Home room at the Robin's Nest
ABOUT US
The Robin’s Nest is a loving Early Childhood Center, housed in a gracious home in Tangletown, one block south of Greenlake on Woodlawn Ave.
The school welcomes 14 children each morning, aged 3 through 5 years. We call this multi-aged or “family” grouping, and it allows the children to learn from each other in a safe and inviting environment.
We also offer The Chickadees, a separate program for younger children aged 1 to 2 and a half years of age.
OUR PROGRAM
A Home-like Setting
Our school follows the philosophy of Waldorf Education. This approach to education provides young children with a warm, home-like setting in which to explore the world around them in a variety of different ways; through the arts, be it singing, painting, baking, sewing; through work and play and the wonders of the imagination; and through nature as we explore Greenlake and Woodland Park, where the children can climb and run to their hearts’ delight.
The Rhythm of the Day
Each day the children arrive, are greeted, and then move into the business they love most- free, creative play. During this first hour the children can engage with each other and enter into their own imaginary realms. They also have the opportunity to create through the arts and crafts we offer.
Teacher Skye on a Greenlake Outing
A sample of a Daily Rhythm:
9:00am Welcome and sign in. Inside play and daily crafts.
10:30am Circle and snack.
11:00am-12:30pm Nature walk and story time.
12:30pm- 12:50pm Lunch
12:45pm-1pm Pick up
Painting, felting, weaving, baking, even house cleaning all expand a child’s horizon. Often we bring treasures home from our nature walks, to incorporate into our crafts. A weaving might include reeds, feathers, grasses or other things we have found on a walk. Baking allows us a first hand experience of the alchemical. Grinding wheat or other grains into flour which, when mixed with water and yeast, becomes bread. How is this? As a teacher explains:
“The children connect to the earth and feel gratitude for the gifts it gives us. By planting vegetables in our garden we can experience those gifts first hand. When we paint we enter into a magical realm, that of the dream world where each color has its own quality – blue is cool and watery, red is hot and fiery, and so on.
We emphasize the process over the product so that each child, lost in the world of color, can create something beautifully unique.”
Examples of a Weekly Rhythm:
Mondays: Painting
Tuesdays: Felting
Wednesdays: Weaving
Thursdays: Beeswax modeling
Fridays: House cleaning, bread baking.
Home-made Organic Food
Before going outside, the children share a warm, organic snack. Each day has its own food – Monday becomes rice day, followed through the week by oatmeal, quinoa, muffins, and our own bread, kneaded and baked that morning. Carried by this nourishing rhythm, the pickiest eaters soon come along and forget themselves in the enjoyment of a wholesome meal.
Throughout the school year the children go outside, rain or shine. In the winter they are bundled up and allowed to walk out into the wind and rain and experience the glory of the elements!
Exploring the World Around Greenlake
We are blessed to be one short block away from Greenlake and the wonders of not only that park, but Woodland Park as well. When children play in a natural setting they explore the world around them in a very different way than when in a garden, even a very beautiful garden. Hills, grass, and trees, with their low-lying branches, are a wilderness to the imagination and create spaces to be at one with the natural world in all its glory.
After a romping good time both inside and outside, the children are fed. First they share a story, sometimes acted out or brought as a puppet play, which is followed by a homemade, organic lunch.
Working with a daily rhythm, which children love, our four hours together go by too quickly and it is common to hear the children greet their parents with “I don’t want to go home yet”.
Afternoon Program
The Robin’s Nest also offers its own afternoon program for those looking for afternoon care hourly, between the hours of 1-5pm. This childcare is less structured than the school day and is often a smaller group. The teacher checks in with her students to gauge what they need and then makes that available. Maybe a little quiet play to begin with if the children are tired, or a rousing walk.
Additionally, the children are offered an opportunity to work on arts and crafts projects which change with the seasons. Butterflies, made of wisps of woolen fleece wrapped around a pipe cleaner speak of spring, and snowflakes and snowmen say ‘winter’! A warm snack is served at 2:30 every afternoon, and tea time is a lovely way to round out a sweet afternoon at 4:30pm.
STAFF
Our staff, led by Skye Chamberlain, and guided by Director Tara Katz, is comprised of deeply committed, open-minded, and loving individuals. Weekly staff meetings allow us time to share the concerns and joys of the classroom, and teachers are funded to attend ongoing enrichment classes and conferences for professional development.
ADMISSIONS
Our Director, Tara
Both The Robin’s Nest and The Chickadees are now accepting applications for the new 2011-12 school year.
If you would like your child to be considered for the Robin’s Nest program, please complete an application form and mail or email it to us at the address on the form. For admission questions, we encourage you to email us and learn more about our school and philosophy.
As our school is only licensed to offer care to children for a maximum of four hours per day the children attending must choose between either the morning session, which is a flat four hours and is tuition based, or they may join us for afternoons from 1-5pm. There is a two hour minimum for afternoon care. Afternoons are billed at $8.00 per hour.
Our independent school has a sister school, called Fremont Community School (FCS) in Lower Wallingford, where we are fortunate to be able to carpool the children who need a longer day for afternoon care from 1-5pm daily. This care is based on an hourly fee of $8.00/hour.
Please contact FCS directly on (206) 547-4054 or go to their website: fremontcommunityschool.org for further details.
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