Our program draws on the guidance from the Child and Nature Alliance of Canada and Forest School Canada. Though the roots of forest school are viewed by many to originate in Europe, the practices and the entire concept of learning from the land comes from many generations of Indigenous Practices. Acknowledging and speaking about the truths of colonialism promote reconciliation and can aid in the healing of both people and land (CNAC, 2021). Potawatomi author and Professor of Environmental and Forest Biology Robin Wall Kimmerer, states that: “traditional knowledge is rooted in intimacy with a local landscape where the land itself is the teacher” (2003). The concept of the land as a teacher is at the root of forest and nature school as we draw from these indigenous practices.

• Improved confidence, social skills, communication, motivation, and concentration (O’Brien & Murray, 2007);

• Improved physical stamina, fine and gross motor skills (O’Brien & Murray, 2007);

• Positive identity formation for individuals and communities (Russell et al., 2013);

• Environmentally sustainable behaviours and ecological literacy;

• Increased knowledge of environment, increased frequency of visiting nature within families (O’Brien & Murray, 2007);

• Healthy and safe risk-taking;

• Improved creativity and resilience;

• Improved academic achievement and self-regulation;

• Reduced stress and increased patience, self-discipline, capacity for attention, and recovery from mental fatigue; (Russell et al., 2013, p. 482);

• Improved higher level cognitive skills (Atchlet, Strayer & Atchley, 2012);

• Male inclusion in education. (Children & Nature Network, 2012; Massey, n.d.).