![\"Children](\"https:\/\/firefly-forest-school.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Firefly_Forest_School_Homeschooling_Bug_Detective_Journey_1.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n![\"Children's](\"https:\/\/firefly-forest-school.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/\u0e42\u0e23\u0e07\u0e40\u0e23\u0e35\u0e22\u0e19\u0e2b\u0e34\u0e48\u0e07\u0e2b\u0e49\u0e2d\u0e22_Garden_Snail_Firefly_ForestSchool_5-1-1024x682.jpg\")
<\/figure>\nBarefoot in the Park<\/h2>\n
Some of our happiest days were also the simplest. The children kicked off their shoes to feel the grass and earth, then went looking for natural materials to make masks and crowns. They climbed trees, built tree houses and went “fishing”, which one young explorer described perfectly: you dangle a twig in the water, then sit very still in case a fish swims over.<\/p>\n
The parents were part of the adventure too. Dads joined in and helped make the outings fun, and in one session the mums wrote a letter to their seven-year-old selves and drew how others see them compared with who they really are. One mother wrote that Firefly felt like a second home for her family.<\/p>\n Before a short term break we built a week around the idea of a rest stop: a time for children and parents to pause, look back at how far we had come and notice anything we had dropped along the way. Parents and children had separate activities, and the children’s party showed us a side of them we had not seen before. They sat together without their parents, shared snacks, chatted about the things they cared about and enjoyed a mini-concert from Papa Robin. By then our community had grown to three groups and 113 families. Families who had been there from the start now felt like one big family.<\/p>\n Around Thai New Year 2021, COVID returned and meeting in person had to stop. Mama June kept the learning going with weekly ideas families could try at home. In plants week, children studied what roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruit do, planted seeds or flowers to watch them grow, and went looking for where different plants keep their seeds. Wildflower week asked children to find the flowers growing wild around them and work out how many kinds there were. In grass week, families learned about types of grass and how a grass plant is built, looked for the creatures living in the grass and grew grass of their own.<\/p>\n Art carried on at home too. One young painter returned to a favourite picture to practise the sky and meadow again, adding flowers dabbed on with cotton buds. Mama June tried to help blend the colours, went too far, and happily handed the brush back so the artist could fix it.<\/p>\n Our caterpillar unit became a family project. Caterpillars were found in all sorts of places, and Papa Robin and his young assistant built them a little house. For three weeks, morning, noon and bedtime, everyone checked on them and fed them. By the end, the children could name every stage of the life cycle. When the butterflies emerged one or two at a time, the lesson turned to saying goodbye: they had become part of nature, just as children one day grow up and fly their own way. A museum visit had been planned for that week, but because of the situation we kept following what inspired us. It became one of our favourite homeschool weeks, right up there with our moon week.<\/p>\n By May 2022 the school had grown, and two celebrations stand out. Our Firefly Forest School Camp brought along our travelling theatre, which remains one of the children’s happiest memories. Thank you for every smile, every laugh and all the teamwork from children and parents alike. Soon after, we marked the end of Term 1 with a party for the whole community.<\/p>\n Looking back at these early days, it is easy to see where Firefly’s heart comes from: curious children, involved families and nature as our classroom. To find out how it all began, read our story<\/a>. To see how those first steps have grown, explore our programs today<\/a>. And if you would like to see the forest for yourself, book a school tour<\/a>. We would love to welcome you.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A look back at Firefly Forest School’s early years in Bangkok: bug detective and garden snail weeks, barefoot park days, learning at home through COVID, caterpillars turning into butterflies, and our 2022 theatre camp.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":213,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Children](\"https:\/\/firefly-forest-school.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Barefoot_in_the_park_\u0e40\u0e1b\u0e25\u0e37\u0e2d\u0e22\u0e40\u0e17\u0e49\u0e32\u0e2a\u0e31\u0e21\u0e1c\u0e31\u0e2a\u0e18\u0e23\u0e23\u0e21\u0e0a\u0e32\u0e15\u0e34\u0e01\u0e31\u0e19_3-1024x682.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n![\"Children](\"https:\/\/firefly-forest-school.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/\u0e40\u0e14\u0e47\u0e01\u0e46\u0e0a\u0e27\u0e19\u0e01\u0e31\u0e19\u0e21\u0e32\u0e15\u0e01\u0e1b\u0e25\u0e32\u0e01\u0e31\u0e19Firefly-Forest-School-\u0e42\u0e23\u0e07\u0e40\u0e23\u0e35\u0e22\u0e19\u0e2b\u0e34\u0e48\u0e07\u0e2b\u0e49\u0e2d\u0e22_3-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/figure>\nA “Rest Stop” Before the Term Break<\/h2>\n
![\"Firefly](\"https:\/\/firefly-forest-school.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Barefoot_in_the_park_Firefly-Forest-School_\u0e42\u0e23\u0e07\u0e40\u0e23\u0e35\u0e22\u0e19\u0e2b\u0e34\u0e48\u0e07\u0e2b\u0e49\u0e2d\u0e22_19-1024x682.jpg\")
<\/figure>\nLearning at Home Through COVID<\/h2>\n
From Caterpillars to Butterflies<\/h2>\n
2022: A Travelling Theatre Camp and an End-of-Term Party<\/h2>\n
![\"Children](\"https:\/\/firefly-forest-school.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Firefly_Forest_School_Camp_Bangkok_Thailand_1-3-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n![\"Firefly](\"https:\/\/firefly-forest-school.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Firefly_Forest_School_Bangkok_Thailand_1-2-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n