1. Where is your child at school?
2. How does the school incorporate the outdoors into the program?
The school is based in primarily two areas in San Diego, the park and the canyon, both completely outdoors.
3. How much time is spent outdoors?
My son attends four hours, three times a week but they offer five days for up to 6 hours if you need it a day.
4. Has your child had an adjustment period to the outdoor approach?
My son never attended anything other than this nature school.
5. Would you characterize your family as "outdoorsy"?
I would say we are always outside, living in San Diego, the beach is very much apart of our lifestyle as well as the area hikes but we are not hard core backpacking outdoorsy people no. My husband and I are both Registered Nurses.
6. How has outdoor school benefited your child in particular?
I have seen an increase in his independence, free will and decision making. He has grown skills in sewing, painting, language development, working with and as a team, tree climbing and other physical attributes. His relationships with the teachers were also a pivotal part of his growth as he learned and respect other adults and work with them to accomplish a common goal.
7. Did you pivot from traditional school to outdoor school? Maybe from one child to another, and if, yes, what was that decision process like?
We never started in traditional school, he started the outdoor school at three years old and I plan to start my second born son at three in the outdoor school as well. They will attend until they are seven most likely before I discover a new pathway.
8. Was it hard to find an outdoor school in your area? How did you approach your search? Did you utilize the free ODSS Outdoor School Directory to find your program?
There are several here in San Diego but I found that this was founded the longest ago and had the best qualities that I found.
9. How have friends & family reacted to your choice to embrace outdoor education?
I would say that due to the person I am, always having loved the outdoors so they were not totally surprised but I do think some of them think it's "taboo"/ "non traditional" and something I am doing to "go against the grain" but in reality I just feel it's the best environment for his growing and young mind. Having had him home for the first three years of his life I wanted to slowly expose him to the world and I think being part of the nature school community has done just that.
10. Has it been difficult to find the right outerwear to keep your child happy, warm and engaged at outdoor school? How has ODSS been a resource for you in terms of gear?
I found Outdoor School Shop luckily right before I needed to get gear for my son's first year so I was able to invest in good quality rain gear and equipment early on which I will pass along to his brother when I can. I also think it would be awesome for all the schools to partner with your company on rentals and loans as our children grow so quickly, maybe a loaner program. I know our rain suit is in great condition because we live in the sunshine but we still needed to have it just in case.
