be a resting place, a child stills and her attention sharpens.
· Boulders bordering a pond call a child to scamper from one to the next, requiring deep concentration to balance his body and thus focus his mind.
· In the curve of a tree base, a child finds a nook that cradles her body and gives solace to help her recover from a slight.

In these moments, children center and calm themselves, tune out distractions, and turn their minds inward. This is emotional self-regulation, and children are learning how to do it just by listening to themselves and taking advantage of what nature offers. With practice, children may be able to recall and recover these moments in other settings, when things get to be “too much.” I’ve seen it happen! The more opportuntities children get to play in nature, the more chances they get to find their peace.

We're heading to Dog Beach, which ends up being a long walk. They've picked up an inordinate number of branches and sticks to be baby animals, so they can play "Wolf Guard"--again this instinct to protect and nurture something smaller than them. Conversation among the three of them is animated, and they're all participating in planning for the game. However, managing their armfuls gets to be a lot. "Why do I have to carry the most heaviest stuff?" one wonders. They struggle with what to do if no one else will carry any of it for them, and then decide to let some of it go. This isn't easy--they have imbued these items with life as baby animals! So they're getting practice in problem solving, weighing options and making tough decisions. Because the problem is a significant one for them, the learning is deep.

They're making a home for the baby, and a garden! The tree's roots are natural "room" dividers, showing how just this one element of nature--the unique shape of a single tree--sparks rich imaginative play.

We're heading to Dog Beach, which ends up being a long walk. They've picked up an inordinate number of branches and sticks to be baby animals, so they can play "Wolf Guard"--again this instinct to protect and nurture something smaller than they are. Conversation among the three of them is animated, and they're all participating in planning for the game. However, managing their armfuls gets to be a lot. "Why do I have to carry the most heaviest stuff?" one wonders. They struggle with what to do if no one else will carry any of it for them, and then decide to let some of it go. This isn't easy--they have imbued these items with life as baby animals! So they're getting practice in problem solving, weighing options and making tough decisions. Because the problem is a significant one for them, the learning is deep.