Forest Kindergarten

Here's a brief overview of the plans in motion for full day forest kindergarten:

• The school day starts at 8:00 am and ends between 3:00 and 3:30 pm. 

• The kindergarten schedule is M-F for the sake of continuity and lesson planning, and building the relationships of a "kindergarten family." 

• Morning and afternoon snacks and lunch are included in tuition and provided by Brave Soul Holistic.

• Our school day is very much play-based and focused on the social and emotional well being and foundation of our little learners.  

• Each child has his/her own "kit" that stays with the teacher (pencil and sharpener, journal, magnifying glass, glue stick, colored pencils, field guide, etc.) These kits are catered to each child with the leveled reader and activities each needs for the day.

• The beginning of the school year is focused on the following related to academics (the foundation, baseline, getting all on the same page): Your child's ability to state first and last name when asked, knowing all letters in first name, ability to write name with proper case, recognizing and naming both uppercase and lowercase letters, associating sounds to corresponding letters, recognizing rhyming words, tracking top to bottom and left to right, finger spaces, pencil grasp, 1:1 correspondence, counting to 10 (and up to 25 in the first trimester), two-dimensional shapes, greater than and less than, sorting by color and shape. (It's helpful that we know where most of your children left off here, but we do expect there to be the summer slide--especially after an early start to summer!)

• Kinders spend as much time as possible in the forest. 

• There will be homework. At the beginning of the year, homework will be you reading to your kinder, them searching for letters in everyday life, adding items to the grocery list, writing love notes and postcards to friends and family, and other ways to build up their fluency, comprehension, word-solving and a love for reading and writing. It will be counting items in your home, sorting items like silverware into the drawer, helping to match socks, scavenger hunts and fine motor creations (kits sent home may be color-by-numbers, play dough, weaving, cutting and pasting collages, etc). Homework will be secret learning set up so that your kindergartners can grow their love of learning in a supporting, loving environment where you feel like you can support and complement their ability to learn and grow anywhere.