Fiddleheads Urban Forest Preschool

About

We are an intimate, nature-based preschool located in an historic home in the Mt Tabor neighborhood of Portland, Oregon.

Mission

We are an intimate, nature-based preschool located in an historic home in the Mt Tabor neighborhood of Portland, Oregon.

Early childhood is the most important time in life for building a strong sense of self, belonging, creativity, and connection to the natural world. At Fiddleheads we believe in encouraging children to flex their muscles and explore their natural inclinations in these directions. We work by the motto that childhood is a journey, not a destination. We spend the majority of each day immersed in nature play either in our backyard play area and garden, or in the forest of nearby Mt. Tabor Park. We focus on mindfulness, awareness, observation and empathy in our relations with each other and with the natural world. We play, explore, act out, sing, build, imagine and create.

Nature study, immersion into seasonal rhythms, and interpersonal relations are the core tenets of our program. We weave early literacy and number sense into our program as well as, wherever appropriate, through activities such as cooking, nature journaling, species identification, stories, and counting activities.