Found In The Forest Podcast Craig Cerhit

In this final episode we touch on judging success, the transition to high school and ultimately the hopes for the school through the eyes of the parents and educators who have been with the school.

This episode looks at the role that community plays in the Environmental School and the kind of child that the school is designed for. The Environmental School would never have gotten off the ground if it weren’t for the community support.

This weeks show we delve deeper into experiential education by taking a look at how the Environmental School weaves together lessons and experiences. One of the most common questions that parents in the school get is, "How do they learn math?" Well, after listening to this episode you should get a better understanding of how experiential education can work with any subject.

Experiential education is one of the central pedagogies of the Environmental School. On a daily basis, the students are exposed to places and opportunities to have unique experiences which creates a rich learning environment. Wether it's at a BMX track, archery range, power dam, beach, or forest, the lessons are designed around the place which are selected by the types of meaningful experiences that can be had. The benefit of experiential education is that the learning has more impact because the kids are directly involved, therefore the learning sticks with the children.

The Environmental School weaves ecological education into the fabric of the curriculum. In this chapter we’ll hear from SFU researchers, students, and educators talk about how our relationship with the environment needs to start with the youngest among us.

This weeks episode answers one of the most common questions that parents of the Environmental School get asked, "How can kids learn outside in the rain?" It does rain a lot in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, about 168 days of rain a year, accumulating around 1400mm of the wet stuff. The kids, educators and parents have all adapted to being exposed to the elements, and don't run for cover whenever the clouds darken.