Take Root Forest School provides enriching and holistic outdoor learning experiences for South Florida homeschooling children in both Ft. Lauderdale and N. Miami, with program options for children, ages 3-12.
For the forest school year (September-June) families choose to register their homeschoolers, ages 4.5-12, for one or two weekly options: the 3 Day Program (Monday-Wednesday) and/or the 2 Day Program (Thursday & Friday), 9am-3pm. Pre-homeschool children, age 3-4, enroll in the Tender Roots Program: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday from 9am-1pm. Children, ages 4.5 and up, are invited to continue their outdoor experience during the Spring and Summer breaks by participating in Take Root’s Forest Fun Camp.
Take Root Forest School uses a multi-subject approach to learning – focusing on exploration, play and discovery. Using holistic methodologies, the teachers and guides combine language arts, cultural studies and history, science and mathematics, place-based ecology and stewardship with a forest school approach based on the rhythm of the seasons, sensory awareness and the students’ discoveries in the forest. This model allows for development of the whole child…Head (through transformative experience and reflection), Heart (through relating) & Hands (through engagement). Forest Fun Camp provides a safe environment for imaginative play, outdoor skills, team-building and FUN.
Take Root Forest School is a COMMUNITY. The teachers, families and children gather to explore, learn and discover – themselves, nature and each other. Each year the children and families of Take Root Forest School are invited to attend 2 beach picnics, 3 nature field trips, and 3 seasonal family festivals. There are opportunities for stewardship, volunteering and getting involved in the community and environment. Families and the wider community are an integral part of the learning program. Get to know where you LIVE.
Educating the Whole Child…
Head, Heart & Hands in the Forest and by the Sea
Each Forest School participant is part of a group. The groups may be based on age, level of learning, development and dynamic or they may be mixed ages. Monday-Wednesday for the 3 Day Program, the participants take part in Forest School as a group based on age level and development. Take Root directors and teachers take into consideration both the age and the social and emotional development of each child when determining their group placement. For the 2 Day Program – Thursday & Friday, the groups are mixed-age, working together as a team as they move through the forest. The Tender Roots stay together with their teacher as a group of 3-4 year olds. Each Forest Group has a teacher that is part of a team of teachers that makes up Take Root Forest School. The ages are based on the student’s age when they begin forest school.
As homeschoolers, each family is responsible for record keeping and registering – each child over the age of 5 needs to be registered with an umbrella school or with the county in which you reside. The process is easy and simple. Take Root Forest School will provide support, guidance and resources but does not offer umbrella school or evaluation services. The Take Root team works alongside the families to provide a network of communication. Each teacher makes observations on a regular basis of their students and shares with the directors and families. Each group’s curriculum is unique and emerges from the children and their experiences. Take Root Forest School follows the rhythms of the seasons. The seasonal, place-based curriculum is designed using child development domains, state and national standards and methodologies from various holistic pedagogies like Forest School, Waldorf, Montessori and Reggio Emilia.
Outdoor learning inspired by nature – the forest to the sea!
