Roman Shapla, from Nature School Startup, joins me to discuss Nature Schools - where the outdoors is the classroom.

Roman recently shared on Twitter how he has taught tracking class: showing kids animal tracks in the dirt teaches kids about pattern recognition, thinking through timelines, as well as problem solving in their surroundings ("if this track is here, where did it come from, where is it going, and what is the animal doing?"). Definitely worth a Follow.

He teaches homeschooling parents and co-ops how to start their own weekend nature school or to help those looking to bring the outdoors into a traditional classroom.

Some of the benefits of outdoor schooling that we discuss:

* Engaging teenagers by giving them responsibility on tasks and even including them in mentoring younger children.

* Breaking the cycle of screen addiction and reawakening wonder through teaching outdoors.

* Teaching skills like pattern recognition, timelines, seasonality, and sense of place.

* Including marginalized or difficult children in a school outdoors significantly counteracts boredom, anxiety, and even ADHD.

He has more tips in his excellent Substack article on Valuing the Marginal - Designing for Children and Elders.

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