Why I started a nature preschool

I had many reasons to start a nature preschool -

I grew up dirty! I remember always having dirt under my fingernails and toenails. I remember getting tree sap in my hair. I remember having really tough calluses on my hands and feet from climbing trees. I remember tearing holes in my clothes from scrambling through brambles. I remember digging holes in my backyard, trying to get to China. I remember catching snakes in the grass along our creek. I remember catching tadpoles and frogs in our backyard pond. I remember getting lost in my grandpas' gardens. My mom let my siblings and I play outside all day long. My dad took our family on camping and fishing trips every summer. I just really, really, really loved being outside.  That love is what makes me want to help take care of our earth. That love is what has given me a deep appreciation for the natural world. Without my childhood experience in nature, I wouldn't understand where the food in the store comes from, why the animal food chain is important, why we must be kind to the bark of trees, ...

Being outside did something else good for me as a child. It helped me realize that I am a small part of a big world. I was not the center of the world, but played a part in a complex system. It gave me a sense of worth beyond what I saw in the mirror or what teachers and parents told me. Realizing that I was a part of this family of living organisms helped me find a place in the world. It also put things into perspective. Though the world is big and complex, the most magical thing I realized was if I was patient and quiet, the natural world would teach me all kinds of marvelous things. Things that would come into my mind and seem to be the most simple, clearest, perfect concepts ever imagined.

Before I became a mom, I worked at the Washington Park Arboretum as an outdoor educator. I loved teaching kids about plant systems, native northwest vegetation, wetland ecology, photosynthesis, pollination, etc. The people I worked with were terrific and tons of fun. We all loved being outside, working with kids, and learning about nature.

After my first son was born, I continued to work for about a year and then shifted to volunteering at the arboretum as balancing work with mothering became trickier. Eventually, while expecting my second child, I stopped volunteering to focus on being a mom.

Becoming a mom made me realize that I really wanted my kids to have some of the same opportunities to connect with nature that I had experienced as a child. We live in a little apartment in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle and nature is not at our finger tips like it was for me growing up.

I had started my two 1/2 year old son in a regular co-op preschool in fall 2009. It was a typical classroom setting. The teacher was wonderful, the kids were terrific, and the other parents involved were thoughtful, involved and friendly. But I had this terrible, gut feeling that I was not doing the right thing for my son. I prayed and pondered about it and finally came to the conclusion that I needed to pull him out.

Instead of spending three days a week in a classroom, what I really wanted was for him to be outside - picking up sticks, catching frogs, stomping in puddles, watching the wind blow through the leaves. He would have the rest of his life to be in a classroom!! Why start him at such a young age?

So I started this nature preschool, hoping to bring some friends on board to explore and learn with us. It's always more fun to have a couple of buddies when you are climbing trees, right? Plus, it's fun to have mom friends around, too. It's been super fun, for me and my boys. Wouldn't trade the experiences we've had together for anything else!