top of page

forest school

Many note that “school play­ground” no longer fits the bill — the swings that you can only use one way and the slides you’ve been instructed to not climb up. “School play­grounds,” after all, were designed to mimic nature’s play­ground, but they do so rather poorly. 

 

Why use mon­key bars when real branches are everywhere you look? Why use stairs when boul­ders will get you there? Why have a staticky slide when there is a slide made of mud on every other hill? Why have a plas­tic play­ground molded to look like nature when Mis­souri is full of wood­land? 

Rain­tree School is a cam­pus amidst a for­est, a vast forest with meadows, prairies, creeks, and boulders. We use our forest everyday: to learn, to imagine, to explore, to take risks. Forest school builds agency in children. It allows them to take ownership of their learning and encourages them to learn to trust themselves and their ideas. With every leap, swing, and splash, the freedom of the forest builds self-awareness, independence, and confidence as children evaluate the risks they are taking and discover the natural world around them.

IMG_1947
F5E66893-2E60-4A30-841E-630CC4F2BBBF_1_105_c
57AFDAB7-F04F-4012-BDD2-728B70459E27_1_105_c
IMG_4039
IMG_3086
IMG_5932
IMG_4351.HEIC
"It takes a universe to make a child both in outer form and inner spirit. It takes a universe to educate a child. A universe to fulfill a child."
— Thomas Berry

At Raintree, the forest is an extension of our classrooms; it is an extension of our homes.

bottom of page