Guardians of the Forest
Where we grow, alongside nature.
Holistic Development is the concept that sees each and every child as a whole person – physically, intellectually, emotionally, socially, culturally, morally and spiritually.
The Forest School setting is able to facilitate this concept.
Physical Development
Children develop physically from the top down – so first gaining awareness and increasing control of the head, then arms down to legs and feet.
Gross Motor Skills – the movement and control of large muscle groups for walking, running, jumping and climbing and Fine Motor Skills – involving fine and precise movement of the hands and fingers for drawing, writing, using a knife or tying knots. The physical nature also includes sensory development, the information received into the brain from the senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, proprioception (the sense of awareness of where the mobile parts of the body, such as arms and legs, are in relation to the rest of the body) and balance.
Intellectual Development
…is the development of the part of the brain used for recognising, understanding and reasoning (cognitive) and making sense of what is seen, touched, heard etc. (perception).
Language development is to do with the skills of communication – how children understand (receptive speech) and how children express themselves (expressive speech).
Emotional and Social Development
…is to do with how children feel about themselves and others and develops a growing understanding about how and why they feel a particular way and how to interact usefully with others.
Moral and Spiritual Development
… is the understanding and cherishing of values and ethics such as honesty, integrity and fair play, and the consequences they bring, leading to developments of responsibility and empathy. Allowing the true authentic self to flourish and its connection to all that is around us.