A Waldorf inspired program nurturing ages 3-6.
"One of the best parts of our move was finding Little Acorn preschool. It’s everything I could want for my children’s early learning - a Waldorf based curriculum focusing on connection with nature, rhythm, art, imagination and outdoor play. Jennifer and Emily have created a warm, peaceful, nurturing environment for these little ones and it warms my heart every single time I walk through the front door."
from mama Kira Starhill Smith
A Waldorf inspired program nurturing ages 3-6
WE ARE A NATURE AND PLAY BASED SCHOOL located in a cozy and nurturing home in West Asheville. Little Acorn School is the perfect bridge between your home and their first schooling days away from home. We offer a safe haven for children to connect with nature, art, language, music, and movement. Our play yard is epic! Our mixed age program provides an opportunity for littles to have helpful older friends to look up to, and for older children to lead by example. Little Acorn's daily activities nurture a child's physical, social and mental growth while building a strong foundation for later, academic learning to stand firmly upon.
INSPIRED BY THE SEASONS.... Our daily and monthly rhythms and activities observe and honor the changing of the seasons. Our activities speak deeply to the whole child. Head, heart and hands! Painting, drawing, crafting, weaving, balancing, building, chopping vegetables for our weekly vegetable soup... Dailey activities engage both fine and gross motor skill. Long outdoor and indoor play times allows children to engage in deep imaginative play and connect with nature. Our Circle time is rich with song, movement, and language, while story time is a time to practice deep listening and quieting ones self to live into the magic of a fairy tale, nature story, puppet show or play.
ORGANIC MEALS EACH DAY!
Monday : Brown Rice w/optional toppings of carrots, nutritional yeast, gomasio, coconut aminos or tamari.
Tuesday: Oatmeal w/ optional toppings of pecans, raisons, chia seeds, cinnimon sugar & apples.
Wednesday: Bread making day. Children help make and bake bread.Optional toppings of nut butter and honey.
-Thursday: Happy Vegetable Soup. Families contribute veggies for our soup and the children help chop the veggies with the teachers.
DAILY RHYTHM
9:00 am Arrive
9-9:30 Morning activities
(Painting, drawing, bread making, preparing veg soup/chopping veggies
9:30-10:35 Explore nature, swing, run, balance, climb into the treehouse.
10:40-11 Sing songs & practice gross motor skills in circle time.
11:00 Enjoy a delicious warm meal.
11:30 Listen and create beautiful images in your head, watch a puppet show or perform a play during story time.
11:40- 12:50 Build, imagine, play house, finger knit, craft in indoor play.
12:50-1pm Tidy up together, Finger play games, movement songs, closing verse, hug mama/papa and never want to leave.
FESTIVALS, FAMILY DAYS, FIELD TRIPS
Little Acorn School has several festivals over the school year where the children and families gather and celebrate. Family days include pot lucks, family clay day where children and parents create with clay, watch a visiting ceramics artist work on the clay wheel and try out the wheel themselves. All the creations are glazed and fired.
We also strive to visit lots of local farms, forests, and parks during the more friendly months of Fall, Spring and early Summer. What could be more fun than spending the day visiting a favorite farm animal friend, exploring a nature trail, dipping your toes in a creek, creating a beautiful nature craft, or exploring a forests garden....
On days like these children bring a snack and a lunch for a picnic, and a healthy sense of adventure!! We encourage parents to join! Just a few of the local farms and forests we visit include Goodyacre farm, Hickory Nut Gap Farm, The Botanical Gardens, strawberry picking, the fire station, Animal sanctuaries, the Nature Center, the Arboretum....
OUR MISSION
Children find something magical here everyday!
Our mission is to honor each child's whole being by fostering a sense of wonder, curiosity and belonging as they learn, grow and connect with the world. Little Acorn's and Big Acorn Enrichment programs provide impeccable modeling and healthy, joyful, guided interactions with other children and learning activities
Little Acorn strives to uniquely support each parent too!
Inquire about our Swap and Save clothing swaps, and Friends
of the Forest program.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
To provide impeccable modeling and healthy, guided interactions with other children and activities. To cultivate within each child, a strong sense of self! There’s nothing more beautiful than honoring every child's whole being; head, heart, and hands!
There's no better feeling for a parent than knowing your child is in good hands. Jenny was my daughter's teacher for a few years during the important formative years. Everything from the way Jenny spoke with her class to how she told stories and performed the activities for the day as the class went from one mode to another was so deliberate and full of care. -Jeff Agostinelli
