Meet Our Team
Andrea C. Lopez Martheyn
Forest School Directress |
Bushcraft/ Forest School Director |
Alvaro Glaser |
Forest School Director
What is Forest School?
Forest School is an educational approach, and program of delivery, that has existed since the late 1950s, with thousands of programs expanding the world over, starting in Denmark and Sweden, moving through Scandinavia, onto Europe, China, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and now Canada. Although Forest School is called by many different names (e.g., Nature Kindergarten, Outdoor School, Waldkindergarten, Rain or Shine School, Bush School), in Canada two prominent names are taking hold:Forest School and Nature School
Where does Forest School take place and how much time children spend outdoors?
Where does the Forest School take place and how much time children spend outdoors? In Forest School children spend anywhere from a half day to a full day outdoors in local woodlands and green spaces, in various urban and near-urban parks, natural spaces adjacent to or on school grounds, or natural playgrounds and outdoor classrooms. Children attending Forest Schools have the opportunity to learn in a natural environment on a regular basis. Some programs are offered to students one half-day per week, whereas other schools and early years centers have embraced this approach on a more full time basis, with students spending the majority of their days outdoors!
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SPRING SEASON
AGES 4-12 YEARS APRIL 17 TO JUNE 16 |
FALL SEASON
TERRA VIVA STUDENTS AGES 4-12 SEPTEMBER TO OCTOBE NOVEMBER-APRIL PORT DALHOUSIE NEW SITE |
FALL SEASON 2023
HOME SCHOOL AND OUTSIDE STUDENTS) AGES 4 TO 12 YEARS SEPTEMBER 13 TO OCTOBER 25 |
Our vision
Our vision is for all the children of Niagara to explore and learn in local forests, creeks, meadows, conservation areas, waterfront areas and shorelines with a qualified nature educator who understands the importance of nature play and who passionately follows the child in her natural interests promoting real experiences for self-directed learning and team work!
Inquiry -based Experimental learning
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Terra Viva Forest School follows the Inquiry-Based, Emergent and Experiential Learning....but What does this mean?Creating and modeling community standards that include respect, care, non-judgement, safety and inclusion.
Allowing children to make mistakes. Allowing children to learn by doing. Learning alongside children. Introducing a resource, idea, or inquiry only after a child prompts in an explicit or implicit manner. Giving children more time to explore, experience, solve problems, resolve conflicts, and provide answers to questions. |
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"There is a teaching in every part of creation. It is our task to find it, learn it and apply it."
-late elder Ken Goodwill-
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LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND DAILY MORNING CIRCLE: Students will learn about the first inhabitants of the Land. Burgoyne Woods and Jordan Valley local cultural history, biology of the land and land connections. We feel it is important we acknowledge the land of native communities who have lived upon it and who have had a physical and spiritual connection with this land before colonization.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
TERRA VIVA FOREST SCHOOL
We the children and staff of Terra Viva Forest School, gathered here today to
Acknowledge this land as the land of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe Territory. We acknowledge that we stand on grounds of the Six Nations of the Grand River community.
We the children give thanks for the fruits, herbs and medicinal plants of the land, for the air and the wind that blows and caresses our skin, for the birds who sing their songs of hope, for the water that runs underneath the ground and feeds the creeks and rivers, lakes and oceans, for the fire that keep us warm in cold nights, for the animals who live here, for the trees that give us oxygen to breath, for our friends human and divine, for the the FORCE of love that keep us all together.
From the bottom of our hearts, we the children say together
THANK YOU!
GRACIAS!
MIIGWECH!
OUR PROGRAMS
Forest Rookies
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Forest Runners
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Forest Rangers
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Forest Leaders in Training (FLIT)
12-15 years
This program is offered for those children and youth who want to become future staff at Terra Viva Forest school. we offer a program that not only offers development in leadership theory and skill-building but an opportunity to apply this skills in a fun, supportive and unique environment. These future Terra Viva leaders receive a valuable foundation under the supervision of our most experienced Forest Practitioners.
"Look after yourselves, Look after each other...Look after the woods.”