Outdoor Preschool Day 1
SPL started preschool on Wednesday and while he will also be attending a "regular preschool" starting next week, this one is exclusively outdoors. Teacher Wendolyn Bird (interview with her ) is the spirit behind Tender Tracks, the name of this preschool. The classroom is local, unmanicured Bay Area parks and farms like Hidden Villa, Ardenwood, and Foothill. The school is grounded in the philosophy of Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-deficit Disorder, and Hooked on Nature. I heard Louv speak at Foothill College when SPL was a baby and my friend and former Preschool Family mom, Lacy, introduced me to Teacher Wendolyn and Tender Tracks ().
The class is made up of 8 three-year olds and 2 teachers and they spend 4 hours each week in nature, rain or shine (we bought SPL a rain suit :-). They l, , paint with blackberries, and chase lizards — and they get all kinds of dirty!
, SPL is going to love this experience — his mom is only bummed because it's not parent participation (but we did get invited for the first day so I snapped a few photos :-).
more photos