The Forest is in Our Hearts

Annie is standing on a tree and Peyton is climbing up the log and they are both looking at a bird.

In Kindergarten, we often say that a child has entered the "Reading Zone" or the "Writing Zone". These  are words that we adopted from Nancy Atwell. Children are in the zone if they are engaged in their reading or writing and are no longer aware of their surroundings. We have all had this experience...leaving the present moment to be an armchair traveler.

On Friday afternoons, we create the same culture of quiet engagement and thoughtful reflection. Each child selects a piece of paper and their tool of choice; crayons, Sharpies, colored pencils, thinking pens and pastels. We ask the children to represent their morning experiences in the  forest. 

Later, we sit as a class and notice the work of the artists. We realize that each sketch has a unique perspective. One artist caught the wind as it blew through the trees in the Forest. The bridge crossing the stream was the focal point for another group of children.  Small but significant details are often pointed out. We notice the suddenly blooming daffodils and large swooping birds that grace our campus.

There are things to learn in the forest but each Friday as we walk paths that are now well worn, pass familiar trees and return to places that beckon us as a nest might a bird we begin to realize that our heart is filled with a peace that is rare.

This is a picture of me standing in the forest by the creek. My friends are on the bridge. We hear the wind in the trees.

                                        This is the bridge down in the forest.

We are at our winter place in the forest and I am balancing on the log.

I am walking through the tunnel and I hear echoes .

The bridge is down by the water next to the fort and a large climbing rock.