Also, this doesn't mean we were always just let loose. The "teachers"/"nurses" (not sure of the word) taught us a great deal of stuff, like different tree types

Also, this doesn't mean we were always just let loose. The "teachers"/"nurses" (not sure of the word) taught us a great deal of stuff, like different tree types and bird species etc. We'd have a poster with different birds on the wall and we'd then listen and look for them in the parks etc. We learned to identify trees based on their leaves and so on. We learned about national holidays and what they meant (so a bit of history even), to do crafts, like Easter decorations and so on. So I don't mean we were like feral children without any guidance, it just wasn't structured like school.