Forest Friends CDA

Making the most of a mild winter day yesterday.
📣 Don’t forget to message me to join a tour if you’re interested in Forest Friends for Fall!

NOW ENROLLING for Fall 2024! Tours are required prior to registration for new families. DM me if you’d like to join in!

Don’t misunderstand me…nature play 🌲 ❤️ is the heart of forest friends. But I TRULY believe we should invest in a young child’s absorbent mind and give them an environment that instills a love of all learning- indoors and out.
That’s why Forest Friends has an indoor class space, curriculum goals, some teacher led activities, and gently follows a phonics program through the school year. And boy do we learn a LOT, together! It is such a joy to teach this way.

Our Classroom Without Walls…learning outdoors has an immersive, hands on, and sensory rich quality that can’t be denied! That’s why we spend the first part of our days together outdoors. 🌲

Yesterday….perfect day to keep the woodstove going and rest!

Hi there 👋 I’m Ms. Laura a few days a week as the founder and teacher at Forest Friends! The rest of the week I’m mom to three amazing kids, wife to my best adventure buddy, advocate for my neurodivergent son, gardener, chicken wrangler, adventurer. Hoping to get to know some of our new followers over the next few weeks! What do you love to do?
Teaching action shot by one of our amazing preschool mamas….

Ordering cones from large to small…the two largest aren’t local (Giant Sequoia and Longleaf Pine) but the rest sure are!! Western White Pine, ponderosa, Douglas Fir, Lodgepole, Western Hemlock.

Did you know? After frosty mornings spent outdoors, Forest Friends spend about half of their time in our indoor hands-on learning space!

Reading “Sophie’s Squash” at our daily outdoor story/snack time and sequencing the life cycle of a squash. We wrapped up by putting our own squash (named Lily) to bed with a little Forest soil 🌱.
Big thanks to the U of Idaho Farm to Early care program for the supplies and lesson ideas!

Fall 2023 Up & Running!

"Right-sizing" Forest Friends in 2023 Another school update for this upcoming fall - after "right-sizing" our program and honing in on what we do really well....I am back up and running for Fall 2023! This is not a decision I made lightly, and I means I am committed to the whole school year. It also means that Forest Friends will be a p...

Hello, May, you feel like a reward! 🌸 wildflowers in full tilt ☀️sunny warm days 🤗 friends who are practiced at boundaries, cooperation, and kindness!

👀 Sometimes the most overlooked things are what captures a child’s curiosity!
✍️ Journaling holes and bark beetle tracks after reading “One Small Place in a Tree”.