“I learned that the kind of dirty that you get in forest school isn’t the kind of dirty that really bothers me,” she says. “This is the kind of dirty that you earn when you’re out exploring and learning and challenging yourself. That’s different from the kind of dirty caused by neglect or apathy or not knowing better. And it’s a kind of dirty I’m willing to encourage. As an adult, you must have the judgment to know which one of the two kinds of dirty you’re seeing on your child, and ultimately the children will learn to tell the difference too.”
