In a world bustling with structured schedules and rigid curriculums, Discovery Natural Learning Center stands as a beacon of innovative, child-centered practices, offering a nurturing environment where your child's potential can truly flourish. Located in a unique, nature-rich setting, our extraordinary center embraces open-ended learning, inviting children aged two to five years-old to explore, discover, and grow in their own time and space. With a year-round schedule and Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 3:30 program , the center provides an enriching experience that intertwines art and sensory experiences, nature exploration, and active play-based learning.

Here at Discovery Natural Learning Center, we understand that every child is unique, and our approach celebrates this individuality, fostering a lifelong love of learning.

Simply Living -Simply Learning

Our Simply Living -Simply Learning motto stems from our deep trust in the natural development of each individual child. We value developmentally appropriate practice and offer a plethora of opportunities for learning and living through real-life hands-on experiences. Our model values cyclical, in-context, authentic experiences like learning to count by counting shells and rocks discovered on a hike, exploring measurement while baking bread, learning about the natural world by being immersed in it with permission to touch, discover, and explore; An introduction to letters, language, and literacy by reading from an abundant library, a culture of storytelling, singing, and theatrical reenactment. Learning about where food comes from by planting seeds, cultivating and nurturing them, watching them grow to harvest, and eating them. Discovering the cycles of life by observing caterpillars and tadpoles as they morph into butterflies and frogs.

Our programs combine nature exploration, self-discovery, and experiential education to create an environment where children can learn and grow. Each child is granted the space, time, materials, and permission needed in order to flourish as nature intended.

We believe that each child is born with the urge to learn about the world around them and we facilitate this process through authentic experiences and rich social interactions. It is our goal for each child to reach their full potential and live fulfilling lives.

A Holistic Approach to Learning & Teaching

Our whole-child approach to teaching and learning alongside children intentionally engages and integrates the child's, mind, body, and soul. We offer opportunities for experiential, hands-on learning, academic, social-emotional, artistic/creative, and bodily/kinesthetic skills that use experience in and exposure to the natural world as a catalyst for learning and development. Through emergent curriculum, artistic expression, long-term projects, nature immersion, and active learning we support the child as they travel their path toward self-actualization.

We understand that learning is a verb, the child must be actively involved in the process to fully reap the benefits. The child is more than just a walking brain, their entire bodies need exercise, nourishment, and challenge. We have designed a program that integrates all aspects of the child’s bodily developmental needs.

Freedom To Move

Children are permitted to move about freely. We believe that stillness and sitting are not required for learning to take place. In fact, we know that children must use their entire bodies to explore and take in information. Their sense of touch, smell, sight, hearing, and tasting must engage with their kinesthetic, vestibular, and proprioceptive senses in order for deep authentic learning to take place. We incorporate music and movement into our program with a focus on bodily awareness, rhythm, pattern, positioning, balance, strength, pure joy, and connectedness.

Physical Risk Taking

Children are trusted and supported in taking physical risks, tree climbing, rock skipping, and other seemingly risky types of exploration are permitted and supported. It is the role of the adult to perform risk-benefit assessments, design safe, but challenging playscapes, and support the child as they self-assess and embark on physically challenging experiences. We know that children who are able to practice at their own level, develop strong large motor skills, positive self-image, proficient self-assessment skills, confidence, agility, and resilience.

Nourishment

Children are provided with two healthy snacks and two hot and healthy meals each day. Our garden will be developed with the help of the children and be utilized in the implementation of our farm-to-preschool program which will provide fresh produce for snacks and lunch. We know that nutrition is directly linked to a child's ability to learn and develop to their highest potential.

Protection

By providing rain and snow gear, we protect the bodies from the elements and allow for year-round access to the outdoors and nature. We know that proper attire can be a barrier to outdoor immersion and believe it is important for children to have nature access while ensuring that they are both safe and comfortable in all weather.

Self-Image & Social-Emotional Learning

The most important part of our work is to support the child as they become self-acquainted. This is a sort of soul-searching, self-study where they discover their passions, strengths, weaknesses, and vulnerabilities. Whole-child development requires time and experience for the child to develop a deep understanding of who they are. We reinforce the child's own understanding by modeling positive self-dialog, positive guidance, deep relationships, and restorative justice practices. We enculturate a reflective practice that revisits experiences and explores the perspective of others.

Ubuntu Practices

Ubuntu practices are about togetherness, and how all of our actions have an impact on others within our community. In practice, Ubuntu focuses on three pillars: interpersonal values, intrapersonal values, and environmental values. These pillars signify regard for others, the self, and the environment.

The Image of The Child

Children are Human

So often in the haste to raise children to become adults, we forget about the importance of acknowledging and valuing who they are right now today. Children are whole humans right now and deserve to be treated as such.

Children are full of knowledge

Children come to us full of knowledge, experiences, and perspective about the world. They are not empty vessels merely here to receive passive information but instead crave and deserve reciprocal ways of learning and teaching.

Children are Capable

We trust that children can do more than even they can imagine. We refrain from treating the child as if they are a passive observer, but instead, allow the child to be an active participant in their own learning and the learning of others.

Children Have a Voice & Perspective

Each child has their own voice which lends to the collective voice. Their perspective is respected as equal to that of all members of the community.

Children Deserve Unconditional Love

Love and care are not earned. It is freely given and not dependent on any action carried out by the child. Love is not withheld as punishment or given as a reward.

Children Learn Through Authentic Experience

Real relationships, real materials, realistic expectations, and real experiences produce real deep life-long learning. Fake representational learning is once or even twice removed from real-life experience and produces false learning, memorization of rote facts, or adult appeasement. Our goal is deep authentic learning that becomes a part of whom the child is becoming.

Children Should Own Their Process & Timeline

Each child has their own unique developmental timetable. They take different pathways and explore different processes to reach competency. We value and support the child as they develop in their own unique ways. No arbitrary standard measures are used to assign value to a child's process or timeline. True developmental struggles are supported and remedied through intentional intervention.

Children Need Connection & Community

Children thrive in the context of community. They learn from observing modeled behaviors from the children and adults within their community. Empathy, collaboration, negotiation, cooperation, teamwork, and leadership are just a few character skills best and most authentically learned in community with others of mixed ages.

Children are Innately Good

Children are good, they do not have to prove their goodness, they do not need to be taught to be good, they do not need to be controlled into goodness. They are GOOD. We start from this belief and support children when they struggle always remembering that children are good.