Forest School
Kindergarten - Second Grade
in New York City

October 7th – We had another wet start to our week. The children worked together to set up our rain tarp to create a dry “fort” area to keep our gear and eat our lunch. It was a great exercise in teamwork, and we have begun to work on tying knots. We stayed much drier than last week so thank you to all for providing your children with proper rain gear!

We played a game of “Match the Muddy Boot-Print to the Boot” and discussed how we were using our boot-prints to identify which child had stepped in the mud, just like we can use animal tracks to identify which animals have been here.

Oct 17th – We were lucky to have the opportunity to closely observe a group of male and female brown-headed cowbirds making a pit-stop in Central Park on their way south. Fall migration season is a very exciting time!  When you are out walking, especially in the parks, take the time to notice if you spot any birds that you don’t normally see in NYC. 

Jan 22nd – Good morning families. Lower lows today but sunny. As with yesterday, sustained temperatures of less that 20°f means we will be limiting our outdoor time.  We will go out in two small groups in short shifts.  Today we will be experimenting with freezing water. We will time how long it takes different amounts of water and other liquids to freeze. In a large clear container, the center should remain liquid after the top has frozen, demonstrating why it is typically unsafe to walk in a frozen pond, even when it appears solid.  We will also attempt to make icicles and ice paint. If anyone wishes for their child to remain indoors all day today, that will be an option – please message privately before 10am.

April 22nd – Forest K/1 is studying the many changes the warmer temperatures are bringing to our environment. Some early blooms (like the yellow daffodils we tracked from bulb, to sprout, to bloom) are already wilted, others are in full bloom (tulips, white narcissus, common blue violets) and others have yet to bloom (day lilies). We have been studying the anatomy of flowers and discussing how trees and flowers reproduce. We went on a dandelion hunt and read Little Dandelion Seeds the World, discussing all the ways that dandelions spread their seeds on every continent. We will be reading How does a Seed Sprout and other questions about Plants by Melissa Stewart, and Up in the Garden Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner. We will continue to read Handsprings poems and paintings by Douglas Florian and write our own Spring poetry. We are also continuing to edit and add details to stories we wrote and illustrated about what we did over our recent Spring Break. We are using First, Then, Next, Last statements to sequence the events of our narratives.