About Acorn Tree
Acorn Tree Child Garden offers a mindful balance of child-directed play, practical life activities, gardening and interaction with nature, art and handcrafts, storytelling, and Circle time verses, songs and games. All these activities not only bring joy to the day, but also help children develop in their communication and social skills, support their cognitive development, strengthen their fine and gross motor coordination, teach them practical skills of daily living, and prepare them for a life-long love of learning.
Play-Based
Acorn Tree's emergent curriculum responds to the individual needs and interests of the children for meaningful, developmentally-appropriate, play-based learning. Nature and the changing seasons provide thematic structure to the program, with daily and weekly rhythms that bring comfort and confidence. The natural world and seasonal rhythms feed the soul of the young child and are regularly acknowledged through story, verses, songs, and special celebrations.
​
​
Child-Centered Environment
Your child will be embraced in a comfortable, light-filled, home environment. Here you will find quality, open-ended play materials made of wood, wicker, wool, and silk that encourage imagination, creativity and exploration. There are plants, stones, and other objects from nature. Children are building with blocks or moving large play stands and cloths to make houses and stores. Dolls are handmade, simple, and soft. The reading corner displays consciously selected books to support present themes of interest and learning. Art and writing materials are always available for children to engage with or to make things they integrate into their play. The environment remains stimulating and lively without feeling cluttered or visually chaotic. A large yard with varied gardens and mature trees provides ample room for outdoor play and learning experiences. Excursions to nearby parks and natural areas are also a regular part of our week.​​
Child-Led Learning
Acorn Tree recognizes and honors young children's natural drive to observe, explore, experiment, and gain understanding of their world through play. The role of the adult here is to provide loving guidance and supportive structure for children to safely and joyously learn and grow. Instead of dictating and directing activity, the teacher asks questions and provides opportunities that enrich or broaden the children's road of inquiry. She gives them words and tools to express their needs and work through frustrations. She helps them develop practical life skills that lead to age-appropriate levels of responsibility and independence, so they feel their own capabilities and contributions. The teacher listens, observes, ask questions, responds and adapts to the particular children in her care, helping their unique gifts and strengths unfold.
Valuing Nature
A sense of wonder, reverence, respect, and stewardship toward the Earth is a fundamental part of Acorn Tree's ethos. Children spend a good portion of their day outside in all seasons. Nature stories, imaginative play, gardening, environmental education, nature walks, wildlife observation, weeding, fort building, and nature play are all part of the children's daily experience. The play yard is a natural playscape, designed to encourage imagination and creativity, move and strengthen little bodies, stimulate the senses, and practice cooperation and problem-solving. Children dig in the sand, squish their hands in mud, tend a garden, make snow angels, talk to birds, jump in leaves, build fairy houses, stomp in puddles, search for bugs, make potions and pies. These hands-on, sense-filled play experiences provide a foundation and backdrop to learning in all domains. A nearby wooded area is an additional regular location for extended nature play. Occasional field trips to local nature centers and preserves, bird sanctuaries, farms and gardens broaden our view of the world and our community. Through all these experiences children develop a relationship to place and a knowing connection to the plants and creatures who also call it home, a connection that will continue to shape and grow within them throughout their life.
Daily Rhythm
Arrival
Morning Activity & Child-Directed Play
Circle Time
Morning Snack
Outdoor Play
Lunch
Story
Rest
Afternoon Snack
Tidying
Outdoor Play
Goodbyes
Meals and Snacks
Acorn Tree provides lunches and snacks that emphasize homemade, healthful foods, primarily using organic and natural ingredients. Children are often involved in food preparation, and are taught to set the table, help clean up, and “wear their Golden Crowns” (i.e. use their best manners) when at the table.
We understand the importance of establishing healthy eating habits at a young age. Meals are planned to include a range of tastes and textures, and include both familiar and perhaps some new foods. Weekly lunch menus are posted at the beginning of each week. All meals are served family style.
​
About Allison Ruby
Allison Ruby is an artist, gardener, and long time Waldorf teacher whose life has centered around educating children. She served as a Class Teacher at the Minnesota Waldorf School and City of Lakes Waldorf School, and prior to that taught a home-based Waldorf-inspired kindergarten program in Ojai, California. Allison studied International Relations with a focus in French Area Studies at UW-Madison, and has a BFA in Visual Arts from the University of Minnesota, with a minor in Horticulture. In 2015 she founded Red Garage Studio, an alternative gallery and art event space she ran out of a converted garage space in Minneapolis until 2020. Allison has a background in permaculture and is a certified Master Gardener. She loves sharing the wonder of nature with children throughout the year. Along with her years of experience and training in Waldorf education, Allison continues to study a range of child-centered educational approaches to best understand and work with the children in her care.
Allison is presently working to achieve a Parent Aware 4-star rating and maintains an individual membership in the following organizations:
National Association for the Education of Young Children
Minnesota Association for the Education of Young Children
Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America
Association of Nature Based Education
North American Association for Environmental Education
Minnesota Association of Child Care Professionals
