I recently started working at Mad Science and Waldkindergaten Inc. Mad Science is a fun job, easy and pays well enough. I am really excited about Waldkindergarten Inc. It is an outdoor (all outdoor) preschool program started by my friend Amy Farmer. We meet in Arcadia, IN on the Goss Family Farm. They are organic farmers and also friends and it is great that they share there healthy land with us. They have a big garden and raise sheep and chickens. Our Waldkindergarten is modeled after the movement in Germany and other parts of Europe that is slowly springing up in our country. It's all about connecting, with nature, all of the senses, each other and individually. The boys hike, engage in pretend play (which is so fun to watch), picnic, have journal/circle time, explore natural phenomena, help take care of farm animals, and do extreme sports such as huge log pile climbing and icy creek bank sliding. As the group of boys gets older, (they are almost all five or half way to six), we are able to read books together and plan outdoor based projects (shelter building and gardening for example). The boys have grown so much in the last couple years, and it is evident that Forest Boys(the boys group name) has had a great influence on them(a lamb was born last night and Drew said "it's all starting again mom!" remembering the lamb we witnessed being born last spring). Amy is now leading group of younger kids(girls and boys) and it is really neat to get that 3 year old age group out there because they are still so in awe of it all. Nora has been once and I will enroll her is spring. This winter has been brutal! Our blog (and website)is linked on this blog under check me out:).
