Our Philosophy and Guiding Principles
Planting seeds…for a sustainable way of living
In order to provide children with a variety of positive outdoor explorations, we believe in modeling how to tread lightly, and engage safely and respectfully with the local green spaces around us. Natural settings afford the children direct experience with a world not made by humans, where we can feel ourselves as a part of a larger community of life.
We believe that by creating direct, rewarding and nourishing sensory experiences with Nature, children will naturally begin to develop strong, loving and meaningful connections to the natural world.
”We cannot protect something we do not love, we cannot love what we do not know, and we cannot know what we do not see. And touch. And hear.”
~ Richard Louv
Nature is our touchstone
One of our core beliefs is to spark and support children’s natural curiosity and powerful sense of imagination and wonder.
Our outdoor program takes a “hands-on” educational approach to place and play-based learning. By creating trust, instilling a sense of belonging, and drawing on inquiry and outdoor play as the foundations for early learning, children will learn how to develop healthy relationships to self, one another and the natural world.
Nature as our Teacher
Whether our classroom is under a grove of oak trees or near a creek, the natural cycles of nature and children’s interests guide our values and support the curriculum we explore with the children.
As facilitators, we nurture and guide the relationship between the children and all living things found in Nature: plants, trees, water, animals, minerals, both visible and invisible. As early childhood educators we strive to:
~ create and find joy as a community
~ provide social and emotional mentoring by teaching compassion, loving kindness, courage, confidence, peace and hope
~ spark and model reverence for all things, great and small
~ help make the world a better place for the next generation
Land Acknowledgement, Connection & Community
Our forest program is a community where diversity and cultural values are highly valued and celebrated!
We at Oak Heart Forest School acknowledge that our programs are held on the unceded ancestral lands of the Confederated Villages of the Lisjan people. A people that is made up of five tribes, the Ohlone, Bay Miwok, Plains Miwok, Delta Yokut and Napian (Patwin). These people are still here today, continuing to honor and bring to light their ancient heritage. We give gratitude to the land itself and to the Confederated Villages of the Lisjan people.
We believe that all participants should have equal opportunity no matter their ethnic background, attainment, challenges, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or background. We value equality and provide a safe and welcoming place for all.
Nature is our model for what a healthy community is. We are a community of individuals and creatures; each of us unique, but equally valued and essential. We each have a voice and have an invaluable part in creating a healthy planet and life. As a community, we depend on each other and work together to create a space that honors and respects the Earth, each other, and nourishes our children through modeling care for ourselves, each other, and our natural environment. At Oak Heart we believe that everything is interconnected. We are Nature.
“The health of children and the health of the Earth are inseparable.” - Richard Louv