MEET OUR OWLS, OUR KINDERGARTENERS

Growing our whole selves…together.

Community (city + farm) + Forest

  • Location

    • Earthstar Campus: Mon-Wed

    • Downtown Campus: Thurs

  • Time: 8:30 - 3:30

  • Ages: 4* - 6

    *4 Year Olds (Must be 5 by 1/1 of the school year and approved to enter this program from our specialized staff)

Our Kindergartners are also known as our “Owls.” Sharing a campus with the preschooler Cubs encourages Owls to develop a deeper responsibility and leadership role at Earthstar Farm. Three days a week, rain, snow, and sunshine our kiddos are outside building a relationship with the land through the lens of Forest School Kindergarten curriculum.

Owls spend Thursdays at our downtown Whitefish campus, allowing them to build familiarity with the community and ease the transition into primary grade learning environments.

Our experienced educators guide children in mindfulness practices and techniques that help them manage their feelings, make decisions, and develop problem-solving skills that are vital for future success. Our curriculum is designed to support kindergartners in their first foray into primary school, a journey of discovery, curiosity, and growth in harmony with both the natural world and their broader community. 

Unique to the Forest School Model, hands-on activities and nature-based lessons provide children a tactile way to explore the world around them. We embed academic concepts directly into experiential learning. The forest and farm setting provides a nurturing environment for children to express themselves freely, boosting their self-esteem and confidence, including positive risk-taking, agency, and resiliency.

Curriculum

Our daily classroom (the yurt, campfire, greenhouse, downtown campus or shady woodlands) sets up a successful environment for:

  • Incorporating the math, science of reading/early phonics and literacy skill with a blend of structured and experiential learning styles.

  • Introducing our map making and nature journaling curriculum to establish spatial awareness and place-based learning.

  • Developing rich language and vocabulary expansion within the contexts of wild ecosystems and community building.

  • Creating competent roles and sharing imagination through collaborative work. With experienced guidance, shared imagination is a core pillar of executive functioning, perspective taking, and building empathy.

Our Forest School takes pride in its strong connection to the local Montana environment. We integrate the rich cultural heritage and diverse ecosystems of Montana into our curriculum, providing children with an understanding of their place in the world and fostering a deep appreciation for their surroundings.

DAILY SCHEDULE

A Day as an Owl

Our school days create a rhythm for the kids that helps them regulate themselves for the day and provide a helpful routine to support their activities.


Welcome

8:45 AM - 9:05 AM

Backpacks away / gear check, morning reflection /writing entry


Morning circle

9:05 AM - 9:30 AM

Reflection questions are answered and shared with the group / create and review daily schedule / mindfulness exercise helps instill the habit of noticing, self-regulation and the readiness for learning each day.


Language/Literacy

9:30 AM - 10:45 AM

Appropriate work is assigned based on each student’s needs / receives assistance from our L&L specialist / L&L curriculum focuses on phonics, phonemic awareness, and oral language growth through comprehension skills, sound-spelling, and sight word reading strategies (outdoors when possible)


Snack/Break

10:45 AM - 11:15 AM

Larks prep and serve our organic snack each day / these moments give us responsibility, practical work in numeracy, causal reasoning, and executive function capacities / time for connection and sharing

Math


11:15 AM - 12:00 PM

Math lessons are typically done in a downtown green space and are a mixture of hands-on activities, paper and pencil work, and group/solo concept-building games. Making it a concrete experience could look like–setting a costume budget for our play and taking a trip to the secondhand store. This gives our Larks ownership over application of concepts and practice in trying on skills to the constraints of teams, time, and budgets.

Lunch/Free time


12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

We begin our meals with gratitude and trace the journey of our food. Larks bring their own lunch and enjoy open conversation (outdoors when possible) / self-guided play follows lunch in our chosen green space or manipulative practice.

Connection/Project time


1:00 PM - 2:00 PM


While socio-emotional and executive functioning skills are woven into every piece of our day, focused practice with our SEL Specialist to help Larks hone in on key EF skills, regulate bodies and emotions after a full morning of using our brains, and build mental systems so that they can be proactive & independent / practiced in conjunction with a current project that integrates into our real life habits and situations.

Reading/Writing

2:00 PM - 2:30 PM

Small group work with our L&L Specialist writing narratives and drawing pictures that bring their stories to life / reading decodable text and small group phonics instruction / writing experiences include story writing, personal narratives, opinion writing, informational text, and journals / peer reading / a special time to encourage just-right challenges and to allow them to lose themselves in a book of their choosing.


Specials

2:30 PM - 3:30 PM

Our specials are different each day of the week. These include music classes, Spanish lessons, art instruction, and cooking demos.


End-of-day jobs

2:30 PM - 3:30 PM

We close our day with purpose and tidiness. All Larks are assigned a task to complete before they leave.