Nature's Educational Farmhouse
Allowing young children to be children 7am - 4:30pm Monday through Friday
Natural Childcare
Happy, Healthy Kids
Philosophy
In our environment, your child will be with a loving and nurturing caregiver who creates a peaceful, supportive, and safe environment for your little ones. In my space, a child’s natural passion for wonder, curiosity, exploration, and discovery comes alive.
As parents, we always want to do what is best for our children, so they grow and develop into healthy, happy, responsible, self-aware adults. Every day, parents are tasked with making numerous large and small decisions which significantly influence how a child develops. Talk about a big responsibility, right?
Here at NEF, we work with the families in our program to try and do just that to the best of our ability. Guiding them with the hope to instill:
1. Empathy
2. Patience
3. Gratefulness
4. Self-awareness
5. Sense of Responsibility
6. Love for all
The NEF Environment
Read about all the different experiences the children are exposed to at NEF and what supplies are used onsite to provide the safest environment possible.
NEF Animals
Life among animals means that children learn to care for someone other than themselves.
Interacting with animals teaches responsibility, communication, patience, compassion, and provides a positive model for future human relationships. And perhaps that is the best benefit of all.
(to the left are our goats; Umami & Pepper)
Art & Cleaning Supplies
Homemade natural detergents
Homemade paint and playdough from organic edible ingredients.
Force of Nature sanitizing and disenfectant.
From Scratch Meals
Our meals will be organic foods and local wherever possible and made from scratch.
We will try our best to eliminate processed foods and foods that use artificial coloring from your child's daily diet.
Making bread and snacks from scratch and using natural sweeteners like honey, dates or bananas.
(photo to the left shows one of our friends making his own mini pie)
Gardening with Kids
Spending time in the garden offers opportunities to develop all kinds of skills. The benefits of gardening in early childhood are;
physical
emotional
spatial
mathematical
sensory awareness
character development
creative ideas
and just a love and appreciation of nature.
The garden is nature’s schoolyard.
Indoor Environment
The place where very young children spend their time is full of messages to the child.
When caregivers and family members are intentional about the environments they create they can send messages such as:
Your family life and relationships are valued here.
This is a place where you can explore and learn.
This place is kind and loving—just like home.
Working hard to create a space that is welcoming and homelike, is a wonderful part of our job.
Outdoor Environment
“As the young spend less and less of their lives in natural surroundings, their senses narrow, and this reduces the richness of the human experience.” -Louv warns.
We utilize the outdoor space as often as possible. This means not only playtimes but learning and reading times may be outside as well.
Nature may seem less stimulating than your child’s video game, but in reality, it activates more senses—you can see, hear, smell, and touch outdoor environments.
Contact
Marla Gottula
Please contact me for more information or to schedule a tour.
Bentonville AR United States 72713
