Forest School

FOREST SCHOOL arose initially as an institution for the health improvement and education of physically weak children who lagged in schoolwork due to poor health compared to their peers. The foundation of F. sh. lies in the extensive application of the open-air regime. This regime is beginning to be applied more and more widely in the system of school and preschool education, not only as an educational and therapeutic auxiliary measure, but also for purely preventive purposes—for the purpose of placing children in conditions of healthy upbringing. F. sh., which apparently received its name because the first school (Charlottenburg; 1904) was set up in a pine forest, is gradually transforming into a school "outdoors." The latter is finding widespread adoption in Germany, England, and America partly as an auxiliary school for weak and backward children, and partly as a new "reformed" school serving normal children. In addition to suburban schools, such schools began to form within the city limits—sometimes on flat rooftops of buildings. For weak and backward children, separate pavilions are built or separate classrooms in large schools are allocated and adapted for classes with open windows, which requires not only improved heating but also special clothing for children. In New York, one room in each school building is allocated for an outdoor classroom. In these classrooms, the temperature is maintained not below 10°. Outdoor schools have found wide application in the West. At numerous conferences and congresses abroad and in our country, it has repeatedly been pointed out that every normal school should strive for a regime typical of an outdoor school. A special place is occupied by the "school in the sun," organized in 1910 by Rollier in Leysin. In this school, children remain under the rays of the sun for extended periods. Similar "schools in the sun" also exist in France. Under the name "forest schools" (Waldschule) in Germany and Austria, one can also find institutions that operate only in the summer (in warm weather), accepting groups of children for relatively short periods (about a month)—a kind of summer sanatorium school or a variation of the summer school colony. The question of organizing F. sh. in Russia first arose in 1912 (congress of workers in public education and the I All-Russian Congress of children's doctors). In 1913, the Lefortovsky Guardianship of the Poor established a F. sh. in Moscow in Sokolniki. Despite its existence for several years, this experience remained unused before the revolution. In 1918, on the initiative of V. M. Bonch-Bruyevich, an experimental forest school was founded in Moscow in Sokolniki, which is currently under the jurisdiction of the Institute for the Protection of Children's Health of the People's Commissariat of Health; gradually forest schools for physically weak children began to spread throughout the union (Moscow, Kostroma, Nizhny Novgorod, Novgorod, Orel, Ufa, Nevel, etc.). The very idea of the necessity of organizing F. sh. has taken deep root in the USSR. In ordinary forest schools, weakened children are usually accepted for 6 months, i.e., for a period during which a child can not only go through a strengthening course but also through a systematic pedagogical process, which, like the rest of the school's regime, is subordinate to the main idea—improving and strengthening the child through the rational use of sun, air, water, strengthening exercises, and rational nutrition. The experience of forest schools under Soviet conditions leads to the following basic principles of their organization. A forest school as an institution for weak children is set up outside the city or on its outskirts, provided there is convenient tram and other transportation. The plot for a school for 50 people should be an area of at least 1-2 hectares. For sun and air baths, a special platform is arranged. In case of bad weather, there should be a canopy or an open-sided veranda under a roof. For winter time, glazed verandas are necessary. In a school for 50 people, the following premises are usually arranged: a room for reading and writing—30-40 m², 1-2 rooms for drawing and drafting at 40 m² each, a workshop at 60 m², a room for staying during free time from classes at 60 m², a changing room at 15 m², a kitchen at 20 m², a dining room at 0.75-1 m² per student, a teacher's room at 12 m², a med. office at 12 m², a duty guardhouse at 7.5 m², a washroom, a toilet; room height—4 m. F. sh. are arranged both for day students, provided there is convenient communication with populated areas, and for those living in the school. In the latter case, bedrooms for 5-10 people each are necessary, calculated at 6-8 m² per person, with a height of 3-5 m, an isolation room of 28 m², and a room for the duty supervisor at 5-8 m². For the sake of preventing the introduction of infection into boarding schools, it is undesirable to mix day students with permanent residents in the same school. Heating can be central, Dutch, or with Utermarck stoves. Devices for constant access of air in summer and winter, day and night to all children's rooms are necessary. Well-arranged transoms satisfy this purpose; the device of a wooden frame stretched with cambric, inserted into the window opening, is also permissible. The temperature in rooms in winter with constantly open transoms should not be below 9-10°. Furniture in F. sh. should be light and portable so that children can move it themselves from rooms to the open air and back depending on the weather conditions. For lying outdoors, a wooden frame stretched with canvas is most convenient. For sufficient use of air regardless of the season and weather conditions, children in F. sh. must be provided with appropriate clothing. In the climate of the middle zone of the Union, it is necessary to have three sets of clothing—for summer, winter, autumn (as well as spring) seasons. In addition, for lying outdoors in winter, warm blanket-bags are necessary. The pedagogical staff of F. sh. should also be provided with appropriate clothing. The selection of children for F. sh. should be done very carefully and cautiously; children are selected from regular schools. Indications for admission are 1) prolonged anemia, 2) chronic malnutrition, 3) tbc without local manifestations of the process (chronic tuberculous intoxication, according to A. A. Kiselyu). Contraindications are 1) cases of severe tbc, 2) severe lesions of the circulatory organs, 3) severe nervous phenomena (epilepsy, chorea, hysteria, etc.), 4) mental and moral deficiency, 5) contagious skin diseases: favus, syphilis, ringworm, scabies, as well as foul-smelling rhinitis. The main factors of the F. sh. regime are 1) the greatest possible use of outdoor air, 2) adequate nutrition, 3) proper hygienic distribution of the day for children. All classes and work of children are conducted outdoors as much as possible, not excluding cold weather. As the experience of F. sh. and sanatorium institutions of Moscow shows, with the provision of adequate appropriate clothing and selection of suitable activities, it is possible to conduct most classes outdoors. Written classes are conducted in rooms alternately with oral classes conducted outdoors. The teaching method in F. sh. differs from that in a regular school in terms of greater visual appeal and proximity to the surrounding nature. Observation shows that children in the conditions of F. sh. achieve much more compared to a regular school even with less time spent on classes. In addition to sufficient total calories depending on age, children should receive mixed varied food at regular intervals 4 times a day. Approximate menu: morning—substantial breakfast, e.g., porridge or scrambled eggs, bread with butter, coffee with ¹/₂ glass of milk; lunch: soup or borscht, for the second course—meat or fish with potatoes or other vegetables, a glass of milk; evening—tea with milk or a sandwich, bread, butter, ham or cheese; dinner: porridge and jelly, 1 glass of milk. It is necessary to provide children with sufficient vitamins. Hygienic habits that must be conducted in F. sh. include skin care, oral hygiene, washing hands before each meal, training in maintaining cleanliness and order in the room and belongings. Skin care consists of daily washing of the skin up to the waist or with room water and a weekly soap bath. In summer, daily washing of feet before sleep is also necessary (if there is a boarding school). Approximate winter schedule: from 7¹/₂ to 8¹/₂ a.m.—rising, temperature measurement, morning toilet, cleanup, medical examination (morning toilet: cold shower, washing or rubbing, teeth cleaning, etc.); from 8¹/₂ to 9¹/₂ a.m.—breakfast; from 9¹/₂ to 12¹/_{2 p.m.—school classes (4 classes with breaks for games outdoors).}

In summer at 11 a.m. - sunbathing and shower; from 1 to 2 p.m. - lunch; from 2 to 4 p.m. - afternoon rest outdoors; from 4 to 4½ hours - temperature measurement, tea with snacks; from 4½ to 6½ hours - club activities (workshops, singing, organized games, sports, entertainment and gymnastics); from 6½ to 7 p.m. - dinner; after dinner from 7½ to 8½ hours - club and circle activities; from 8½ to 9 p.m. - evening toilet, preparation for sleep. Self-service is introduced as one of the elements of social education. The labor processes available to the contingent of children in the F. sh. are as follows: making beds, tidying up belongings, classrooms, sweeping with water, wiping dust with water, serving during meals, washing tea utensils, carrying firewood, gardening, horticulture, certain types of manual labor - all with dosing and individualization. Physical exercises with strict selection, individualization, dosing and under medical supervision are one of the factors of physical education conducted in the F. sh. At the head of the institution is a doctor; to assist him - an experienced nurse or feldsher. For every 20 children - a teacher. In case of the presence of an boarding school, special educators or a corresponding increase in the number of teachers is necessary.