https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 28 Apr 2026 06:18:43 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/forest-kindergarten-vs-the-closer-one#post-906628 Thu, 04 Jul 2013 13:09:08 +0000 sarac 906628@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Forest preschool, for sure. Those places are amazing. If I didn't already have a montessori preschool on the line, I'd be looking for one. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/forest-kindergarten-vs-the-closer-one#post-906275 Thu, 04 Jul 2013 08:05:14 +0000 lamariniere 906275@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Crumbs: Excellent news! Your daughter is very lucky to go to such a cool school. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/forest-kindergarten-vs-the-closer-one#post-906263 Thu, 04 Jul 2013 07:48:57 +0000 mrs. bird 906263@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hooray! I'm glad you were pleasantly surprised by the distance and that it felt right. Sounds amazing! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/forest-kindergarten-vs-the-closer-one#post-906248 Thu, 04 Jul 2013 07:30:42 +0000 nana87 906248@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>glad you are so happy with your decision, the forest school sounds amazing! plus, the continuity between day care and elementary school will make the transition so easy, that seems really wonderful </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/forest-kindergarten-vs-the-closer-one#post-906232 Thu, 04 Jul 2013 07:14:14 +0000 SugarplumsMom 906232@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p><b>Update:</b> We found a daycare! We visited the one next door yesterday and is a LOT bigger than I thought. But I left doubtful. DH says it reminds him of his daycare and its not all necessarily good because it's old and looks old. It also didn't seem as organized. They said it was because they were doing summer cleaning (they're shutting down for vacation) but I don't know, the layout just seemed scattered.</p> <p>Today we went to the forest one and once we walked in, I immediately liked it. It's a lot smaller than the other one (I thought it was bigger) because although the school itself is really big, the daycare area is a lot smaller. But it was bright, clean, organized and all the rooms just made more sense to me. The layout made much more sense. And they're not outside all day it seems. They go outside every day but eat inside and on days when it's raining, they do inside activities. I liked it so much, I'm considering putting her in now as opposed to when she's closer to 2 years old. They have a few spaces open because there's a lot of older kids graduating out. I'm afraid we won't get a spot if we wait. There's only 2 groups with a maximum of 20 kids each, so space is limited! Another thing I liked is since its connected to the main school, they have activities with the older school kids reading to them every once in awhile.</p> <p>I left feeling like my baby will be left in good hands. Gut instinct is best and DH and I both agree we like this one better. Oooh and the best part: it's closer than I thought! We never walked straight there before, we always took a round about way. Well it's only a 5 min walk! Yay! </p> <p>:) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/forest-kindergarten-vs-the-closer-one#post-899182 Mon, 01 Jul 2013 15:13:28 +0000 SugarplumsMom 899182@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p><u>Update</u>: I've gotten DH on board about formally visiting both schools first before making our decision. We scheduled a visit to the one next door for Wednesday. Hopefully we can schedule a time for the forest one this week as well. </p> <p>I'm leaning towards the forest one. It just seems so much better and according to DH, it would only take him 5 mins to get there, but he does walk super fast. </p> <p>The one by forest one has a wait list and the smaller one next door doesn't. A part of me wonders exactly why it doesn't. There are a few other daycares in town, but it may just be because it's old. Idk, but I'm going to do some investigating :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/forest-kindergarten-vs-the-closer-one#post-897975 Mon, 01 Jul 2013 09:46:54 +0000 Mrs. Twine 897975@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think that if she will be going to the Forest one later, it's a good idea to start there. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/forest-kindergarten-vs-the-closer-one#post-897964 Mon, 01 Jul 2013 09:43:31 +0000 swurlygurl 897964@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I said the one next door. I feel like it would be fun to have multiple experiences. If you'll be using the forest one later, it could be interesting to experience both places. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/forest-kindergarten-vs-the-closer-one#post-897957 Mon, 01 Jul 2013 09:41:45 +0000 Bookish 897957@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Totally the forest one, because I think for a kid that would be just super cool! 10 mins isn't too far away, and like PPs have said, it'll make the transition into school easier! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/forest-kindergarten-vs-the-closer-one#post-897945 Mon, 01 Jul 2013 09:38:49 +0000 lamariniere 897945@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>10min walk is nothing! Go with the forest! DS's preschool is about a 5min walk by myself, or 10min if he walks the whole way. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/forest-kindergarten-vs-the-closer-one#post-897895 Mon, 01 Jul 2013 09:25:07 +0000 googly-eyes 897895@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The forest one after reading both snippets, although I would like to know more about the philosophy of each. Meaning.. HOW do you lay these foundations? Something that bugs me about the second one is they "have fun along the way." Preschool should BE fun. It shouldn't just be a side note. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/forest-kindergarten-vs-the-closer-one#post-897565 Mon, 01 Jul 2013 07:36:38 +0000 Weagle 897565@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would choose the forest one because, hello, that's just cool. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/forest-kindergarten-vs-the-closer-one#post-897544 Mon, 01 Jul 2013 07:26:25 +0000 Dandelion 897544@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'd go for the forest one because it's going to be your elementary school. A lot of the kids in your kid's class are going to be in the same grade as yours, and it will make transition to elementary school WAY easier! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/forest-kindergarten-vs-the-closer-one#post-897436 Mon, 01 Jul 2013 06:31:49 +0000 looch 897436@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Forest for sure...it's so European! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/forest-kindergarten-vs-the-closer-one#post-897432 Mon, 01 Jul 2013 06:27:19 +0000 T.H.O.U. 897432@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think I would choose the smaller closer one until age 2 or 3 and then think about moving to the larger one. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/forest-kindergarten-vs-the-closer-one#post-897269 Sun, 30 Jun 2013 23:53:11 +0000 SugarplumsMom 897269@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Here's snippets of their (roughly translated) description from the municipality's website:</p> <p><b>The Forest School</b><br /> Our school is located next to a lake and forest. We group our children into two divisions ages 1 to 5. Our groups are called Crow and Pheasant. Each position in our school has three full-time staff members. The preschool is housed in the same building as the rest of our grades.</p> <p>The preschool will lay the foundation for lifelong learning in an activity that is safe, fun and educational. We want every child to develop openness, respect and responsibility for each other, which leads to a great atmosphere in the group of children. We think that going outside is important. This means that we strive to be outside as much as possible for the children to develop all their senses in harmony with nature. Collaboration between parents, children and kindergarten is the foundation of our work.<br /> [attach=1448/13/mp8qwo.498x374.1a.jpg]<br /> <i>The forest school</i><br /> [attach=1448/13/mp8qwp.213x159.1forest.jpg]</p> <p><b>The One Next Door</b><br /> Our preschool was built in 1975 and has four departments: wolf, squirrel, frog and bear. We use traditional early childhood education on the basis of pre-school curriculum. Preschool watchwords are safety, respect and community. Our children are ages 1-5 and pre-school has room for 72 children.</p> <p>We strive to be a place where:</p> <p>* children and parents feel safe and welcome<br /> * we lay the foundation for lifelong learning<br /> * we provide a safe and educational environment where we have fun along the way<br /> * children have the courage to be themselves, dare to try new things and say what they think<br /> * all children have the same opportunities<br /> [attach=1448/13/mp8qwq.498x249.2.jpg]<br /> <i>The one next door</i> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/forest-kindergarten-vs-the-closer-one#post-897247 Sun, 30 Jun 2013 23:26:32 +0000 LovelyPlum 897247@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>A good friend's daughter goes to nature preschool, and she adores it. If you can make it work, I say go for it! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/forest-kindergarten-vs-the-closer-one#post-897244 Sun, 30 Jun 2013 23:21:45 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 897244@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Forest sounds enticing :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/forest-kindergarten-vs-the-closer-one#post-897237 Sun, 30 Jun 2013 23:12:03 +0000 Maysprout 897237@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Maybe you could bike it to make it less than 10 min. I say forest. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/forest-kindergarten-vs-the-closer-one#post-897236 Sun, 30 Jun 2013 23:11:25 +0000 lovehoneybee 897236@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>All other things (namely price and quality) being equal, I'd go for the forest kindergarten. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/forest-kindergarten-vs-the-closer-one#post-897232 Sun, 30 Jun 2013 23:08:39 +0000 SugarplumsMom 897232@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>One of the daycares/pre-schools near me is next to a forest and operates a little like a forest kindergarten. The children have a playground but it's basically in the forest. I've been looking forward to her attending that school for elementary, but I just found out they also operate a daycare/pre-school. It's maybe a little over 10 minutes away (leisurely walk, no crossing the street since there's a seperate walking route through the neighborhood into the forest).</p> <p>But one of the reasons why we bought this house is because of another daycare/pre-school. It's practically next door. You pass by 1 house, a park/playground and there it is. It's a lot smaller and not as nice as the other school, but it's so convenient. They also spend most of thier curriculum outdoors, so that doesn't change, but the kids only have access to thier own gated playground, no forest. </p> <p>Which would you choose? The one next door or the one by the forest? Keep in mind that the forest one will be her elementary school regardless. </p>