Best Practices of California Forest Schools
If you come from a child development or early-childhood education background, you are likely familiar with the term, “Best Practices”. Over the last few years, CAFS has been writing, developing, and revisiting what we consider to be “Best Practices" in our field, based on collective experience of decades in this field by our Board of Directors, and our mentors without whom our work wouldn’t be possible.
High quality forest schools support a healthy whole-child development including a child’s social emotional growth, sensori-motor awareness, cognitive understanding, and robust spirit— all in the context of nature connection.
We have formed a committee for active practitioners to collaborate and support this work with us, for the benefit of all California forest schools and their communities.
Teaching Staff Qualifications
May these qualifications serve as general guidance for teachers wishing to deepen their forest school teaching experience, and for those who are interested in starting their own forest school programs.
Building Our Standards of practice
In the last year alone, the field of forest schools and nature-based programs have grown exponentially. Now, especially in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is so much more demand for more programs and for more support of these programs.
CAFS aims to ensure that all voices are represented in the co-creation of our statewide Standards of Practice. Please contact us to get involved. We want your voices included in these conversations.