Fall Walk with Faye

On Friday, the combined 1st/2nd classes took a long nature walk with "our" naturalist, Faye Stoner. For many years now, Faye has taken us on 3 walks per year - in the fall, winter and spring. Faye is a wonder - she teaches the children (and teachers!) so many things about the world next door at County Farm Park. We are lucky to have the beautiful park be literally in our backyard, and we are also extremely lucky to have Faye.

We spend quite a bit of time out in our woods - sometimes playing, sometimes reading, and sometimes closely observing and documenting. I think it is one of the many things that makes our little school so very different than many schools - we know children need this. 

Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods:  Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, says this about getting children out into the natural world:

When a child is out in nature, all the senses get activated. He is immersed in something bigger than himself, rather than focusing narrowly on one thing, such as a computer screen. He's seeing, hearing, touching, even tasting. Out in nature, a child's brain has the chance to rejuvenate, so the next time he has to focus and pay attention, perhaps in school, he'll do better.


For more pictures, and much more information on what we learned on this particular walk with Faye, be sure to check on Elaine's blog post.