Students at Good Shepherd Episcopal School’s Nature Preschool observe and connect with the natural environment. (Photo courtesy The Nature Preschool at Good Shepherd Episcopal School)
When biologist Sarah Sinclair became a mother, she knew she wanted her daughter to attend a nature-based preschool. When she couldn’t find one in the area, she decided to start her own. Today, her idea has blossomed into a thriving program of 20 students and a new partnership with Good Shepherd Episcopal School on Forest Hill Avenue in Richmond.
The seed was planted years before, when Sinclair read Richard Louv’s “Last Child in the Woods,” which highlights the importance of young people’s connection with nature.
“We’re an outdoorsy family, and I knew my daughter needed a play-based, outdoor experience,” Sinclair says. “So I made this bold decision to leave my career [as a field biologist] at VCU and start a school.”
Sinclair became a certified nature-based teacher and is working toward a master’s degree in education in natural science and environmental education. In 2016, she opened a preschool in her home with four students, including her daughter Elsa.
Soon after, her second daughter, Amelie, was born. Then the pandemic hit, demand for outdoor classrooms rose and Sinclair saw a need to expand. Good Shepherd Episcopal School had been looking for a partner to expand its outdoor curriculum. In September, they launched The Nature Preschool at Good Shepherd Episcopal School.
“A nature preschool was a natural addition to the outdoor education program we were already doing for our K-8 students,” Good Shepherd Head of School Ken Seward says. “The earlier they learn about the environment, the better. It’s not a one-time field trip or camping for one night. They really grow up with a whole dimension that’s outside traditional curriculum.”
Good Shepherd is two blocks from Forest Hill Park, where Nature Preschool students spend three hours a day. “We can sit inside a classroom and talk about what’s outside, or we can go out and hear it, smell it and feel it,” Sinclair says. “They can peel back dead bark and see what critters are underneath or witness the subtle ways the seasons are changing.”
Each morning the students, ages 3 to 5, walk to the park with their backpacks in tow. Sinclair and the other teachers set up an outdoor classroom, rotating spots around the 105-acre property. They sing songs and read nature-based stories before heading off for unstructured playtime.
“Children are sensory-oriented,” Sinclair says. “They learn by playing, having real-world experiences and being involved.”
Sarah Sinclair, director of Good Shepherd’s Nature Preschool, with her daughter (and student) Amelie (Photo by Acorn Hanrahan)
One morning, the students discovered some rocks that turned into a building game and then an impromptu geology lesson. Another day, they spotted three different types of woodpeckers.
Sinclair, who’s also a bird expert, has plenty of knowledge to share but makes sure to give students space to ask their own questions. “We’re set up more as guides than teachers,” she says.
As far as the children are concerned, they’re simply having fun, but they’re also learning about science and nature, developing fine and gross motor skills, and gaining vital life skills.
“It may be raining, it may be windy, but these kids learn how to handle being too warm or too cold,” Seward says. “They’re gaining a sense of confidence. They have a ‘We can do this’ attitude.”
Two students in the class are neurodivergent, and Sinclair says that being outdoors is ideal for children with learning differences.
“Kids don’t have the same kinds of behavioral issues when they’re outside,” she says. “They can run and get their energy out. They don’t have to sit for long periods of time. And nature itself has a calming effect.”
“The children of today are tomorrow’s stewards.” —Sarah Sinclair
Another benefit of the program is a greater awareness of and passion for the environment.
“The children of today are tomorrow’s stewards,” Sinclair says. “It’s difficult to care about the world, the environment and the ecosystem if you don’t have any real-world knowledge or connection to it.”
While Sinclair says she’ll be happy if she instills a love of nature into just one child, she hopes the program will continue to grow. Nature preschools, or forest kindergartens, are popular in Northern Europe, and the concept is spreading in the United States.
“The number of nature preschools in the U.S. doubled from 2017 to 2020, for a total of 585,” says Christy Merrick, director of Natural Start Alliance, a program of the North American Association for Environmental Education. “Outdoor learning makes early education better, and the benefits for children last a lifetime.”
Sinclair hopes Good Shepherd’s program will inspire similar initiatives at other schools in the area.
“Richmond has so many green spaces right in the heart of the city, we have the James River Park System and are very much a temperate climate,” she says. “Maybe teachers and administrators who are a little shy of the outdoors can dip their toe in the water.”
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