It was your typical kindergarten morning on Zoom: little boys and girls in little squares arrayed on the computer screen like the “Brady Bunch” opening credits, each patiently waiting their turn to share what they did over the pandemic weekend.
All except for one. My daughter usually spent the two-dimensional kindergarten class under the table screaming or in her chair crying because the teacher had put her on mute. (Her diagnosis is currently being determined.) the school psychologist would suggest that she be evaluated for autism spectrum disorder and ADHD many months later.
A bright and hyperactive second grader with sensory processing issues, my son managed to get in trouble even while isolated at home. He hijacked the lesson by sharing his screen, changed his name to “Yo Johnny, Minecraft at 4:00,” and blew up the chat feed with video game jargon. He replaced his background picture with a ridiculous photo of himself, then hopped out of the frame to see if the teacher would notice. Instead of taking up his usual pre-pandemic residence in the principal’s office, he was repeatedly sent to the Zoom waiting room.
As a teacher, I knew that online school contradicted all the best teaching practices. The computer-based instructional format we’d been engaged in since spring 2020 when schools closed due to the coronavirus proved disastrous for neurodiverse, high-energy, kinesthetic learners like my children.
I could see that my children were not learning. Worse, they were often angry, upset, depressed, anxious, and constantly fighting. My hair was starting to fall out from the stress.
One day I decided we would skip the Zooms and spend the day at a deserted beach. Thankfully, we live in Juneau, Alaska, in the heart of a cold rainforest called the Tongass, with more miles of trails than roads.
It was a cold but sunny day. Snow covered the mountains, and rocks under our feet fused with ice. My children stacked and balanced stones with mittened hands in the frigid wind, and I considered letting nature take over as their teacher.
My friend Jennifer Walker used to run a forest kindergarten school, an educational model where school takes place in forests or woodlands and focuses on learner-led outdoor play. She told me how unstructured play in the woods helped children regulate their emotions, build resilience, and develop empathy for all living creatures. I had also read about how forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku, was practiced in Japan for its health benefits.
Steve Merli, a teacher and naturalist in Juneau make it a point to take his young students off the trail. “When we are on uneven ground, experiencing the earth shifting at every step, we build the capacity and confidence to move into the next thing,” he explained. “Our neurobiology originated from the experience of being outdoors all or most of the time.” Learning to orient oneself on uneven terrain wasn’t so different from navigating other existential threats ― such as a dangerous unknown virus.
We began to venture into the wilderness regularly, entirely opting out of the Zooms and classwork EWeexplored moss-shrouded trails, empty rocky beaches, and secluded alpine meadows abundant with wildflowers. We identified local and migratory birds and put our heads to the ground to see if it was confirmed that the earth was vibrating at a slower frequency—very day. Instead of filling out worksheets, my children climbed trees and created magic wands with beach glass, shells, and heart-shaped rocks while rain pelted their faces and wind-whipped their hair. They worked together to build forts out of driftwood.
No longer felt alone in nature ut part of an enormous symbiotic ecosystem. We were connected to something bigger than ourselves. We slowed down. We stopped fighting. We felt at peace.
My children’s curiosity was sparked again, and they asked, “How do trees talk to each other?” “Why is the tide so high during a full moon?” “What are all these big metal wheels near the beach where a mine used to stand?” “Why is there snow on the tops of mountains but not below?” “Do trees die in the fall, or are they just resting?”
When we returned home, we researched the answers to our questions. We learned how trees communicate and share nutrients through their roots, mitochondria, and pheromones emitted in the air. We discovered how the moon controls the tide and our moods and behavior, as we are made of water. We investigated the tour area’s mining history, evidenced by the big rusty wheels and broken tiles we found on the beaches. We tracked the life cycles of the seasons and the things growing in them.
During our explorations, we learned the names of wild berries and mushrooms and harvested the safe ones to eat. We identified which bushes stung the skin when exposed to the sun and which ones cured the stings. At home, my children wrote and illustrated stories inspired by our adventures. At night we read books about dthe evil clubs, ravens, tides, and Native Tlingit culture.
Winstead of fighting to get my children to complete their schoolwork on learning apps, I watched them experience the great outdoors and felt grateful. Whereas before, my daughter would cry in anguish during her online classes, now she joyfully sang to the sea. My son, who used to seethe in his seat while the teacher explained multiplication over Zoom, now discovered his mathematical patterning from beatboxing and jumping over boulders like parkour. When school resumed in the fall, the rainy season changed to sideways sleet, and we were forced indoors. My children returned to full-time remote learning but had already become feral. They swapped their toys for rocks, shells, mud, and plants. My daughter chewed sticks and leaves that she pulled off the houseplants, turned guitar strings into bracelets, and beheaded my flowers to create mandalas.
Accustomed to the echo of the mountain, it was as if my daughter had forgotten how to use words. When she screamed over Zoom, her teacher put her on mute, and again she dissolved under the table in tears.
My son, who’d spent his days leaping over large boulders and climbing trees, struggled to sit passively in front of the computer. He stomped around the house, growling like the bears that roamed our neighborhood.
Yet, I do not regret the days I spent “unschooling” my kids. The wilderness made them curious, joyful learners when the online school could not.
They returned to in-person school in May, but we continue to venture into nature. They still pepper me with questions and observations.
During a recent adventure, as we strolled between blueberry bushes and under canopies of witch’s hair moss, my daughter called out: “Look! The trees are talking to each other!”
Tree trunks adorned with glowing colonies of yellow lichen were illuminated gold in the setting sun. Under our feet, roots wove up and over each other like Tlingit spruce baskets. t that moment, with my hiking boots firm on the uneven soil, I felt that we could handle any challenge that came our way.
