Eucalyptus Magazine / December 2009 / More Schools Inspired by Nature

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More Schools Inspired by Nature

A companion to "Schooling Inspired by Nature"

In nearby Palo Alto, Country Day Little School has been nurturing children for more than 20 years in a warm, home-like environment. This school is heavily influenced by Waldorf pedagogy and has a pronounced focus on nature. One of the first things visitors notice is how the children relate to one another. There is no chaos, no roughhousing, no bullying. Ranging in age from two to five, the students learn early about kindness and cooperative, imaginative play.

Founder and school director Peggy Jane Triulzi says, “What I see in today’s world is that children experience an accelerated pace of life, where they have too many choices, overstimulation everywhere they turn, and too little time to be children lost in their play. We try to provide a haven where children are free to play and are surrounded by love and models of purposeful work, in a simple and beautiful school environment.”

Natalie Botto, whose daughter attended the school for three years and recently started kindergarten, agrees. “We sought out a school where what we do at home was mirrored at school. That’s what we value. It seemed most elemental for a child growing up in this fast-paced world we live in.”

Each day at Country Day Little School begins in the organic garden, walking row by row to water the plants and discover what new growth has sprouted. The children skip to the neighboring hay bales, listen to a story, climb a tree. Later, they migrate to the back garden to feed the chickens and engage in “meaningful play”—digging in the sandbox, perhaps, or “painting” a wall with water. Before gathering at communal tables for an organic lunch, they disperse around the school. In one area, several children work together to build a truck out of large wooden blocks. In the kitchen, others stand atop a bench and knead dough, helping to make whole-grain bread.

Another of Palo Alto’s alternative preschools is Leaping Lizards Nature Awareness Preschool. Started in 1988, the school fosters curiosity, warmth, imagination, and physical endurance in its students. A typical day includes a field trip to Foothills Park. The children don warm layers and wide-brimmed sun hats and race down a wide, tree-lined pathway. The school’s founder, Magdalena Cabrera, turns over a rotting log to reveal a blue-bellied lizard. Each of the six children stroke it gently with outstretched fingers. A four-year-old boy carefully holds it in one small hand, gazing at it intently, as Cabrera shows the children how to hold it up and look through one ear and out the other, straight through its head. “That’s cool!” says one. Another says, “Let’s put him back.”

But how do these preschool programs prepare children for kindergarten? Cabrera says, “We’re walking and we see a sign, and we sound out the words. We read stories, ABCs, we classify size and shape within the context of where we are—leaves, for instance. We count how many turkey vultures are in the field. We’re doing fine motor skills as well, we just don’t do it with a pencil, we do it by holding a lizard or a tiny frog. We’re learning to hold it with just the right amount of tension so as not to hurt it.”

Becky Crowe Hill, whose son attends the program, appreciates the life lessons the children learn. “On the first day, Magdalena showed the children a beautiful owl that had died. This left such an impression on my son. He talked about the importance of things living and dying and the cycle of life in such a profound way for a three-year-old. I deeply appreciated the ease with which they talked about it, helping the children to appreciate both life and death.”

Country Day Little School, 650.494.8044, countrydaylittleschool.com
Leaping Lizards Nature Awareness Preschool, 650.858.0355, leapinglizardspreschool.com

Also read: Schooling Inspired by Nature