Our Mission:
Forest Friends Nature School seeks to honor the natural rhythms and curiosity of early childhood by fostering a relationship between children and nature.
Our Vision:
At Forest Friends Nature School we believe children are intelligent, capable and autonomous beings, and believe in their ability to be the experts of their own learning journey.
We believe in a play-based, experiential approach to education that allows each child to unfold naturally, and promotes learning mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually.
We believe that learning through the lens of nature is the best path toward establishing a foundation of lifelong learning and curiosity that will carry each child forward with resilience and wonder.
Our Approach
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Play is the work of children - and it is crucial to their development. We are not afraid to get dirty at Forest Friends Nature School. We play in the creeks, balance on logs, and work in the school garden. We use natural objects to create stick people, moss houses and shelters to encourage imagination, collaboration, language, awareness, physicality and so much more.
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Inspired by Waldorf educational values, we place great emphasis on natural rhythms of life and the seasonal rhythms of nature. We maintain a regular schedule for the children as we observe changes in weather, plants, and animals in our “classroom.”
Daily we record the weather, the birds, and plants we see in our nature journals. Monthly we observe and record seasonal changes in our class tree.
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Community is at the core of Forest Friends. Our own little community begins with our school and the families who journey alongside us, and ripples out into the world at large as the children find their sense of self and place within it.
At the marker of the beginning of each season our school will have a family day where we gather as a community and honor the season and the growth of the children.
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Our school has a small class size of twelve children. This allows the children and educators the opportunity to dive deeply into the day’s engagements or change course when the children express interest in another topic. The children’s curiosity leads the way in what we play and study as a group.
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Children can gain a sense of connection by being in the same natural place all year long with the same people. Our commitment to honoring the rhythms of nature and play create opportunities of connection.
Through gentle guidance, growth mindset language, and positive discipline we aim to grow the children’s connection with the world around them, their classmates and themselves.
Forest Friends Nature School now operates as a Private Membership Association — a community of like-minded families who value connection, nature, and alternative education.
A membership structure allows us to create a more intentional and self-directed learning environment for our children while maintaining the integrity of our philosophy and program design. Enrollment in our programs — including full-time and enrichment options — is available exclusively to active members of the Association.
To apply for membership, please fill our our online application:
