Birmingham’s Forest School
Where the Wild Things Grow
Opening Fall 2026, for ages 2 - 6
From Her, and held in her forests and woods, we learn that learning is play, that play is health, and that health is knowing and feeling our place in the web of all things. In nature, we learn to trust the wild, trust our instincts, and trust one another, setting a foundation that lasts all our lives.
Mother Nature is our first teacher—
What is a forest school?
Forest or nature schools, pre-schools, and kindergartens are, essentially, schools without walls. In place of walls, we listen to the wind, count acorns, build imaginative structures, tell stories and sing songs as we sit on the Earth. Here, we listen to the Earth— her rhythms, her wisdom, her animals— as our first teachers. And we spend our formative years in active play, outdoors, which research has shown to increase intelligence, resilience, immunity, physical strength and dexterity, and a sense of belonging, to each other and Life.
When and where did nature and forest schools emerge?
Learning directly from a living Earth is the primary source in indigenous (meaning of the earth) communities around the world (and was for our ancestors, too!). In fact, it was only with the industrial revolution that modern day schooling practice became the norm. As the decades have passed, our use of technology has increased and our sedentary lifestyles solidified. Young people are starting to feel the effects of nature deficit disorder (Louv, Last Child in the Woods) — and the concurrent mental, spiritual and chronic illnesses resulting from this separation from the sun, the soil, and the waters. In the last 5-6 decades, teachers and researchers in northern Europe, first, and then the United States, began to watch what happened when they returned children (especially until age 7) back to nature and to play outside. Forest Schools, Forest Kindergartens, and outdoor schools all the way up through middle school are now everywhere— even in the Southeast. And Birmingham families are ready to receive their first one.
Here, we gather to remember the sound of the wind, to notice the smell of a plant, to build confidence in our steps, as we walk on Earth.
Let us walk together to the place where wild things grow—
Here, we remember, while we’re still very young, that we are part of something so alive, so ancient and so wise. And, together, we listen for our place in its web.
The deer will show us the way.
Little Acorns (2-4)
Our littlest ones will gather with us 3 days a week, for 4 hours a day, to begin to build community with earth and one another. Centering play, exploration and wonder, we learn to grow the strength of our feet, trust the forest and remember the songs and stories of being human on Earth. We resource Earth as a natural multi-sensory environment for social development, problem solving, and fine and gross motor skill development.
Young Oaks (5-6)
Our older littles will gather with us EITHER (TBD) 3 days a week for 6 hours, or 5 days a week for 4 hours. As we grow, we will begin to recieve deeper learning in forest skills from teachers and volunteer experts, as well as continuing to honor the rhythm of play and exploration, we start to add in reading, writing, history and STEM through the forests’ memory. We will begin to engage in deeper imaginative and constructive ways with Earth herself, as our brains and bodies grow in the web of Life.
Wise & Wild (7+)
In the fall of 2027 (one year after initial opening), we will grow the school to accommodate our young oaks as they grow, or to welcome new 7-year olds who would like to enter into our community. As our forest kids age, they will continue to weave learning in math, writing, reading, history and STEM with direct learning and authentic assessment in the wild.
