Kickapoo Valley Forest School -

Are you enthusiastic about early childhood education and spending large parts of the day outside all year? KVFS is seeking more staff to join our collaborative team of 4K - 2nd grade educators serving young children in a public forest school charter. Join us in implementing a child-led, place-based and inquiry-based forest school curriculum where children explore, learn healthy risk-taking and grow into resilient individuals who care about our natural environment. #publicforestschool #kickapoovalleyforestschool #lafargeschooldistrict #learningoutside #learninginallweather #forestcshool #lafargewi #kickapoovalleywi

Early Childhood Education Majors from UWL visited KVFS with their professor Heidi Masters as part of the new class that Masters is offering called Learning with Nature. Students met with members of the KVFS Leadership Team for a Q&A and to learn about the ways in which KVFS is different from a traditional public school. They then hiked out in the field to have a guided observation of KVFS children at play. #forestschool #outdoorlearning #highereducation #UWL #teachertraining #KVFS #KVR #kickapoovalleyforestschool #lafargewi #learning

Intrepid hikers make their way to that special place, the creek! The sun is shining, the birds and frogs are loud. Hands and feet are finding the ground. Finding their own loud voices! Gazes attune to the immense detail all around. Scan the waters surface and then reach through to unearth a colorful stone. What will they build today? What will they build tomorrow? This creek, like many creeks, has been a place of learning for a long, long time. #forestschool #kvfs #lafargewi #optoutside #learningoutdoors #natureschool #publicforestschool #kickapoovalley #kvr #leaningallaround

While it is fun to find your food outside, it's also great to grow some too. We received a plethora of seeds from a Seed Savers grant to help us grow the school garden at the district school. Forest school students helped to plant vegetable and flower starts that will be transplanted into the garden late May. They also planted a mixture of flowers particularly appealing to bees to plant at home. :) #americorps #schoolgarden #springtime #learningoutside #optoutside #publicforestschool #kickapoovalleyforestschool #lafargeschooldistrict #wisconsin #lafargewi

"...we look forward to watching these forest school children grow into confident nature enthusiasts with flexible minds and bodies, compassion for each other and the earth, and the physical, mental and emotional skills to help them step successfully into the wide and beautiful world." -from the "Owlet" issue 2, a seasonal KVFS publication #learning #forestschool #publicforestschool #unitedstatesforestschool #kvfs #lafargwi #lafargeschooldistrict #optoutside #educatinginthegreatoutdoors #kickapoovalleyreserve #kickapoovalleyforestschool #natureisourclassroom

"To create a living relationship with nature and each other is a most essential part of our education today. When young children have this opportunity, it later translates into creating a healthy economic and cultural life as well as genuine caring for the well-being of others and the earth. " - from the "Owlet" issue 3, a seasonal KVFS publication #natureschool #forestschool #publicforestschool #unitedstatesforestschool #kvfs #lafargwi #lafargeschooldistrict #optoutside #educatingintheoutdoors #kickapoovalleyreserve #kickapoovalleyforestschool #natureisourclassroom

The crisp beauty of snowy hikes at KVFS! #forestschool #winter #hiking #kickapoovalleyforestschool #lafargewi #kickapoovalleyreserve #outdooreducation #wintertracking #optoutside

The coziness of extra time spent indoors during the more severe days of winter are beginning to wane. Signs of spring are indeed here. Students have noted the return of the sandhill cranes, geese flying overhead and tiny plants of brightest green unveiled in the melting snow. "You think winter will never end, and then, when you don't expect it, when you have almost forgotten it, warmth comes and a different light." -Wendell Berry #latewinterearlyspring #forestschool #kickapoovalley #lafargewi #publicforestschool #optoutside #outdooreducation #kickapoovalleyforestschool #cozywinter #kvfs #lfsd #kvr

What is a Forest School? Thanks for asking! Watch and learn what nature-based education looks like at the Kickapoo Valley Forest School in Wisconsin. https://photos.app.goo.gl/Hx5BqJwf8T7DAdq39

Thinking about your child becoming a KVFS Snail? Enrollment opens on Wednesday, February 1st. Our enrollment page is updated with current information. Contact kvfs@lafarge.k12.wi.us with any questions! https://www.kickapoovalleyforestschool.org/o/kvfs/page/enrollment

Forest School students are READY for more snow!! It was fun and challenging to learn how to get into and out of the ski bindings and trying out snow shoes on what little was left of the snow. However now they are excitedly awaiting an opportunity to take their skis out into some fresh snow! Lets go Winter! #winter #crosscountryskiing #learningtoski #forestschool #optoutside #outdooreducation #publicforestschool #wisconsinforestschool #kickapoovalley #driftlesswisconsin #kickapoovalleyforestschool #lafargewi

“They [schoolhouses] should be built in a woods beside a stream. Where you can wade, swim, and be comfortable in the summer, and slide and skate in the winter. The windows should be cut to the floor and stand wide open so that the birds and butterflies could pass through. You ought to learn your geography by climbing a hill, walking through a valley, wading creeks, making islands in them, and promontories, capes and peninsulas along the bank.” -Gene Stratton-Porter #forestschool #kickapoovalleyforestschool #natureinspiredlearning #learningoutside #optoutside #KVFS #LFSD #KVR #lafargewi #wisconsin #wisconsinforestschool #kickapoovalley

Not so long ago Forest School students and their families enjoyed a lantern walk and some fireside snacks as a way to enjoy the shortest day of the year. When working on something at school, having the element of purpose added to the activity makes it that much more meaningful! What fun it was to enjoy and celebrate the season! Thank you ! #forestschool #forestcharterschool #optoutside #ourdooreducation #kickapoovalleyforestschool #lafargewi #LFSD #KVFS #kickapoovalleyreserve

As warm and cozy as our classroom spaces are where we play math and reading games, paint, listen to stories or create beeswax sculptures, the wonderland of winter is always beckoning us outdoors. There we find a different kind of warmth, one that is created from us, from moving, playing and exploring. Wisconsin winters can be long but if we embrace it, it flies right by! One way that we know many people enjoy winter is to watch birds, often from inside ones house or with a pair of binoculars. Forest school has a recommendation for an even more exciting way to observe birds. Next time before you refill your bird feeder try laying directly underneath it, place a small handful of bird feed on your coat and see what happens! #forestschool #moresnowplease #wisconsinforestschool #lafargeschooldistrict #optoutside #natureschool #wisconsin #kickapoovalleyreserve #birdwatching

Kickapoo Valley Forest School will be CLOSED on Thursday, December 22 due to the Winter Storm Warning. Our Winter Break was scheduled to begin on Friday, Dec 23- school will resume on Tuesday, January 3. Have a safe and snowy break, KVFS Friends and Families!

Snow! Glorious, creative and truly exhausting snow! We have an abundance of snow and it is such a creative delight! Snow angels, snow octipi, snow dragons... snowmobiles made out of snow, they're not very fast but they do the trick. Forest schooling takes an adventuresome spirit and luckily Wisconsin seems to have lots of hearty, adventuresome people! #lafargewi #kvfs #forestschooling #forestschoolsofwisconsin #optoutside #schoolingoutdoors #kickapoovalleyforestschool #winterwonderland #wisconsin

Celebrating can be as simple as a dance party and roasting hot dogs over an open fire. Last week KVFS fist graders celebrated the completion of their new classroom building! #firstgrade #celebrate #forestschool #kickapoovalleyforestschool #publicforestschool #lafargewi #lfsd

The time it takes to bundle up in layers of warm gear is so worth it to be able to delight in the first snow of the season! #firstsnow #forestschool #kvfs #happywinter #optoutside #outdooreducation #publicforestschool #charterschool #lafargewi #kickapoovalleyreserve #kickapoovalleyforestschool #lfsd

KVFS' Fall Break is next week! The full week is planned as it overlaps with Wisconsin's gun deer hunting season. On Monday and Tuesday next week, staff will be working and learning together with the shared goal of continuous improvement of what we do at KVFS, and we'll also be packing in preparation to move into the 1st grade's new classroom building. Have a safe and cozy break, forest schoolers and families!

Play for its own sake. "Self consciousness is the greatest inhibitor to creativity. How can we discover something new if we are recycling past thought--and perhaps insecurities -- over and over in our minds? For creativity to flower, it must grow free of old patterns of thinking and being. Children are uninhibited and naturally spontaneous; in their enthusiasm, they jump feet first into whatever they're doing. " -Joseph Cornell, Author of Deep Nature Play