I just can't say enough good things about Ophelia's preschool. I am dedicating this whole post to them and the amazing job that they do. Ms. Carol and Ms. Janine are the two teachers, who dedicate all their time to creating a wonderful nature-centered learning environment for the kids. The school is based on the Waldorf method, which is all about creativity, imagination, nature, a daily rhythm, and art. The school is also called the Forest Kindergarten, because the children spend the whole time outside. They do projects, play in the mud-kitchen, eat snacks/lunch, paint on the huge white paper board, play games, swing in hammocks, explore the forest, do story time - all outside. Here is Ophelia with Ms. Carol:
Ophelia was always curious about nature and the outdoors, but after attending this school, she has become a totally outdoorsee person. Nowadays, she asks me all the time to go play out in the backyard, and she'd rather do that than watch TV! She has become into collecting rocks and has a her rock collection/treasure box. She recognized different kinds of birds. She picks up rolly-pollies without a wince (Yuk!). She loves picnics. Here they are painting with dirt:
Cold, hot, rain, or sunshine, they are always outside. Except for thunderstorms, when the house has some craft stations for them to do. Here are some heart rocks that they did back in February. Ophelia has her two rocks on the bookshelf in her room.
Something cool that the teachers have noticed is that Ophelia is very sensitive to others' feelings. She is very compassionate. This boy in the picture was new and kind of shy. Ophelia was there for him on his first day of school to show him around, tell him what things he could do, and made sure he was not feeling sad. So sweet!
Today after school, she told me that there was a new girl at school that she was protecting from being pushed by a boy. She said: "I said to the boy, Don't touch her!" She may be small, but does not allow to be messed with :) Here they are mixing the batter for muffins for their morning snack.
Some more art exploration, paper plate lady bugs:
This was their thumb-print ants. Ophelia kept saying: "This is path!" and I did not understand what she meant at first, but then I realized she probably means Math!
This is another boy, Lois, who never had a buddy at school until Ophelia came. They became "best buddies" as Ophelia says. They hang out together all the time at school. He always sits next to her at snack and lunch and they play games together, games involving bad and good guys, sometimes chasing and/or protecting, as I gather... It seems that she mainly hangs out with boys at school. She may be becoming a tomboy!
I also love that the school has so many animals for the kids to observe and play with: dogs, cats, chickens, guinea pig, rabbit, a tarantula, a frog, and tadpoles. They let the kids feed the chickens and the other animals, pet them, and also learn about them. The chickens were brought in as baby chicks, so the kids have the chance to watch them grow actually! Here is Ophelia swinging on a swing:
Everything is done outside as I said. Here is another art project in the yard:
She comes home with dirt and sand in her lunchbox, shoes full of mud and dirt, paint on her clothes and face. But most important, she comes happy to have spent her day at school!
Last Friday they had a reptile show and all kids and their parents were invited. So me and Emerson came too. Emerson did not need to go the this school to become outdoorsee. I think he was born loving to eat dirt and rocks, playing in the mud and poking at bugs. Must be a boy thing. Anyway, Emerson was not into sitting still and listening/watching the show about reptiles, so he roamed the school yard. Everything was fine until he was chasing a chicken and tripped and fell on a CACTUS!!! Not good! The cactus had no big spines, but mostly those pesky tiny ones that are so hard to see and get out of your skin. I spent 2 hours getting the spikes off Emerson, his clothes, and me! What a disaster! A little Ibuprofen, a good nap, and he was good as new, but for a while there I was panicking trying to get cactus spikes out of a squirmy, freaking out 15 month old.
I do want Emerson to go to the Butterfly Garden eventually. Unfortunately, they start at 3 years of age...or maybe fortunately, because by then they hopefully learn not to run into cacti...
