Our Mission, Vision & Philosophy

Thank you for joining us on our wild endeavor--opening a barn-based nature preschool in the lovely town of Sanbornton, NH! When we decided to present our vision and gauge interest for our blended methodologies back in February 2015, we never imagined that there would be so much excitement driving us to make it happen within the same calendar year. Thank you for your encouragement and support, but most of all--your willingness to put your child back into nature. 

OUR MISSION

Our mission is to engage the whole child in a calm, sustainable, natural environment offering a treasure trove of adventures and possibilities and a sense of belonging.

OUR VISION

The children will have endless opportunities to become strong in mind, body and spirit and strongly connected to each other and the natural world. With several acres of land, children will enjoy hundreds of hours of adventuring, exploring, imagining and growing a love of nature.

Our holistic plan and emergent curriculum shares attributes of many early childhood education methods blended together in a setting much like a Scandinavian forest school. This balanced approach combined with clear expectations addresses the physical, social, emotional, cognitive and creative development of every child and embraces each child in a unique way.

Our teachers strive to facilitate learning, ensure safety, and provide support and guidance in a happy, peaceful environment. Our wishes are to foster the innate curiosity, joy and inner discipline essential to learning, to reinforce the respect and compassion for self, others, the earth and all living things and to plant a seed for the love of nature in children-- our future naturalists.

OUR PHILOSOPHY supports frequent, unstructured outdoor childhood play in all weather that research has identified as being the most common influence on the development of lifelong conservation values. Instead of following the American society's shift of formal academic instruction into earlier and earlier years, our model provides hands-on experiences and encounters in the natural world during these formative years. Our supporters and grandparents strongly advocate for home-cooked meals, picnic lunches, making mud pies, jumping in puddles, climbing trees, building forts, and slaying dragons. These childhood moments strengthen the curiosity and joy-- the fundamentals-- which should pervade all education. After all, children are waterproof and washable, and childhood should be joyful and wholesome.

"It is a happy talent to know how to play." - Ralph Waldo Emerson, American writer

Find the most recent version of our Saplings Family Handbook here.