Q + A: How did you choose your forest school?

September 15, 2015

It’s been awhile since we’ve done a Q + A post here but quite a few questions have been coming in over email so we’ll have a couple lined up over the next few weeks – and as a reminder, feel free to ask anything and everything about forest school. We’re always happy to share what we’ve learned either about the system or about our schooling experience in Denmark.

First up – a little bit about how we found our school…

So the thing about choosing a school in Denmark is that it’s actually pretty simple. The public system chooses one for you – when you’re Danish and have all the relevant registrations and numbers in the system, my understanding is that it’s pretty easy to get yourself on the right lists pretty much early on with your child. You might have some input, but the system will do the picking.

With us, that turned out to be not quite so easy – we are expats, and diplomats at that, so a lot of the usual systems that are CPR number based didn’t work for us, even though we have right to access most of the services. That’s the thing about Denmark, systems can often be really good here, but if you fall outside of the system for any reason, it becomes confusing quickly.

For a point of reference, we moved here to Denmark in August two years ago – and I started on the school thing pretty much right after our arrival. If you want to do the public system, it’s not really set up so that you can start in advance of your arrival, because again, everything is based on the registration numbers that you can’t apply for until you arrive. It took us through about the end of October to secure a place in a forest school for our daughter. We could have had a place sooner for her (say, about September) at a regular preschool (which frankly, always has a big outdoor component here anyway), but the two they were offering were far away and not forest school so I opted to wait it out.

If you arrive as an expat and want an international school, then similar to most places, you make an appointment to view and visit and play the waiting list game, though I’ll say it’s not what I would call cutthroat here – just lengthy. But of course, it also depends on how many given children there are in the age of your own child. As it turns out 2010 was some kind of baby boom year – and everything was full, public and private. We had to wait for about three months, and that school was packed to the max. Right now, however, this same school has about 18 open slots. Just luck and timing sometimes…

But in general, the whole notion of “shopping around” for schools doesn’t quite exist here, in the sense of going to visit schools, having open house days, interviewing teachers as much as they might interview you… Most often, people pick what’s closest to them that has availability – and when you’re waiting for a slot, the “kommune” largely feels their duty is fulfilled if they find you a slot somewhere within their own bounds. Remember, you have right to a school, but not necessarily to any school or the school of your choice.

That being said, if you’re new around here, or if you’re interested in the Danish school system as a foreigner, definitely try to check out schools as you’re assigned slots or introduce yourself as you move into the neighborhood. Don’t expect any full-on tours, but take a look around discretely. As I’ve alluded to before, the expectations for supervision and facilities and the like can be really different here (unexpected play things for toddlers anyone?), and you might have to see a few schools in order to let that sink in. But that being said, there are some schools with staff and commitment that are much better than others too – not all schools are created equally here. Most of all, try to see if the kids appear to be happy…eager…laughing…and when all else fails, go with your gut. Forest school definitely might push you a little bit out of your comfort zone, but deep down you’ll know whether it’s right for you and your child or not.

Wise Words n.11

September 14, 2015

Nature Play, A Movie…

September 10, 2015

One of the great things about the forest school experience, beyond just the forest school itself, has been getting to know and build a community of parents, who as it turns out, share many of the same ideas. Through this blog, we’ve been able to meet and correspond with a lot of parents – some just curious as to how the whole forest school thing works, some wanting to know how to actually get into such a school, some seeking to incorporate more outdoor time into their own daily routines with kids when forest schools are not possible. Some parents have been committed to this for years, but some have been like me, realizing that forest schools and the like are not really just “for hippies” but that real time outside spent learning and exploring is something that we want our children to have.

That’s how we met Amie and Daniel Stilling, the film makers and producers behind Nature Play, a movie about the Scandinavian model of “udskole“, or schooling outside. Forest schools like ours fall into this realm, but as the movie explores, so do regular schools and preschools and high schools. Being outside is just a thing here – a good thing at that.

The movie is in its final stages (there’s even an Indiegogo campaign to help secure the funds for the final push – be sure to check out their page!) but when Amie and Daniel came to Copenhagen just a few weeks ago, we were able to get a special sneak preview of the film when we hosted a little get together with fellow parents. (and yes, of course we had “worms in dirt” as a dessert? how could we not at a forest school party? And of course Danish strawberries, Danish tomatoes, Danish pork, Danish potatoes…all those good Danish things all on the menu!)

You know how sometimes people say that they don’t appreciate what they’ve had all along? We knew the forest school was a good thing we had going on here but there was something about seeing it all pulled together in all of this beautiful footage – shot in brand new 4K technology which basically makes you feel like you can step into the screen and practically touch any of the outdoor elements. It just made me realize how lucky we were to have some of this outdoor experience for our daughter.

The movie also brings in a big of contrast about what’s been going on with testing in the US, which if I’m honest, I had/have no idea about but it seems to be becoming quite a critical issue for parents and educators. My point of reference for elementary or other schools is what I remember from when I was in them myself. I can’t say I’m educated enough to comment about what we’ll find when we eventually return to the US, but the film definitely started to make me think about what we want to for our children in their education experience as a whole.

You can follow the film’s journey and updates about releases and locations here on the Nature Play Facebook page – here’s a preview for the small screen but if you’re at all passionate or curious about what a little more outside could do for our children inside, definitely don’t miss it on the big screen!

Out + About: Fruits and More at Fuglebjerggaard Farm!

September 8, 2015

Produce, produce, produce…fresh produce! There are tons of it here in Denmark. It might not always be the most exotic, but I guarantee that you’ll end up eating things here that a/ you never tasted before (ramps, lovage, all sorts of chanterelles..) and b/ you’ve tasted before but never truly appreciated (um, Danish strawberries anyone?).

The seasons are changing so summer’s been on the way out and fall quickly comes in its place (which can only mean that Danish apples are soon on the way – see this post from last year on apple picking here), but the nice thing about the rather mild but rainy climate here is that there seems to always be something in season. Especially now that more and more growers are branching out beyond just the apples (as good as they are) and potatoes thing here (ditto).

This summer we tried out a place that had been on our list for a long time – the Fuglebjerggaard Farm. If that doozy of a name sounds familiar, it might be because you caught the video of the picking excursion earlier on but here are the photos to prove it!

The farm is owned by Camilla Plum, kind of a Danish Donna Hay, who led the way in organic cooking here in Scandinavia way before it was an actual thing – you’ll find her books in any cooking section of a book store. On the farm, you’ll probably see Camilla herself. Doing the hard work by the way – this isn’t a show farm, it’s a working farm so while there is a sweet bucolic ambience, this place isn’t just for magazine spreads. Need a bathroom? Grab an outhouse.

There’s a kind of farmy-bohemia thing going on here as well – a little cafe serves up freshly baked cakes of the day that look like the neighbor brought them over, and the mismatched chipped china and antique silverware reminds me of the random collection of things at my grandfather’s garden plot in Poland.

And while it’s a farm, it’s not an industrial farm either. This isn’t the kind of place where there are hundreds of hectares of one plant – there’s a plot of strawberries here, interspersed with currant there, while chickens mill about. A plot of wildflowers meets a plot of wild onions and cabbages and carrots are just down the way. The smaller plots probably mean a whole lot more individualized work for the owners, but everything grows together.

The Fuglebjerggaard Farm, is about an hour from Copenhagen, and is open for visitors on the weekends. You can check up on the schedule of what’s available for self-picking on the website. A shop that looks like the inside of an Indian tuk-tuk offers heirloom seeds, healing herbs and other kitchen doodads and south asian trinkets, as well as a room full of Christmas ornaments in the back. Lots of families had children in tow, and our toddler fit right in – so if all week forest school isn’t an option for you, this is the type of outing that’s a close second. As it turns out, it’s pretty much the picture perfect farm you never knew you were missing out on. Oh, and don’t forget a slice of cake on your way out!

Ps- a few notes: one, Denmark is supposed to be home to more pigs than people (about three to five times more depending on your source), yet this is the only time any one of us have ever seen an actual pig. Two, green strawberries are a huge thing in Danish cooking right now – they seem to be at every “new nordic” restaurant we go to – apparently it’s driving up the price of unripened strawberries tremendously. And three, those flowers and roses smell every bit as beautiful as you would expect them to.