'This is what childhood is': Nova Scotia 'forest school' aims to connect children with nature
Tideview Nature School in Cole Harbour, N.S., wants to connect children to nature.
“If we think back to our childhood, this is what childhood is, it’s being outdoors, it’s playing, it’s engaging with the community,” says Jessie Zhao, co-founder of Tideview Nature School.
After moving from British Columbia, where there were numerous forest school options, Zhao and her husband, Mike L’Italein, started their own program after not being able to find any locally.
“The cognitive engagement, the focus, the creativity and even being able to challenge themselves physically, mentally that’s just not something you get in a very structured indoor environment,” says Zhao.
At forest school, the classrooms are local parks throughout the HRM, where, with supervision, the students create the lesson plan.
“It’s child-led focus, so we see what they want to do. We brought them over to the shelter to build a fort and eventually it turned into throwing rocks in the water, and then it turned into an excursion along the coastline where they’re just jumping from one rock to another, and then after while their boots get muddy and nobody cried,” L’Italein says.
L’Italein says feedback from parents has been positive.
“Most importantly they’re just noticing their kids are getting tougher so other words more resilient. They’re learning to adapt to issues that they might not have adapted to otherwise,” says L’Italein.
“Some parents notice a really big development in kid’s social development. So they are more comfortable meeting people, talking to people, interacting with other kids,” Zhao adds.
Tideview Nature School focusses on two age groups right now. There’s a pre-school group geared toward two to four-year-olds that runs in the morning and a school-age group for five to nine-year-olds later in the day after their traditional school hours.
The school runs seven days a week, year-round. Their goal is to one day open a full-time alternative school and expand throughout the province.
For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Federal government to further limit number of international students
The federal government will be further limiting the number of international students permitted to enter Canada next year. It's the government's latest immigration-related measure to address Canadians' ongoing housing and affordability concerns.
Search for suspect in Kentucky highway shooting ends with discovery of body believed to be his
Authorities say they believe the body of a man suspected of shooting and wounding five people on a Kentucky interstate highway has been found.
Here's why you should get all your vaccines as soon as possible
With all these shots, some Canadians may have questions about the benefit of each vaccine, whether they should get every shot and how often to get them, and if it's safe to get them all at once or if they should space them out.
Bloc MPs will vote confidence in Liberal government next week: Blanchet
The Conservatives' first shot at toppling the Liberal government is likely doomed to fail, after Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet told reporters his MPs will vote confidence in the government.
'I'm here for the Porsche': Video shows brazen car theft in Mississauga
Video of a brazen daylight auto theft which shows a suspect running over a victim in a stolen luxury SUV has been released by police west of Toronto.
Exploding electronic devices kill 20, wound 450 in second day of explosions in Lebanon
Lebanon's health ministry said Wednesday that at least 20 people were killed and 450 others wounded by exploding electronic devices in multiple regions of the country. The explosions came a day after an apparent Israeli attack targeting pagers used by Hezbollah killed at least 12 and wounded nearly 3,000.
'It starts off innocent': Manitoba man loses $185,000 to crypto-romance scam
A Manitoba man is warning others after he fell victim to an elaborate online scam over the summer.
Teen faces new charge in Sask. high school arson attack
A 14-year-old student who allegedly set her classmate on fire is facing a new charge.
Quebec woman charged with first-degree murder in death of five-year-old boy
A 29-year-old Quebec woman is facing a first-degree murder charge in the death of a five-year-old boy southwest of Montreal.