Into the Forest: Preschool, Kindergarten, and 1st grade

The repercussions of the pandemic continue to impact communities around the globe and in our backyards. As schools grapple with how or if to return to the classroom, we are grateful to find solace in the forest. We have thoughtfully considered how to best serve the community by offering outdoor learning in small groups beginning in September with Notchcliff Forest Preschool. Given the uncertainty of public school settings, we have also launched a new Forest Kinder Co-Op so that children in K-1st who are homeschooled or engaging in virtual learning will still have the opportunity to play, socialize, and learn in a small group setting outdoors. Nature-based education already boasts incredible physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual benefits to us all. We are more grateful than ever for the stress relief and health protections we find outdoors, too.

Our immersive nature programs lessen the risk of COVID-19 because of the well-ventillated, wide open spaces we explore, positive effects of sunlight on our immune systems, and the organic way children distance themselves during nature play. Many researchers and physicians believe the virus is dilluted in open air, making outdoor learning a safer alternative to indoor settings. We love nature-based education for its myriad of benefits for healthy, active child growth and development. We are grateful to offer these nature programs to help young children flourish, despite the pandemic and all the challenges it presents.

We give thanks to the Earth for caring for us in such a gentle, complete way.

More guidance about COVID-19 is available at the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Association fo the Education of Young Children, Harvard University's Center on the Developing Child, and the Centers for Disease Control.