Upstream Forest School

At Upstream Forest School, we are connecting to nature and experiencing the outdoors with our full selves; physically, mentally, socially and emotionally.  Through curiosity, discovery and saying yes a lot, a curriculum emerges that the children explore to their hearts content.  Through tool use, calculated risk, core routines, and freely chosen play the children become alive and unhindered in the environment.   We have a strong belief that the child is capable, and that is translated into how they are treated and observed.  Some of the core routines we develop over time are Story Telling, Sit Spots (quiet time in nature), Empathy, Field Guides, and more!  
 

Upstream Land Acknowledgement and

Statement on Reconciliation

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We acknowledge that at forest school we work and play in Treaty 7 territory, the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Kainai, Piikani), the Tsuut’ina, the Îyâxe Nakoda Nations, and the Métis Nation (Region 3). We recognize their continuing connection to the land and pay our respects to elders, past, present, and emerging. We are grateful to call the bluff and Moh'kins'tsis our shared home.

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We acknowledge that experiential and land based learning, which are part of our approach, are not new concepts and have always been integral to Indigenous ways of life and learning. We seek to be students, walking with humility and willing to learn from all before and alongside us.

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We also seek to connect with Indigenous people and teachers in our region so we can be better partners in treaty and reconciliation. We commit to hosting Indigenous knowledge keepers at forest school and educating and being educated about reconciliation through campaigns such as Every Child Matters and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.