Gerhard E. Dekker
Regenerative Education Center
Honouring Children’s Natural Love of Learning Through Nature and Community Centered Education
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kinanaskomitinin askiy
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We are grateful to this land for holding us here. We remember we are on Treaty 1 and Treaty 3 Territory, the Ancestral Land of the Ininew, Anishinaabe, Dene and Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, and National Homeland of the Red River Metis. We are committed to listening to, learning from, and meaningfully supporting Indigenous people in our programming, policies, and actions.
Registration for Forest School is Open!
Coyotes Cohort
Ages 6 to 12
Thursdays, 9:30 am to 3:30 pm
Parc Tétrault Park, La Broquerie, Manitoba
Tuition $159.98 / month
Note: Coyotes is currently waitlisting for full seats. Three alternating week spots are currently available. Priority registration for next year is given to current Forest School students.
Skipperlings Cohort
Ages 6 to 12
Alternating Tuesdays, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
Weston Family Tallgrass Prairie Interpretive Centre, Stuartburn, MB
Tuition $64.70 / month
Note A prorated registration fee applies.
For Skipperlings this is $100, for Coyotes, $200. If registering midyear, the registration fee is less.
Bursaries are available.
See Forest School Tuition Cost in FAQ to request financial assistance.
Ages 6 to 12
Thursdays, 9:30 am to 3:30 pm
Parc Tétrault Park, La Broquerie, Manitoba
Tuition $159.98 / month
Note: Coyotes is currently waitlisting for full seats. Three alternating week spots are currently available. Priority registration for next year is given to current Forest School students.
Skipperlings Cohort
Ages 6 to 12
Alternating Tuesdays, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
Weston Family Tallgrass Prairie Interpretive Centre, Stuartburn, MB
Tuition $64.70 / month
Note A prorated registration fee applies.
For Skipperlings this is $100, for Coyotes, $200. If registering midyear, the registration fee is less.
Bursaries are available.
See Forest School Tuition Cost in FAQ to request financial assistance.
Sign up to Volunteer
Support child led play and learning with the land!
What is Forest School?
Forest and Nature School always takes place outdoors, in the same natural area, allowing kids to build a deep relationship with that place and its inhabitants. It is child led and emergent, and features lots of time for unstructured free play, which has been shown to have great outcomes for learning and holistic well being. This is a research-backed model of education rooted in supporting the ways children naturally thrive, learn and grow. Kids engage in inquiry, exploration, creativity, active movement, and various projects outdoors, on and with the land all day. Forest School leaders share skills such as woodworking, fire building, shelter building, nature based arts and crafts, and more, modeling respect and reciprocal relationship with others and with the land.
Learn More
Research on the Benefits of Forest and Nature School
There has been a lot of research done showing what many of us already know intuitively: being outdoors and learning in a context of free play, intrinsic motivation and respectful relating has amazing benefits to learning, health and holistic well being.
Learn MoreForest School FAQ
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Feedback from Forest School parents
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Resources
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Swim along and discover the beautiful underwater world of an unassuming creek. There is so much to explore in our amazing world!
Read MoreAnd I did have a dream of a sturgeon, and that dream really was different than most of the other dreams I've had in that I was standing in the water with my arm around a sturgeon and the sturgeon spoke to me and said, “I miss the frogs”. And I woke up and that was the strangest dream I think I have ever had. Because first of all, I didn't even know what a sturgeon was. I didn't have any connection to a sturgeon. And it made me curious, why is she telling me that?
Read MoreCheck out this awesome resource from Nature North with the frog and toad calls of Manitoba!
Read MoreIn spring of 2023 we invited Audrey Logan to share her incredible knowledge of Indigenous Gardening techniques with us in an online workshop. Here we present a recording of these precious and valuable teachings.
Read MoreAbout GEDREC
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The Gerhard E. Dekker Regenerative Education Center (GEDREC) is a non-profit organization offering nature based programming and holistic learning opportunities for children, and people of all ages, living in South-Eastern Manitoba, Treaty 1 territory, the land of the Métis, Anishnaabe, Nêhiyaw and Očhéthi Šakówiŋ people.
We honour the Forest School pedagogy and multidisciplinary learning through dynamic, nature-based programming, creating inspiring learning environments where people are supported as individuals, as they learn, play and explore the incredible richness of the natural world. We are educators who are passionate about learning, creativity and nature, and the vital importance of play, rest, reciprocity, gratitude, and respect.
When we are supported to learn about and engage with the land and nature, we also learn to care for the land. When we are supported to learn about our emotional nature and practice respectful relating, we learn to care for ourselves and others well.
At the core of our values is a deep respect for the natural world and an understanding that we are part of the Earth. Spending time outdoors, learning from Indigenous peoples and teachings, and developing programs which cultivate resilience, wisdom and compassion, and honour and support Indigenous resilience and life on Earth, are integrally important to us.
We honour the Forest School pedagogy and multidisciplinary learning through dynamic, nature-based programming, creating inspiring learning environments where people are supported as individuals, as they learn, play and explore the incredible richness of the natural world. We are educators who are passionate about learning, creativity and nature, and the vital importance of play, rest, reciprocity, gratitude, and respect.
When we are supported to learn about and engage with the land and nature, we also learn to care for the land. When we are supported to learn about our emotional nature and practice respectful relating, we learn to care for ourselves and others well.
At the core of our values is a deep respect for the natural world and an understanding that we are part of the Earth. Spending time outdoors, learning from Indigenous peoples and teachings, and developing programs which cultivate resilience, wisdom and compassion, and honour and support Indigenous resilience and life on Earth, are integrally important to us.
Our Team
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news
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Blind Creek Community Clean Up and Nature Play Pop up Event, Forest and Nature School News, Families & Tots, Community Survey and More
Read MoreThank You Survey Respondents, Spring Forest School Registration Opening Announcement, Thank you to the Land, Indigenous Peoples, Government of Manitoba, Nature Conservancy of Canada and Shared Legacy, Poweshiek Skipperling Release and Controlled Burns on the Prairie.
Read MoreArt in the Woods with Friends, and a New Adventure in the Works (Friends of the Forest, our upcoming Forest and Nature School!)
Read MoreCommunity Connect Meeting, Indigenous Gardening Workshop online with Audrey Logan, 'Seasons on the Prairie' with Laura Reeves at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, Homeschooler's Market Table, Drumming with GED-REC, Walks in the Woods with Friends, Anndrea's Book Launch, and Rain Barrel Fundraiser!
Read MoreEach month we'll walk a new Manitoba trail, play games, sing trail songs, and make friends! This summer's trail walks have been replaced by the series of walks with Laura Reeves; stay tuned for more walks this fall and winter!
Read MoreWilfred Buck, Indigenous astronomer, will be bringing his traveling planetarium to SouthEastern Manitoba to share star stories and teachings!
Read MoreContact Us
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Whether you'd like to participate in our programming, have any questions, or would like to explore volunteer opportunities and share your ideas and skills, we would love to hear from you.
Fire Safety Day!
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Families on the Farm
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Walks in the Woods with Friends
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Northern Sun Farm Tour
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Our Namesake
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Gerhard Dekker
Namesake
Gerhard was the founder of the Northern Sun Farm Ecovillage, an inventor and designer of innovative methods of living in harmony with the Earth, and a supporter and ally of Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island.
