Please reach us at katie@forestkidseducation.com if you cannot find an answer to your question.
Forest School is an educational approach that takes learning outdoors—into forests, fields, and wild spaces—where children can explore, discover, and grow through hands-on experiences in nature. Rather than sitting at desks under florescent lights in an over-stimulating environment, children learn in peaceful environments and learn by doing: building shelters, observing wildlife, climbing trees, creating with natural materials, and developing practical life skills.
At its heart, Forest School is about nurturing the whole child. It supports not only academic learning, but also confidence, resilience, independence, creativity, and a deep connection to the natural world. Children are encouraged to take appropriate risks, solve problems, and follow their curiosity, all within a safe and supportive environment guided by experienced and certified educators.
Forest Kids programs are taught by BC and Alberta certified teachers, with real teaching experience in various classrooms and grade levels, meaning your children experience professional weekly curriculum themes + fun facts, lesson planning, and organization in our programming - an essential part of the Forest Kids brand. While weekly curriculum themes are important, Forest Kids also values child-led and play-based learning, meaning additional learning throughout the day may be spontaneous, as a child’s interests will lead the way on our adventures —whether that’s learning about a bug under a log, discovering animal tracks in the snow, or learning how to safely build a fire. These moments naturally lead into lessons in science, ecology, math, teamwork, and survival skills.
Forest Kids also understands the importance of literacy in childhood as the foundation to student reading and writing. Following the Charlotte Mason Teaching philosophy, students will get to enjoy listening to various stories with inspirational characters, which increases their vocabulary, familiarizes them with story structure, and encourages story comprehension through prediction and questioning. Forest Kids is committed to teaching kids how to be leaders through implementation of the 7 Habits, and ensuring learning is focused on the natural world, keeping political and controversial ideologies out of our outdoor classroom and lessons. We strive to teach kids how to think (creating critical thinkers), not what to think.
At Forest Kids, our programs are rooted in respect for nature, traditional outdoor skills, and the belief that childhood should be filled with adventure, wonder, and meaningful real-world experiences. The preservation of childhood, creating memorable family based opportunities, and teaching kids the importance of learning traditional skills in a quickly advancing technological world, are core values of Forest Kids.
Outdoor play is one of the most powerful ways children learn and grow. Time spent in nature supports healthy development in ways that indoor environments simply can’t replicate. Kids are not meant to sit for extended period of times...they are meant to play and learn through movement, exploration, and hands-on learning!
1. Builds Strong, Healthy Bodies
2. Supports Mental Health & Emotional Well-Being
3. Encourages Confidence & Independence
4. Sparks Creativity & Imagination
5. Develops Real-Life Problem-Solving Skills
6. Builds Social Skills & Teamwork
7. Fosters a Deep Connection to Nature
8. Improves Focus & Learning Readiness
Our programs take place in outdoor woodland learning environments, where children are encouraged to use their imagination and think creatively, asses risks and test their boundaries (essential for healthy development), explore, observe, run, climb, get their hands dirty (exposure to the forest biome and increased vitamin D exposure is crucial for maintaining a healthy immune system) nurture life, regulate stress, recognize beauty, develop a sense of community, learn through mini lessons, play, collaborate and enjoy the magic of experiencing childhood in nature!
Both Homeschool and public school children can benefit from one day or more a week of outdoor education - bringing balance and joy into their weekly learning schedule.
Spending regular, extended time outdoors in all seasons helps children build physical strength, emotional regulation, and a strong sense of belonging—both to their community and to the land around them.
Yes, all types of learners are welcome and encouraged to join one of our Forest Kids programs, one day a week. We deeply value education—and what we offer is designed to enhance, not replace, your child’s learning - whether that is public school, Heartwood or homeschooled children.
Ages 7–13 are a critical time for developing not just academic skills, but also confidence, resilience, emotional regulation, and independence - skills required for healthy brain development, mental health and skills that will set them up for success into their future. For many children, a full week of structured, indoor learning can feel overwhelming + overstimulating for their nervous systems, and they benefit greatly from having intentional time to reset and recharge.
A day in nature provides that balance. Through hands-on, outdoor experiences, children reduce stress, improve focus, and return to school more calm, engaged, and ready to learn. At the same time, they are developing real-world skills—problem-solving, teamwork, creativity, and self-reliance—that complement and strengthen what they are learning in the classroom.
Rather than falling behind, many families find their children actually thrive with this balance—gaining confidence, improving well-being, and building skills that support both their academic success and their overall development.
Our teachers have very high group management expectations and protocols that we follow to ensure everyone's safety, and this is something Forest Kids takes very seriously, as my own two children are also in the program. Teachers head count religiously and have a strict "I must see you, and you must see me" policy that the kids must follow. Safety rules are always reviewed in new learning environments, prior to kids playing. In the 5+ years of teaching at Forest Kids, I have never lost sight of a child or had any child run away from the group. Our teachers are very hands on and involved with the children and typically form very close relationships with them right away - this trusting relationship is key to our successful group management. You can feel at ease sending your child to Forest Kids as you are leaving them in the caring hands of professional educators, with years of training and experience in classroom management. We also have a strict policy that children who register for Forest Kids must be good listeners, are not defiant, or prone to running away. This policy is in place for the safety of all students registered.
Our program locations vary, depending on the time of year and type of program. In the Spring + Summer, we will either be exploring the Rotary Trails, playing in the sand along Cedar Lake, the Columbia or Blaeberry river's, or exploring the old growth forest on private land in Nicholson. In the Fall + winter, we will explore the pond ecosystem around reflection lake, slide down the hills in the snow on Snake Hill or venture on the rotary trails in town. Our younger Pinecones and Saplings programs will either meet in town at the soccer fields picnic shelter, or at our Nicolson location, with the occasional day at one of our out of town locations. The Rangers and Wildcraft programs will do significantly more travelling to different out of town locations in the Fall, Spring and summer, while staying in town during the winter. Teachers will be in communication with parents prior to the program starting, via text, to inform you where the pick up and drop off location will be for each program. Unless otherwise noted, teachers will let you know the program location the day before, as locations are chosen based on weather conditions.
All programs are taught by certified teachers.
Wildcraft and Rangers programs will be taught by Katie Balon, a certified teacher (graduated with distinction), with both a Bachelor of Art and a Bachelor of Education degrees (and a minor in Social Studies), current First Aid and CPR certification, over 20 years teaching experience, 10 years in the public school system and 7 + years homeschooling and teaching children in our outdoor education programs. From time to time, Katie will be accompanied by her husband, Bryce Balon, a certified trapper and experienced hunter, to help teach additional survival skills during our Rangers program.
Pinecones and Saplings programs will be taught by Nicole Neutzling, a certified teacher in both Alberta and BC, with both a Bachelors of Education and Masters of Education degrees, current first Aid and CPR certification, and over 10+ years of experience teaching across K-12 in Canada and Internationally (Ecuador, Uruguay, Japan and Bahrain).
Our programs are created and run by a professional educator who was part of the Alberta curriculum redesign committee for years, meaning your child will receive a high level educational experience and hopefully come home each day excited to share all that they learned!
Our instructors are highly qualified and experienced in their fields, holding advanced degrees and certifications. We also regularly evaluate our instructors, to ensure they are providing the highest quality education to our students. At Forest Kids, we value the importance of having a certified teacher with a minimum of 5-10 years teaching experience teaching your children, guaranteeing your children will be taught well rounded lessons from an experienced teacher who understands the value of curriculum and learning in outdoor settings.