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Pre-K & Kindergarten

Ages 4 years - 7 years 

 

BOPN's Forest Kindergarten curriculum, integrated into our mixed age half and full day programs, inspires a sense of stewardship towards both the environment and other people while kindergartners gain confidence as class leaders.

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Stewardship

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STEM

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Leadership

"We learned through play what it's like to survive as squirrels.  In the game Acorn Hide-and-Seek, the children discovered how difficult it can be to find fallen acorns on the ground--even when scurrying around under oak trees! Then they had fun choosing safe places to hide their nuts ahead of the winter.

 

For other students, burying acorns under leaves and twigs so other animals would not find them morphed into gathering materials to build a nest. 

 

~Forest Kindergarten Teacher

BOPN promotes curiosity & concentration by...

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BOPN students become stewards by...

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  • respecting the plants and animals in their environment

  • observing the beauty of the natural world, which instills a desire to preserve mother earth

  • attuning their hearts to the changing of seasons

  • identifying the role of all living creatures, great or small, in their ecosystem

"Our philosophy of leadership learning includes observing and letting children try to solve problems instead of jumping in and solving them for them. When children cannot come to a solution or need our support to share their frustrations, we will model language that offers some potential solutions.

 

This helps foster authentic empathy, independence, and supports children in learning what it means to be part of a community. BOPN  teamwork and persistence is admirable!"

 

~Forest Kindergarten Teacher

BOPN promotes curiosity & concentration by...

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BOPN students develop leadership by...

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  • guiding and setting examples for their younger peers in a mixed-age setting

  • creating and organizing their own games and adventures

  • compromising and negotiating the rules of self-directed activities

  • practicing empathy with all living things from bugs to animals to friends

"Building structures requires impressive engineering, spatial awareness, geometric, measurement, estimation, patterns, and problem-solving.

 

The class worked together to build bridges across logs by talking through their process together, and determine that factors that will make their bridge stable, which includes adding, removing, and moving different branches. Stability, weight, length, and height are just a few examples of the mathematics vocabulary that the children are practicing during this play!"

 

~Forest Kindergarten Teacher

BOPN promotes curiosity & concentration by...

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BOPN students engage in STEM activities such as...

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  • Building bridges, forts, and structures

  • Following their questions to explore why pinecones open and close, why leaves change color, and more

  • Tending and keeping a garden

  • Comparing sizes, shapes, and weights

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Ages: 4 - 6

Location: Wellesley, JP/Roslindale, Malden 

Morning Class, Mixed Age

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Forest Kindergarten

Half Day Pre-K

& Kindergarten

Ages 4 - 7 

Location:  JP/Roslindale

Morning Class

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Full Day Pre-K & Kindergarten

Ages 4-6

Location: Wellesley & JP/Roslindale

Mixed Age Class, Dedicated Afternoon Project Time

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Learning from Stewards

What examples do our students have when learning to care for and respect the natural world?

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Biology

How does outdoor learning support observation, forming hypothesis, and reflection?

"It's impossible to convey to you how grateful I am to have knowledgeable and compassionate guides like you in this [parenting] journey. Thank you for all that you do, the wonderful program you are creating, and for doing your best to make it accessible to families from all socio-economic backgrounds. We're so grateful to be part of the BOPN community."

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