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Ep 89 - Forest School Maths!
Description
In this thoughtful and often humorous episode of The Forest School Podcast, Lewis and Gemma dive into the messy, joyful world of maths at Forest School. Beginning with tangents on back-cracking, folk music, and gratitude journaling, the conversation soon weaves into a rich tapestry of observation, pedagogy, and curriculum critique. They explore how maths shows up organically in outdoor play—through fairness, measuring, currency invention, building, risk assessment, and more—without ever needing plastic counters or worksheets.
This episode covers contrasting pedagogical approaches from Waldorf to EYFS, key takeaways from Peter Gray’s articles on unschooling and mathematical autonomy, and real-life examples of emergent maths in Forest School settings. With warmth and depth, the conversation questions our societal obsession with didactic maths and celebrates the mathematical richness already present in nature, play, and human connection.
⏱ Chapter Timings:
00:00 – Crying, car crashes, and physical paperwork: an emotional intro
02:43 – Chiropractic YouTube, gratitude journaling, and old stuff
07:47 – Reclaimed bricks, wine bottles, and Devon apple trees
11:01 – Folk music, John Barleycorn, and mythic maths metaphors
12:49 – Book reviews: EYFS maths, Waldorf geometry, and Fibonacci sneezeweed
18:42 – Rhythm, the heliosphere, and how not to teach time
25:33 – Forest School maths: pinecone currency, tree rings, and fairness
31:47 – Peter Gray’s articles and the four types of maths
44:34 – Real examples: cooking, climbing, measuring, and equity
54:41 – Takeaways: start with the learner, strip it all back
🌲 Keywords: Forest School maths, outdoor learning, emergent numeracy, playful maths, unschooling, Peter Gray, Waldorf geometry, EYFS curriculum, observational learning, currency in play, fairness, rhythm in nature, gratitude practice, folk pedagogy
🔖 Hashtags:
#ForestSchool #OutdoorLearning #MathsInNature #Unschooling #EmergentMaths #NatureBasedLearning #PlayBasedMaths #PeterGray #WaldorfEducation #RhythmAndMaths #ForestSchoolPodcast #EarlyYears #ChildLedLearning #PracticalPedagogy #NatureConnection #MathsOutside
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