At Tiny Green Trees we do not require children to have built certain skills by any given age. We believe all humans learn at their own pace. In many cases we will transition children to the next classroom at the ages listed (and space availability), but this will not be the case for everyone. Some children may be ready for the next transition early and some may need some additional time. We respect every child’s individuality and we are there to assist them along their way. At every stage and age children are offered a hands on, integrated curriculum in which children participate in a variety of activities that are designed to give support in several developmental areas at the same time. The Tiny Green Trees curriculum focuses on the whole child and their development of self awareness through the environmental changes that happen seasonally. We model both early childhood education and environmental education best practices. We prepare children for kindergarten and for life. We develop stewards of the environment in an equitable learning community.
“Children are born with a sense of wonder and an affinity for Nature.
Properly cultivated, these values can mature into ecological literacy, and eventually into sustainable patterns of living.”
– Zenobia Barlow, “Confluence of Streams”
During this stage the young children are moving around more, they are developing awareness of themselves and their environment, they explore and observe new objects and how the teachers and other children are speaking and moving. This developmental stage also is able to recognize names, use basic sign language, form simple phrases and sentences, and follow simple instructions and directions. Our early childhood educators accompany and support the child’s developments by placing themselves behind the child, at the child’s side, and by leading the child. They recognize that young children learn through our gestures and that this is especially important during the first years. Our teachers understand that your child will learn through play, and grow with personal attention and love. They provide an environment full of sensory experiences that encourage them to explore the world around them indoors and outdoors year round.
Tiny Green Trees serves organic fruits, vegetables as much as possible, avoiding ‘conventional’ chemical-laden, heavily processed foods. Teaching children the importance of healthy eating and understanding where food comes from improves their nutrition and instills better habits for life.
Tiny Green Trees offers Forest preschool at the Story Hill 921 N. 49th Street location. Our unique indoor and outdoor learning environment focuses on small class sizes, creative thinking, hands on learning, with an emphasis on formal school readiness skills. Our Forest Preschool prepares children for kindergarten through child-led and hands-on learning experiences where children can ask questions, explore materials and discover answers and solutions. Using our nature-based curriculum, our students spend a significant amount of time outside every day in small groups on the campus grounds and in the beyond space learning and exploring with nature. When planning our lessons, we use a whole-child approach that is focused on the individual needs and interests of our students to ensure that they are engaged and making progress in their learning. Our students are assessed on an ongoing basis to establish their needs and interests.
Our unique nature-based curriculum combines age-appropriate educational experiences that blends best practices from both early childhood education and environmental education, and our teachers have training in both areas. Inquiry-based learning methods teach children to ask questions and investigate and ultimately learn how to learn.
This program will be completely OUTdoors, with inclement weather as the exception. In the event of inclement weather, indoor learning and play will be in our gymnasium. COVID policies and procedures will be followed indoors and outdoors. Masks will be worn, daily health screens and temperatures will be taken in the mornings, and good hygiene practices will be part of the daily schedule. In our outdoor spaces, we have unlimited fresh air and space to spread out during meal times when masks are unable to be worn. There will be an outdoor bathroom and handwashing station readily available.
OUTdoor Explorers will be held over the course of 13 weeks from June 7th, 2021 through September 3rd, 2021. The program is created and led by Miss Alexis. We currently have 12 spots available for this program. Miss Alexis will have an assistant teacher keeping teacher to child ratio at 1 to 6.