We hunted for a long time for child care out here on the Penninsula. Honestly, it's like everywhere else in the world. It's incredibly expensive (and the waiting list for military is years long). And honestly, it should be expensive. These folks are teaching the next generation - arguably one of the most important jobs in any society. And, hell, I'm exhausted after a day with my daughter. I couldn't imagine being in a class room with a gaggle of even more youthful energy as well!
Last summer, we tried out a local Forest Preschool as an affordable option. It covers care from 9am-1pm, giving me a good chunk of the day to do some adulting stuff, so we're continuing it 5 days a week now.
So, what is Forest School?
It's a preschool-K that is run completely outdoors. With no building to keep up, there is a little less overhead, making it a cost effective option for parents, and with a 6 kids to 1 adult ratio, there is a close eye being kept on everyone.
My favorite part about it is that it's more child led learning.
Think about it this way - When a kid picks something up and asks "What's this?" They will likely listen and understand the answer. If the kid isn't interested in something, you can pick it up and wave the same object at them all day and they likely won't give a rip about whatever you're trying to tell them. Yes, of course some concepts need to be introduced, but kids are really good about exploring. We just have to be there when they are ready.
So, they just play outside all day?
Mostly, yes. There are some structured activities (beach time, story time, music time, lunch time), but playing is a vital - and all too often LOST life lesson to learn. No, kids aren't born knowing how to play. It's a skill! In fact, kids are so over scheduled now-a-days, that play often gets missed. Gone are the "play until the street lights come on" days, sadly. More play is a good thing. Kids learn BIG lessons while playing. Solve problems (learning cooperation, resourcefulness, basic engineering, and language). We've seen The Impossible Girl's learning grow by leaps and bounds. (And no nap time means that she comes home tired, and sleeps through the night!)
So what about the weather?
Yeah, in Washington it gets cold, and rainy, and occasionally snowy and icy. But the kids are usually outfitted in brightly colored rain suits like these. It makes them easy to spot and keeps the weather trouble to a minimum. (The photos above were taken during the summer camp program, where they wore brightly colored smocks instead.) The kids do have a place they can duck into if they need to get away from the weather, or just have some quiet time. The Impossible Girl doesn't like crowds. She drags us out of crowded areas fairly often in everyday life, so I imagine she would prefer this to a classroom of 15+ kids to 1 teacher.
As you may recall, The Impossible Girl also was sick just about every other week during her first year and a half of life. Funny - since she's been going to Forest school (4 weeks in the summer and half way through a full week now), she hasn't really been sick. Now, it may be that she got all those germs when she was tiny, but I can definitely see how this feels "cleaner". During cold and flu season, they aren't all coughing on the same stick and passing it around, ya know? Fresh air is so good for us - I suspect it's easy to feel too protective of little ones and forget that.
So we invested in good rain boots and we're giving it a go full time. So far, she's loving it. In fact, my kid who rarely talks to adults, decided to chatter off the ear of a teacher yesterday! I'd say that's progress!
Last summer, we tried out a local Forest Preschool as an affordable option. It covers care from 9am-1pm, giving me a good chunk of the day to do some adulting stuff, so we're continuing it 5 days a week now.
So, what is Forest School?
It's a preschool-K that is run completely outdoors. With no building to keep up, there is a little less overhead, making it a cost effective option for parents, and with a 6 kids to 1 adult ratio, there is a close eye being kept on everyone.
My favorite part about it is that it's more child led learning.
Think about it this way - When a kid picks something up and asks "What's this?" They will likely listen and understand the answer. If the kid isn't interested in something, you can pick it up and wave the same object at them all day and they likely won't give a rip about whatever you're trying to tell them. Yes, of course some concepts need to be introduced, but kids are really good about exploring. We just have to be there when they are ready.
So, they just play outside all day?
Mostly, yes. There are some structured activities (beach time, story time, music time, lunch time), but playing is a vital - and all too often LOST life lesson to learn. No, kids aren't born knowing how to play. It's a skill! In fact, kids are so over scheduled now-a-days, that play often gets missed. Gone are the "play until the street lights come on" days, sadly. More play is a good thing. Kids learn BIG lessons while playing. Solve problems (learning cooperation, resourcefulness, basic engineering, and language). We've seen The Impossible Girl's learning grow by leaps and bounds. (And no nap time means that she comes home tired, and sleeps through the night!)
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| Story time at summer camp |
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| Finding crabs during beach time! |
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| Making Clay creations. |
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| Making Friends. |
So what about the weather?
Yeah, in Washington it gets cold, and rainy, and occasionally snowy and icy. But the kids are usually outfitted in brightly colored rain suits like these. It makes them easy to spot and keeps the weather trouble to a minimum. (The photos above were taken during the summer camp program, where they wore brightly colored smocks instead.) The kids do have a place they can duck into if they need to get away from the weather, or just have some quiet time. The Impossible Girl doesn't like crowds. She drags us out of crowded areas fairly often in everyday life, so I imagine she would prefer this to a classroom of 15+ kids to 1 teacher.
As you may recall, The Impossible Girl also was sick just about every other week during her first year and a half of life. Funny - since she's been going to Forest school (4 weeks in the summer and half way through a full week now), she hasn't really been sick. Now, it may be that she got all those germs when she was tiny, but I can definitely see how this feels "cleaner". During cold and flu season, they aren't all coughing on the same stick and passing it around, ya know? Fresh air is so good for us - I suspect it's easy to feel too protective of little ones and forget that.
So we invested in good rain boots and we're giving it a go full time. So far, she's loving it. In fact, my kid who rarely talks to adults, decided to chatter off the ear of a teacher yesterday! I'd say that's progress!
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