Leadership

Notes for Leaders:

If you or your child is leading please read this packet.

The purpose of Forest School Families is to create community and support for unstructured free play in nature with others in all weather. We believe that free play and exploration in nature is an inherently human activity and essential for the mental health and proper development of our children (& ourselves). Please choose locations and activities that honor this.

-Locations should have a large wild space

-Ice breaker activities, group games, lessons, crafts or themes for the week should be optional, take less than 30 minutes and should be specific to and encourage connection with the location & it’s inhabitants or current season/weather we are experiencing. Team building games/activities that include the terrain/environment we are in are also great. Please no lengthy naturalist led hikes or lectures.

-Plan to be spending a lot or all of our time in a wild space and include at least a short hike every week (with exceptions for holiday parties)

-Locations should be within a 40 minute drive from Anderson. Every 8 weeks we will venture further out into the state for special adventure day sessions.

-If very cold weather is likely consider a fire friendly location

-In early spring when undergrowth plants first start coming up take care to avoid delicate woodland areas for free play locations

What leaders do:

-Choose a location to meet (within 30 minutes of downtown Anderson for most weeks)

-Choose a specific start point and a location for free play

-Plan a short optional icebreaker activity, lesson or game (see above for an idea of what the nature of these should be like)

-Set & announce checkpoints or guidelines on hikes so kids can run and the group can stay together

-Set & announce boundaries for free play area 

-Lead the opening circle: call everyone in at 10:10am, make space for a short get-to-know-you activity or question or check in, announce the agenda for the day

-Lead the closing circle: call everyone in at 12:50pm, make space for sharing challenges/conflicts and what went well for everyone (happy and crappy, roses and thorns), dismiss the group and make sure we are near our cars or at least that everyone knows how to find their way back (optional but awesome when it does happen)

-Make calls about cancellations. Please read the weather cancellation policy if you or your child is leading.

*You can also enlist adult or older child helpers to do any of these things rather than do them yourself

*If you are sick/have an emergency and cannot make it to the day you signed up for you may trade with someone else but locations will stay the same as planned. If no one is willing/available we will switch to a free day and do free play at the location you selected.

WEATHER CANCELLATION POLICY

Forest School Families strives to be an "all-weather" group and we enjoy the challenge of being outdoors in extreme weather. However we have deemed the following conditions to be too risky and consider them to cross the line from uncomfortable to "likely dangerous". 

1. Extreme Cold is defined by us as a "feels like" or actual high before 1pm of 9 degrees or lower on the day of meeting. 

2. Travel Advisory If the county we are meeting in has issued a "travel advisory" for unsafe weather/road conditions between 9 and 2. 

3. Extreme heat is defined by us as a "feels like" or actual high above 96 reached before noon on the day of meeting. 

4. Tornado or severe storm warning in the county we are meeting in between 9-2. Possible cancellation for a severe storm or tornado watch between 9-2. Cancellation for a "watch" will be the leader's call based on radar, driving conditions etc. 

5. Wind gusts over 30mph predicted between 10-1 will result in cancellation unless we are meeting in a meadow or creekside setting without risk of downed trees/limbs. 

Obviously individuals are free to have a more conservative personal weather cancellation policy. The purpose of the policy is to avoid having a text debate about cancellation last minute and have everyone know what to expect. If you are leading and want to cancel outside of this weather policy you can pick a sub who is up for the thrill instead. 😄

GROUP OWNED TOOLS & SUPPLIES

If you need to purchase something check with Kasey first. We usually have a little stash in our communal bank.

-35 clip boards

-several small bug observation cases

-30+ camp mugs

-6 farro rod fire strikers

-3 high quality magnifying glasses

-1 nice pair of binoculars

-toy binoculars & magnifying glasses

-huge bag of mud kitchen/creek/sand play toys and tools including buckets, nets, shovels, etc

-12 blind folds

-dozens of kid scissors and glue sticks

-bag of markers, crayons and colored pencils

-6 kid sized hot glue guns

-10 or 12 heavily used water color palates

-dozens of paint brushes

Let Sybilla know what you need and you can come get it ahead of time from her house or she can bring it.