Currently Enrolling
Licensed Preschooler Programs
Mousewood Mornings 2 Days/Week
-
Forest & Nature School (*FNS)
-
9:00 - 1:05
-
2 days per week: Mon & Thurs
Woodland Mornings 2 Days/ Week
-
Nature-Based Morning Program
-
8:30 - 1:05
-
2 days per week: Tues & Fri
Woodland Mornings 3 Days/ Week
-
Nature-Based Morning Program
-
8:30 - 1:05
-
3 days per week: Tues, Wed & Fri
Ages 3 - 5 Years
Mousewood Mornings
Woodland Mornings
Nature Sampler Classes
These sessions are technically *licensed childcare* but with a unique twist and nature-based setting.
Monday and Thursday classes are conducted in the way of a Forest and Nature School* program.
Tuesdays and Fridays are nature-based classes. "Forest school Lite"
Led by experienced ECEs, the programs are semi-structured:
-
Mousewood Mornings sessions and part of Woodland Mornings sessions will take place outside except when it is unsafe to do so.
-
Every class follows the same predictable rhythm, with time flexibility for the children’s needs that day.
-
There is a mix of free play, group projects, and curious explorations.
-
With a balance of *emergent child-led,* *inquiry-based project approach,* and *teacher-suggested* topics.
-
Teacher-suggested topics include our local wildlife, trees and plants, habitats, tracks and scat, seasonal changes, growth cycles, and beginners bushcraft skills.
Class Size
-
Maximum *8 children* per class
-
Educator and assistant per class
-
Parent participation optional
Calendar and Closures
-
Mousewood Mornings last day of this school year is June 25, 2026.
-
Woodland Mornings last day of this school year is June 26, 2026.
-
Does NOT follow School District 57 closures, NID days or spring break.
-
Morning programs are closed for Winter Break and Summer Break.
-
All programs are closed for statutory holidays.
-
Complete list of closures are in the Childcare Contract.
-
During summer break, we run morning daycamps one week long each.
Next Step
For classes from now until the end of June:
Please book a Meet and Greet Tour
For classes starting in September:
Please fill out our waitlist form:
* A Word About
"Forest & Nature School"
(FNS) Class Titles
*In Canada, all programs based on the forest and nature school principles described by the Child and Nature Aliance of Canada are collectively called "Forest and Nature Schools" (FNS.)
Though these programs are called Forest and Nature Schools, they are not technically schools by the legal definition. They are more like schools of fish!
Forest and Nature Schools began in Sweden and Denmark decades ago. Around the world they are called by different names, such as Forest Schools, Forest Kindergartens, Nature Kindergartens, Nature Preschools, Outdoor Nursery, Waldkindergarten (Germany), Naturbørnehaver (Denmark), I Ur Och Skur (Swedish- "Rain or Shine".)
At Mousewood, to simplify our licenses, these part-time program forest and nature school classes all fall under the same Multi-Age Child Care licence and must abide by the restrictions of this licence type. One of these restrictions is naming the part-time classes that occur within this Multi Age Child Care's hours of operation. The part-time classes for preschoolers are technically not allowed to be called preschool, as the licence type is not "preschool." And the part-time school-age classes are technically not recreational extracurriculars. Moreover,we refer to the Homeschooler "classes" as cohorts, rather than classes.
