
If you are here, you are likely believe that:
Children thrive in nature. You believe that fresh air, open space, and unstructured time outdoors are essential for healthy development.
Learning happens everywhere. You trust that children can learn through play, exploration, and curiosity—not just in a classroom.
Risk is a teacher. You see the value in safe risk-taking like climbing trees, using tools, or navigating uneven terrain.
Sensory and movement-rich environments are ideal. You understand kids aren’t meant to sit still all day and value environments where bodies and minds can be active.
There’s no bad weather, only inappropriate clothing. You’re not afraid of rain, mud, or snow and are willing to invest in the right gear.
Discomfort can build resilience. You believe short-term discomfort (like being cold or wet) can help their child grow emotionally and physically stronger.
Connection to the Earth matters. You want your child to understand and respect nature—not just visit it on weekends.
Independence and self-direction are more important than compliance. You value children learning how to listen to their own instincts, make choices, and solve problems.
You’re not chasing academic perfection. You trust in a child’s natural timeline and don’t stress about worksheets or test prep or being at “grade level”.
You are community-oriented. You believe in raising children in connection with others—children, mentors, and the land.
Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly and seasonal rhythms are important traditions to uphold and curate for children. They thrive with repetition and knowing what to expect. We honor the equinoxes and solstices with big community celebrations. These ‘bookmarks’ in time give children something to look forward to and weaves a dependable structure into our school year.
Once a month the children formally meet with their ‘Forest Families’ and engage in a project, challenge or activity together. Every Forest Family consists of one or two kids from each class and is led by students from the oldest class. Forest Families spend time reading stories together, playing field games, doing collaborative art, learning and teaching new plants, jumping into child-led obstacle courses and forging surprising new friendships. Additionally, we often combine classes during unstructured play to increase opportunities for cross pollination.
Along with formal academic instruction we also weave in a weekly ancestral skills class. We provide knives for carving, knitting needles, block printing, leather work, sewing, fort building, fire building and sometimes we even catch a fish!
Children are split up into academic groups based on skill level, not age or grade. They move freely between groups when their skills advance, allowing learning to unfold at a pace that truly honors each child’s development.
This flexible structure removes the pressure to "keep up" or "slow down" and instead fosters confidence, curiosity, and a genuine love of learning. Children are met right where they are—and supported as they grow, without comparison or competition.
We allow children to run barefoot, climb trees, carve sticks, and engage in the kind of play that builds real-world confidence and competence. We believe risky play is essential for healthy development—it teaches children how to assess danger, set personal boundaries, and build resilience.
Rather than eliminate all risk, we teach children how to navigate it with awareness and care. Our educators are trained to support risky play in a way that is developmentally appropriate, supervised, and rooted in trust. We step back just enough to let children grow, while staying close enough to offer guidance when needed.
Through these experiences, children develop physical strength, coordination, courage, and the ability to make thoughtful decisions. These are not just outdoor skills—they’re life skills.
Children (even preschoolers!) are responsible for their gear and backpacks all day! And we don’t have a set lunch time—the children are allowed to eat whenever their body needs it. This allows them to develop body awareness, self-regulation, and trust in their own needs. Instead of following a rigid schedule, they learn to listen to their hunger cues, make choices, and care for themselves in real time—valuable life skills that foster independence and confidence.
Students are encouraged to democratically discuss and decide where and what the afternoon unstructured part of our day will be and look like. This can take quite a while, as the teacher intentionally stands back as an observer while kids work together through various emotions, practice self-regulation, compromise and other social emotional skills that are best learned in mixed aged groups with other children.
Families who choose Down to Earth Forest School tend to value something deeper than traditional academic benchmarks—they want their children to have a rich, meaningful childhood. One rooted in freedom, autonomy, and connection to the natural world.
That said, it’s true that our students may not always be at the same pace as their traditionally-schooled peers when it comes to reading levels or memorizing math facts. But they are gaining something just as vital:
They’ll know how to ground themselves in nature when life feels overwhelming. They’ll recognize edible plants and the scent of petrichor after rain. They’ll practice conflict resolution without adult interference, and they’ll spend far more hours outdoors than the average child—soaking up fresh air, sunlight, and resilience.
They’ll become curious, critical thinkers who know how to ask good questions, follow their interests, and express themselves confidently.
And yes, they do learn academic fundamentals. But we follow a developmentally appropriate pace—one that honors the whole child and their unique growth process. When the time comes to transition into middle school, many of our students adjust with ease because they bring a deep sense of self, emotional intelligence, and the ability to advocate for their needs.
We believe—and have seen firsthand—that this foundation prepares them not just for middle school, but for life.
Teachers step down as “Sage on the Stage” and take a nod from nature into the role of “Guide on the Side”.
We are a community who honors children and understands they all have unique gifts that are just waiting to unfurl, with proper space, plenty of time, some light shed on new ideas and a little rain for good measure we can step back and watch as children grow to be a mighty oak of their own.
As educators we constantly ask ourselves “How do you support someone in becoming a learner?” How do you nurture the roots of a solid foundation that will keep them branching out for more knowledge, asking more questions and leafing out ideas not yet thought?
“Lack of free play may not kill the physical body, as would lack of food, air, or water, but it kills the spirit and stunts mental growth. Free play is the means by which children learn to make friends, overcome their fears, solve their own problems, and generally take control of their own lives. It is also the primary means by which children practice and acquire the physical and intellectual skills that are essential for success in the culture in which they are growing. Nothing that we do, no amount of toys we buy or ‘quality time’ or special training we give our children, can compensate for the freedom we take away. The things that children learn through their own initiatives, in free play, cannot be taught in other ways.” —Peter Grey
Reading is the gateway to a word full of answers and it’s a focal point of our academic time. Small group instruction means each child is met with the skill level that's most suited to them, not their age or grade. The heavy cross pollination of ages and grades throughout our program means kids are more comfortable being put in group with other children who may not be in their clan. With our Science of Reading based curriculum and other resources we focus on the following skills:
phonemic awareness
phonics skills (decoding and encoding)
sight recognition
vocabulary
verbal reasoning
fluency
comprehension
morphology
making predictions
research and comparing information from different sources
Writing is how a child can translate their own ideas down on paper and then teach back what they know and want to share with the world about who they are. Students are given many opportunities to write creatively and in response to prompts and projects from teachers at Down to Earth. We practice handwriting using the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum.
Mathematical core concepts are learned through direct instruction, application, critical thinking and games using Singapore Math. There are too many foundational skills to list for grades K-5, here is an introduction to the curriculum.
Science encircles us and is applied to all we learn. Our teachers have a well rounded knowledge of earth cycles and provide insights, context and information to students as questions arise. We always leave open time for inquiry and projects based on student interest. Past curiosities from students have led to class projects and studies of plant identification/plant structure, animal skat/life cycles, weather/climate change, erosion/water cycle, and clouds/atmospheric pressure.
“Human resources are like natural resources; they're often buried deep. You have to go looking for them, they're not just lying around on the surface. You have to create the circumstances where they show themselves.” ― Ken Robinson