Earthsong Community School

Earthsong has been the best educational decision we have ever made for our daughter. She is just shy of 4 years old and loves it there. She doesn't want to come home at the end of the day because she's having so much fun. Earthsong follows a Montessori curriculum. The kids learn through doing. They paint, sew, draw, build, plant, go on nature walks, and field trips, sing songs and read books, and dance and play outside. They engage with the local community on the International Day of Peace by crafting peace fairies from acorns and felt and handing them out to all and sundry. The educators at Earthsong are great at encouraging that wonderful curiosity that children innately possess. They encourage the kids to be independent and do as many things for themselves as possible. They teach the kids to be kind and respectful to one another, and our daughter has already matured o much emotionally since being there. She comes home saying things like "when you hurt a friend, you have to tell them that you're sorry", and "we have to take care of each other in the world". One of the things I love MOST about this school is that the kids seem to spend most of the day, including lessons, outdoors--3 hours of the school day, at least. That makes me extremely happy. I've always wanted that for my kids, but it seems like these days, most schools give kids 30 minutes outdoors at MOST. I know that when my daughter was at Yellowbrick Road, she didn't spend nearly as much time outdoors, and wasn't able to play as freely or imaginatively--the outdoor space also just wasn't as nice. I know for a fact that Earthsong gives its students more outdoor time than any other school in town. My daughter is a very active little person who loves being outside (don't most kids?), so this is perfect for her and much appreciated by me and her dad. I just wish I had enrolled her at Earthsong earlier, at 2.5 years old, rather than bothering with any other school. Previous to this, my daughter attended Yellowbrick Road and the preschool at Waddell Elementary. Some days, she would tell me "I don't want to go to school today!". A teacher's aide at YBR who later quit told me that my daughter had been treated poorly at times by her teacher there, who had once said of her "there's something wrong with that kid. I don't know what, but there's something wrong". My daughter also became the ridiculously unnecessary target of the teacher and head of the school's interest at one point, when they told me that they were so concerned about her development that they wanted her to be evaluated professionally. Against my better judgment, I caved. There was nothing wrong with my daughter, and it's been told to me that the school receives funding for each kid they refer to local early intervention specialists. At the preschool at Waddell, my daughter would often cry hysterically in the mornings when I dropped her off, and clutch onto me, not wanting to go. I know that that doesn't necessarily mean the school was bad--but regardless, none of this has ever happened at Earthsong. She is delighted to get there every morning. She has made more friends than she ever did at the other schools. She's learning more. She sings us bits of songs she's learned there and tells us about the lessons her teacher gives, and you can tell she's excited about it all and actively learning so much. The preschool-level teachers are better qualified at Earthsong than those at comparable preschool programs in the area. Interestingly, Earthsong is less expensive than Yellowbrick Road, and offers more financial aid, while also offering better quality. This school is worth every penny and I'm so very grateful that my daughter can attend.

My daughter is almost 4 and has been at Earthsong for a couple of months now. I just wish I had enrolled her earlier. This school is fantastic. The Montessori curriculum is wonderful--the kids learn about nature, cooking, gardening, building things, art, etc--all through doing. They go on nature walks. Sing songs. Play music. Read all kinds of books. Draw, paint, build. They are encouraged to be independent and do as much as they can for themselves. They are taught to be kind to each other and the community. The kids spend literally hours of the day playing outside, getting dirty, role-playing, and having fun playing games with each other. My daughter is usually covered in dirt when I pick her up, and I love that. It's hard to find a school these days where kids are allowed so much outdoor time--I SO value Earthsong's focus on keeping the kids outdoors. My daughter is incredibly happy at Earthsong, more so than at any other school she's attended in the area, including Yellowbrick Road and the preschool program at Waddell. Her head teacher is wonderful and inspiring and well-trained (unlike some teachers at other "comparable" schools). As I have already said, I just wish I had sent her there when she was 2.5 and not bothered with any other schools. Earthsong is a wonderful asset to our community and I'm so grateful my daughter can go there.

Sending my child to Earth Song was quite possibly the best decision. I have ever made, and worth every penny of tuition. Every child should get an education this good, from teachers this devoted and invested in them. Art, dance, field trips, life skills, music, drama- it's all there, in addition to the academics. I am eternally grateful that this school exists.