9:30-10AM             Gathering & Getting Settled         30min

    This time is reserved for the arrival of the group in their own time. We offer a casual arrival so families can feel comfortable when they begin their day. We believe that it is not healthy for young children to feel the stress of rushing as this can often set a negative tone for the day. Meeting together in our Children's Garden provides a safe exploration space with age appropriate tools and toys. Allowing a flow of graceful arrival with open conversations & connections led by the interest of the children.

We check in with our bodies, ensure we are dressed properly for the day; and then the educators sing our 2min warning to transition song. All our transitions are led by song.

 

10-10:20AM             Snack & Community Circle             20min

This time is reserved as a coming together with intention to set the tone for group cohesion. We invite snacking and water pause (pausing our play/ engagement to take a drink of water). We do bathroom check-ins. Our Circle time flow is short and we follow the children's energy each day. We sing Good Morning Song to the Land, we acknowledge the Land we gather on and express our gratitude. Then the children's favourite part... a visit from the Moondance Learning Gnomes! Mother Moondance greets us each day, while her friends flow in and out visiting us each week. Peep shares about the Creature of the Week, while Fay shares the Word of the Day! Luna Moon comes to visit when we sing our Moon song to her. She shares with the children what the Moon phase is, and Windy Wendy has been visiting to chat about the day's weather. If attention and engagement allows, we engage in seasonal movement rhymes, poems, fingerplays or songs. 

​

10:20-10:45AM        Forward Across the Farm            25min

This is the time to take an exploration walk through the farm’s center of energy. We visit flower alley to observe the colours and buzzing mini beats. We follow the flow of the paths to visit the chickens, and goats for feeding and interactions, often picking weeds along the way. A favourite morning chore is picking weeds to make a "goat salad", experimenting with different plants to see what the silly goats like most. Some days we will visit the greenhouse with Farmer Kim to see, smell, touch, use our helping hands to water & our favourite part, taste the veggies!

​

We land at Old Maple, a 200 year old Maple tree that has become a landmark on the property, and the children all have developed a relationship with her. We give her hugs and hellos and we spend some time to regroup with open play and discovery in her shade.

We travel as a group while on the farmland, but we do allow the children to stretch a little and travel across the farm at their own pace.

 

10:45-11AM               Harmony Hike                                15min

 

This time is reserved for the opportunity to engage in Forest Bathing & Mindfulness. We stop at the entrance to the forest and greet the forest. We ask permission to enter and listen for the answer. We explain that while the forest can't "talk" to us, it is alive and we can feel it's answer. This is our observational nature walk as a group, which is long or short depending on day, how long we spent exploring the gardens and the energy levels. We take the time to stop and observe the plant life and insects we find and collect nature treasures along the way. A favourite stop is at Curiosity Corner. Here we settle for a sit spot after singing the Sit Spot song. Our sit spots is choosing to visit the same tree for a quiet pause and sensory exploration, fostering a deeper connection to the subtle changes in nature. Some children find a nature treasure to drop into the Wishing Tree (old hollow stump). We finish our Hike by landing in our Forest Nest Play Space.

 

11AM-12:30PM          Forest Free Play                              1.5hr

This time is reserved for free play and exploration in the forest. The Educators provide provocations as child-led interests arise, they support self guided sensory discoveries, child-led risky-play behaviour, and child-led nature crafting. Snacking is encouraged as children feel ready. We gentle encourage children to stop to eat, but also remind them to listen to what their body is telling them. We set out simple tools and toys with nature exploration in mind. We put up Hammocks for resting, and swinging, and we have our seasonal BookBox full of books and stories to explore. 

We give our morning only friends a 10min, then 2 min warning to transition home. We say our goodbyes to the 1⁄2 day children and they head out of forest casually at 12:20pm towards the children's garden for pick up.

 

12:30-2:30PM          Afternoon Adventures               2hrs

This time is reserved for the continued efforts of child-led, play-based learning experiences. The afternoon is reserved for exploring as a group in any spaces they choose: Nature walks in the forest for treasure/or creature hunts; Greeting the Food Growing Learning Gardens in the market area; Tinker chores to embrace the process of garden growing; Visiting the animals again; The patch for open air group running games; Old Maple for shade and observations; The yurt for indoor quiet creative crafts; Nature crafting.  Remaining engaged in a flow state of free play and exploration in the forest nest is always one of the favourite choices for the afternoons. 

 

2:30-3PM                   Goodbye & Go                          20min

This time is our gentle end of day transition to conclude our time together. We do a Wolf call to round everyone up. We sing our Goodbye Songs in the forest to signal the end of the session; we then say goodbye and thank you to the forest for holding us all day - Hug a Tree! Tidy up, gather gear and go. We leave the forest at 2:50pm and guide children across the farmland and into the Children’s Garden to wait for our grownups.