I remember when I first told my husband, Sam, about the positive pregnancy test. We had never talked about having a baby, and yet the first words out of Sam’s mouth were, “I hope it’s a boy, and I want him to go to a forest school!”
Fast-forward almost three years, and I found myself at an open house for Blessings Farm and Forest Preschool. I pet the bunnies, fed the goats, and watched chickens of every color march around the yard. I felt at peace there. Miss Sommer was explaining her program, including the singing, dancing, chanting, and community connection that would be part of our mornings. As an introvert, I wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about participating in all of that.
But I’ll always remember the moment she said something that completely changed my mind: “In a regular classroom, nothing moves unless you move it. Outside, nature is constantly moving. You have no control over what it’s going to do; you just have to flow with it.”
And so our journey began. Henrik was almost three when he started Blessings. He waved me off and headed straight for the nearest group of active boys. I left worrying about all the normal things any mom, let alone an emergency nurse, would worry about. Would he get poked in the eye with a stick? Trip and fall into the fire? Slip on ice and hurt his head? Climb a tree and fall? Wander off and get lost? I’ll tell you that after three years, not one of those things happened. I stopped worrying after a few months. I remember him coming home with more words. His vocabulary was expanding, and so was his knowledge of the world around him.
We were talking to a neighbor one day when he pointed to a plant and asked, “Can I have some of your mint?” When I asked how he even knew what mint was, he said, “School.” The same thing happened when he pointed out a linden tree. I didn’t know three-year-olds could identify linden trees. Or mint. Before his third birthday, he came home and said, clear as day, “Mom, there is a bunny at school, and I want her for my birthday, and I want to name her Plod.” I think my husband and I were more shocked by how clearly he spoke and constructed that sentence as a not-even-three-year-old than by what he was actually asking for. We still have Plod.
At Blessings, he learned to make friends, join in games, and find his place among his peers. He became the kind of kid who can walk up to a group of children he’s never met and start a game of tag. He spent his mornings climbing trees, exploring the woods, and playing pirates with his friends. So many pirates. I’m fairly certain he spent the entirety of his last year at Blessings playing pirates. He worked alongside the adults, washing bowls, watering animals… chopping wood. Yet another worry of mine that never materialized.
We did hit a snag when Henrik turned four. What had been easy drop-offs the year before became tearful goodbyes, with Henrik screaming and crying for me. We even had to pick him up early a time or two because he was completely inconsolable. He struggled with accepting fault when he did something he wasn’t supposed to, and there was a period when he didn’t want to go to school, or anywhere! That lasted a few months. Miss Sommer eased him through that period, introducing him to the idea of “Old Man Trouble” needing to stay away and pairing him with older kids to distract him or involve him in activities that would occupy his mind. Eventually, we got over the hump, and the next year, he became the older kid who was paired with kids having a hard time finding their place at Blessings. Heck, anyone can be a pirate.
As we transition to kindergarten, I can say that the best thing to come from Blessings is Henrik’s love of learning. Blessings created a safe place to explore and ask questions. Watching a seed grow into a plant and learning about all the steps along the way was fascinating to Henrik. He discovered that the world was bigger than the inside of a classroom, and he had so many questions about how everything was connected. He is constantly thinking about how things work. Where do they begin? Where do they end? What happens in between?
He’s doing extraordinarily well in math and reading, and I believe so much of that comes from his love of learning—a love that was nurtured during his years at forest school. Henrik is my one and only, and I’m so thankful I had the opportunity to start his journey at Blessings. He came away from forest school with friendships, confidence, curiosity, and a love of learning that I hope stays with him for the rest of his life. And if you ask Henrik what he loved most about his three years at Blessings Farm and Forest Preschool? “The mint. I really miss the mint.”
- Katy Mcnaughton
