Our playground was redesigned last year, and by spring, we started noticing exciting changes in the space. We designated one area as "the forest" because it was filled with shrubbery that resembled trees with several branches, creating a canopy-like effect. As the weather warmed up, Chase would bring mats and books into the forest to read among the blossoms with the children. We even placed cots in the area for the children to relax in the shade.
After the blossoms fell off, small berries began to appear on the shrubs which attracted many birds. Simone tasted one of the berries and found that it tasted delicious, but we didn't know what they were. After some research, we discovered that they were edible berries known as Service berries, Saskatoon berries and June Berries. As the children discovered they were tall enough to pick and taste the berries, from that time, the “forest” was crowded with children. When Simone discussed how expensive jam was with Deb, we decided to make our own jam with the berries. With the help of the children, we gathered enough berries to make a batch of jam, which we enjoyed as part of our snack.
Over the next couple of weeks, the forest continued to thrive. We had the opportunity to learn about the indigenous community in our area when Heather, Candice and their students from Conestoga College visited. From their teaching we realized the importance of respecting the natural habitat and learned to pick the berries gently, ensuring we are leaving some for the birds. This whole experience has transformed the forest into a place for valuable conversations and learning experiences. We had moments such as Harper remembering Simones words of “only picking the red berries” to telling her classmates “The purple ones are delicious”. Another learning experience was when Max accidentally broke a tree branch and we overheard him saying “ I’m sorry, I’m sorry that I broke you .” We look forward to continuing to use the forest as a place of discovery and education in the coming year, like how we discovered that it’s high in fiber, and we saw the signs from the children’s digestive system for a couple of weeks. The hope is that next year we’re able to gather more berries to make and freeze enough jam for the whole school year. I look forward to bringing the language of gratitude and reciprocity into the classroom for the children.Those are two of the most important words that I have taken away from my indigenous learning so far.
