West Chester Friends School kindergarten teacher Michelle Lozowski is bringing nature into the curriculum by offering her students Forest School Fridays.

Each Friday, students travel to a local natural area, where they explore the woods and streams.

The students observe the ways in which plants and animals work and live together, then they record in their journals what they see, hear, and even smell.

They have an opportunity to catch tadpoles, read in the quiet, and draw the inhabitants of these lovely settings…in all kinds of weather.

Each student is provided with sturdy, waterproof, and warm rain gear, boots, and gloves.

This year, the students visited many local areas, including ChesLen Preserve, Shaw’s Bridge, the Tanguy community, Ridley Creek Park, and others.

T. Michelle finds the Forest Friday program full of opportunities for joyful growth in her students.

“My inspiration comes from my kindergarten students,” she said.

She loves to observe and listen to the children as they exclaim, “Look at what I found”.

“It has so many legs!”

“I touched a toad for the first time today!” and “Let’s build a bridge to walk over the

creek together then it won’t take so long!”

“Taking a group of kindergarteners into the forest opens the door to discovery, learning, and questioning what they see, hear, touch, and taste in nature,” said T. Michelle. “The wild, lush, beautiful surroundings open all their senses and imagination to so much.”

The 22-year teacher, who has 16 years of experience as a kindergarten teacher, has long been an advocate for outdoor education. 

She has taken students on field trips into nature, helped develop an outdoor classroom, and created a small chicken yard on the West Chester Friends School campus complete with two resident laying hens.

In his book, Last Child in the Woods, author Richard Louv created the term Nature Deficit.

Disorder in reference to the documented dwindling of outdoor time for children.

This phenomenon concerns parents and educators alike and has prompted many pediatricians to actually prescribe outdoor time as a vital aspect of good physical and emotional health in children.

There are both socioemotional and academic benefits to more intentional outdoor time. Natural materials and variable weather conditions, for instance, provide a setting for both independent learning and collaborative activities.

Observation and listening skills are sharpened in natural conditions, and even simple activities such as listening to the birds’ chatter can prepare young children to recognize basic word sounds.

Teaching outdoors is not new to West Chester Friends School. During the 2021-2022 school year, when the school was open but mitigating the impact of the pandemic, all special area classes, including Spanish, library, science, music, and art, were taught entirely outdoors.

Natural settings around the historic WCFS campus continue to be used for teaching and learning throughout the school year.

Find out more about West Chester Friends School and Forest School Fridays in kindergarten.