Waldkindergartens originated in Germany and have been adopted throughout Europe and Scandinavia. Waldkindergarten translates literally to “Forest Kindergarten”. In this structure, children spend the majority of their time outdoors in nature.

Through the Waldkindergarten philosophy, children spend the majority of the program outside, regardless of the weather. The Waldkindergarten model emphasizes unstructured free play and risky play rather than a set curriculum. Teachers adopt the role of facilitator and give children the freedom and space to create an environment for imaginative free play. There is a great emphasis on physical, emotional, and cognitive development.

The class will be held outdoors unless the weather is severe (extreme windchill, unsafe road conditions). Rain, snow, or sunshine, children will play outside. This is why it’s extremely important that each child have weather-appropriate gear and clothing.

Definitely! This is, after all, a child-centered and child-led program. Each Mighty Oak will have different emotional and physical obstacles to overcome, and we want to make sure every individual child feels that they have the support they need to feel comfortable and confident.

We will have tips and tricks for all parental volunteers to help with the transition.

Teachers are CPR and wilderness first-aid (WFA) certified. There will always be at least two adults on the premises. In case of an emergency, group free play will end and the students will work on independent projects in our “quiet zone” with one adult, as the other adult takes the appropriate measures.

Due to spotty cell service on our site, one of our teachers will be equipped with a satellite phone at all times.

We are not registered as an NYS daycare or preschool program based on facility requirements. We operate on undeveloped private land. We offer enrichment and occasional care for preschool-aged children, operating under public programming at Franklin Forest Farm.

All Mighty Oaks students will play and learn together in a mixed-age group. Multi-age groups offer children the chance to interact with a wider group of peers. Younger children have role models to be inspired by, while older children learn about leadership and gain empathy and patience.

Young children have greater retention and development when they learn through direct experience. Think about all the shapes, textures, colors, sounds, smells, and tastes that nature provides. There will also be plenty of opportunities to embed writing into our days of fun and adventure. For example, when we plant seeds in our garden (a wonderful natural science activity), we must also create signs with pictures and words to help orient us in the future.

Students will also find and collect so many of nature’s offerings. We can count and explore arithmetic through a collection of acorns, rocks, and flowers. Watching nature’s cycles—seasons, animal habits, plant development from germination to fruit, weather, and properties of water —are opportunities to understand and explore natural science, physics, and principles of art.

If a conflict between students arises, teachers and parent volunteers will be encouraged to take a wait-and-see approach. Children often have the capacity to work things out amongst themselves, and if needed, the adult acts as a mediator, listening to both children explain the situation and giving them support as they come to a resolution. The wait-and-see approach stands true for other conflicts, such as a child getting into a tricky spot. If there is no threat to the child's safety, can they use their spatial awareness to find an alternative route and think it through? Or does an adult need to assist them, and make a teachable moment?

1. Weekly Email Updates

These emails will provide insight into group activities, group observations, photos, and videos (pending parent approval). On occasion, we will suggest activities for families to do together at home that relate to what we’ve recently discovered in the outdoor classroom.

2. Individual Scrapbooks for Each Child

Because Waldkindergarten’s are child-led and mostly play-based, there are fewer “take homes” than traditional programs. Instead, we will be building a scrapbook for each child throughout the term, full of instructor observations and benchmarks.

Throughout the term, students will also have the opportunity to add to their books. We will remind them of things they’ve observed, and students may ask for us to dictate their thoughts for them, make some drawings of their findings, paste in their favorite found leaf, etc.

3. Volunteering

There will be plenty of opportunities to volunteer your time and see firsthand how your child is thriving in their community. This creates an opportunity for you to experience your child’s sense of wonder and development firsthand. This also creates a greater sense of community and connectedness for each child.

We understand that our program is untraditional in the US, but we are confident that it will provide kids with the skills needed to succeed in other future or additional school structures. Mighty Oaks will be equipped with skills such as conflict resolution, emotional regulation, problem-solving, compromise, and creativity, which will serve them for years to come.

As David Sorbel writes, “Initial findings and studies in Europe suggest that children who go to nature preschools and forest kindergartens are just as well prepared for kindergarten and first grade as their compatriots in more traditional early childhood programs. But these nature programming students are also developing persistence, stick-to-it-ive-ness, and collaboration, and they’re more physically active. In short, they’re just as smart but perhaps have more grit—more self-reliance, persistence, ability to stay on task. And grit, we’re learning, may be a better predictor of school success than academic test scores".