When Innisfil resident Fawn Milligan St-Pierre had to close her home nature-based daycare in March 2020 due to COVID, she didn't know what to do.
"I took a year off because it was very confusing," she said.
Now, two years into the pandemic, she has found her bearings, after opening her own forest school in June 2021, FernGully Hollow Nature Pods.
"I love nature, I love teaching children, so collaborate them together and that's what you get is forest school," she said.
Forest School is not a new concept and is a form of alternative education that can be traced back to Denmark in the 1950s.
The Forest School Canada organization was first established ten ago and focuses its learnings on the country's Indigenous roots and their relationship with the land. Students learn through outdoor play, science and nature.
At Milligan St-Pierre's school in Alcona, the spring, summer and fall months are all spent outside, and in the winter, half the day is spent in a "hibernation pod" inside with the other half spent outdoors.
She teaches students JK-Grade 2, split into two pods, with around four to eight students. Her students come from all over the area, including Bradford, Barrie and Alliston. With public schools shut down for at least the next two weeks, she says she has been fielding many calls from parents looking for alternative education options.
"I'm pretty busy," she told InnisfilToday. "I've had probably 15 people messaging me now. I have waitlists for the spring, summer and fall."
She believes in repurposing items and using "authentic resources" in her teachings.
"It's old school and it's the way that works," she said, noting there are no electronics used in her classroom.
"We don't do screens or Ipads, if children want to learn something they open their dictionaries and encyclopedias, we don't do electronics at all," she said.
All learning materials used are second-hand.
"Everything is found from thrift stores, garage sales, (Facebook) Marketplace, things people donate to me," she said. "It also teaches the kids to keep things out of landfills."
Milligan St-Pierre currently runs the school out of her basement but is looking for investors and sponsors with property who would be interested in partnering with her to expand her school, offering more programs for older grades.
"My mission is to have our communities come together to build an inspirational school that will help recognize the many benefits of outdoor education," she said. "The aim is to help not only children but also inspire adults to fall in love with nature as they once did as a child."
She says there is a large need for this type of education in the community, and would ideally like to have the school expanded to a larger property located in the Essa area.
"Children need to be connected with nature," she said.
Milligan St-Pierre is a Registered Early Childhood Educator (ECE). She also has her Forest Practitioner Certificate through the Child and Nature Alliance of Canada.
She says she has always had a passion for nature, ever since she was a kid.
"Right when I was little and I was catching tadpoles in the creek with my dad," she said. "I've been a naturalist my whole entire life."
Milligan St-Pierre grew up in Toronto and moved to Innisfil seven years ago.
"I was a nature girl stuck in the city," she said. "So I had to get out of there and move up here."
Her long-term plan is to move to North Bay, and open up another Forest School, in addition to the one in Simcoe County.
To learn more about FernGully Hollow Educational Nature Pods, visit their Facebook page here.
