We are a Nature school

On the farm that is our home, children learn from nature and about nature. The classrooms maximize natural light and air flow and have built-in rainwater harvesting catchments perfect for growing vegetables.

Every day, children play among the mahogany, coconut trees, pili nut trees, guyabano, mango, santol, ferns, palms, and other vegetation. They turn leaves, stones, seeds, and branches into a hundred different things with their imagination.

At the edge of the property flows a creek which the children love to visit. They like to catch and release butterflies, lady bugs, and caterpillars between the grasses. Or collect mahogany seeds, throw them from a height, and watch them helicopter down. They build forts with bamboo and banana leaves and when the wind blows hard, they just start over and repair the damage.

Climbing trees is a favorite activity. The most confident and experienced climbers can climb all the way to the top of the santol tree beside the kitchen. Some give up immediately. Others are more patient. But eventually everyone nails it. Physical exertion makes children strong in ways that indoor activities cannot.

During nature games children turn into explorers and test their speed, strength, flexibility and teamwork. When it’s time to go on a nature walk, children linger and point out the flowers, birds, leaves and stones that they find interesting and beautiful. Some of the treasures they see are brought back to the classroom and put on the nature table.

Nature is in the songs that the children sing, in the stories that they hear and tell, and in the drawings and paintings that they make.