Calm days. Outdoor learning. Confident, capable children.

In early childhood, students are learning how to learn through play and exploration. At Forest Friends, we support them as they develop and flourish.
- Teacher Heidi

I had a big imagination as a little kid, and the way Teacher Heidi taught encouraged me to continue to have big ideas and learn through stories, games and play. I learned how to make friends, create art, be independent and be present in nature all by the age of 5. -Elliot, former student, age 18

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What we offer:

  • Daily outdoor exploration

  • Storytelling & creative play

  • Small group sizes

  • Gentle, intentional rhythm

  • Early literacy and foundations in STEM

  • More than three decades of experience teaching nature based, early childhood education

Program details:

  • Ages 4-6

  • T, Th for ages 4-5

  • MWF or M-F for 5-6 year olds (some older 4)

  • 8:30 - 3:30 (early release on Fridays at 1:30)

  • Located in Cedar Hills in Portland

Schedule a tour

Why Nature Matters

An early childhood program that celebrates the wonder and awe of mother nature

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Most adults happily recall much of their own childhood spent outdoors needing to be home by dark. Children today do not have as much access to green spaces where they can be the captain of their own pirate ship and treasure hunt for "gold" leaves. Children who learn outside have better developed gross motor skills, fine motor skills and problem solving skills. At Forest Friends, we learn through building boats and dams and bridges. Our observation skills are honed each day we examine the moss we use to build a fairy house or estimate the number of mallards at the lake on a clear fall day.

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Imagination

Through oral storytelling, books, puppetry, and acting in plays, our students develop a great talent for telling a story. We learn about fairy tales and fables and classics and retell them in various ways, implementing the philosophy of Waldorf education. We learn how to narrate, act, take turns, and creatively bring our imagination to life. We ask that media characters not come to the classroom and that parents limit their child's access to media so that they can be the author of their own story: free to imagine a limitless possibility. Children who love dressing up learn to communicate their ideas and cooperate with others.

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Collaboration

All I ever needed to know, I learned in kindergarten. Early childhood is the time that we learn to collaborate and cooperate and share. Empathy is a learned skill that is only learned through social experience. As we learn to care for the worms on a rainy day, we learn to care for each other and for our environment. As we study a bird’s nest we learn about how families care for each other. At Forest Friends, we learn how to become good stewards and good citizens.