AIFK Nature Kindergarten
AIFK kindergarteners are outside in nature for 50 to 100% of their day.
In our “Garden of Childhood,” we have created a warm, unhurried environment where children can thrive.
AIFK Nature Kindergarten program is designed to serve families with children ages 3.5 to 5. The program operates at a 5:1 student to teacher ratio, with just five children attending each day.
AIFK’s philosophy of education draws inspiration from the global forest school movement and some of the teachings of Rudolf Steiner and the Waldorf Education approach to early years learning.
Our small group size allows for meaningful relationships to develop between the children, while also providing lots of opportunities for individualized attention from the teacher.
AIFK’s learning environment is hands-on and entirely screen-free.
By slowing down and deeply connecting,
the AIFK Nature Kindergarten program aims to offer an antidote to large class sizes and virtual learning.
While AIFK kindergarteners spend the vast majority of their day outside, the home-based portion of our program takes place in our indoor space and adjacent gardens.
The indoor playroom is full of natural light and open ended playthings. Wooden blocks, play silks, handmade toys, and collected nature items are kept in straw baskets and on shelves. There is a wide assortment of art materials including clay for sculpting, watercolours for painting, beeswax crayons for drawing, yarn for weaving, and so forth.
Playthings, art, and learning materials have been carefully chosen for their heirloom quality and sustainability. We strive to be a low waste and minimal plastic environment. Our indoor space features no electronic toys or screens.
The children have easy access to a washroom off the main learning area, and there is a kitchen where cooking and other living arts activities such as baking sourdough bread and churning butter can take place spaciously.
Our Indoor Learning Space
Guiding Program Objectives
The AIFK Nature Kindergarten aims to support participating children in developing:
An expanded capacity for critical and creative thought
Greater interdisciplinary knowledge of the world around them
A deeper connection to nature, to one’s self, and to others
Strengthened motor skills and related physical literacies
New techniques for emotional and nervous system regulation
New communication and conflict resolution strategies
A greater sense of personal and inter-personal responsibility
Cultural skills that have been nurtured through the creative and living arts including: drawing and painting, sculpting, handcrafts, cooking and baking, and tending and tidying
A sense of feeling seen and supported by community
Increased self-confidence, self-awareness, strength of will, and sense of autonomy
An overall robust social, physical, and cognitive foundation that will assist them in their future academic studies
A lifelong love and enjoyment of learning
