A farm & forest learning experience
Licensed through the
Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC)
P-255670
51 Soule Street Middleborough, MA 02346
fernbrooknatureschool@gmail.com
508-944-8691
Fern Brook teachers guide children in their natural curiosity about the world around them, while facilitating peer relationships, building problem-solving skills, encouraging risk-taking, in order to prepare today's children to be tomorrow's leaders.
Our Mission
At Fern Brook, we believe that young children learn best through play and child-led inquiry. We incorporate a combination of Reggio Emilia's project-based learning and Waldorf's play-to-learn philosophies to allow children to lead the learning process and gain an understanding about the natural world through play and exploration.
Our Philosophy
We started Heart & Soule Farm in Middleborough, Massachusetts in 2013. Over the next several years, we added pigs, goats, chickens, ducks, honeybees, gardens, and eventually two children of our own.
Lindsay had been a kindergarten and preschool teacher for 15 years in the Boston Public Schools when the Fern Brook dream was born. Kevin continues to work as a registered nurse in the Intensive Care Unit at a local city hospital with over 10 years of experience, in addition to being the Fern Brook Health Consultant and School Nurse.
After having our own children and observing their joy and learning through farm and nature activities, we decided to combine our professional experience with our passion for the outdoors and create Fern Brook Nature School.
Our Roots
Lindsay
Director, Owner, and Teacher
Sarah
Teacher
Registered Nurse and Owner
Kevin
Kelly
Teacher
Bella
Teacher
Kris
Teacher
Jacob
Teacher
Meet the Team
Click on a program for more information.
Re-enrollment for current students begins in January.
Siblings of current and past students are also invited
to enroll at this time.
Beginning in February, families on the waitlist will be
contacted with available spaces for the fall. If we
have a space that meets your needs, you will be
invited to an open house in March.
In the event that any spaces remain available after
exhausting the waitlist, enrollment will open to the
general public.
Interested families are encouraged to add their
child to the waitlist. The earlier, the better! We
already have families on the 2027 wait list.
Enrollment/Waitlist Information
1. Email fernbrooknatureschool@gmail.com to add your
child’s name to the waitlist. You will be contacted in
February with any openings in your child’s age group and
invited to an open house.
2. Attend an open house with your child.
3. Confirm interest within 24 hours of your open house
attendance and secure your child's spot with a one month
deposit.
4. Complete enrollment paperwork and start shopping for
gear (list will be provided!).
5. Attend a "meet the teacher" day in late August.
6. Your child begins his/her adventure at Fern Brook Nature
School the first week of September!
Note:
There is a $75 enrollment fee due with your deposit.
Enrollment fees and deposits are non-refundable. Your
deposit is credited toward your June tuition payment.
Remaining tuition payments are due on the 1st of each
month September-May.
Enrollment Process:
PRESCHOOL
AGES 2-4
Preschool gives children a chance to explore their natural
surrounding, build language, and create friendships in a
safe, nurturing environment.
Preschool teachers support children as they navigate social
situations, explore the world around them, and begin asking
"Why?". Fern Brook provides engaging hands-on experiences
to learn the "why"!
Children who are between 2 and 3.11 years old as of the start of the school year are
placed in this class. They remain with the same class throughout the year even if their
4th birthday passes.
Click here for the school calendar.
Days Per Week | Half Day Program | Full Day Program Ages 3+ Only (8:30AM-4:00PM) |
5 Days | $1135/month | $1645/month |
3 Days M/W/F | $700/month | $1070/month |
2 Days T/Th | $510/month | $795/month |
Days Per Week | Half Day Program (8:00AM-12:00PM) | Full Day Program (8:00AM-4:00PM) |
5 Days | $1225/month | $1735/month |
3 Days M/W/F | $765/month | $1125/month |
2 Days T/Th | $560/month | $815/month |
PRE-KINDERGARTEN
AGES 4-5
In Pre-Kindergarten, children engage in structured activities with
teacher guidance, as well as free play in nature. By limiting class
size to half of a traditional preschool class, children receive
plenty of individualized attention, love, and support in their
academic, physical, and social-emotional growth. Students leave
Fern Brook as prepared (if not more) for kindergarten as their
peers who attend traditional preschools.
Our balanced approach to combining academics and open-ended
play gives children a magical year before entering traditional
schooling or a homeschooling program.
Children who are 4 years and older as of the start of the school year are placed in this class. They remain with the same class throughout the year even if their 5th or 6th birthday passes.
Click here for the school calendar.
Days Per Week | Afternoon Half Day Program (12:30PM-3:30PM) |
5 Days | $1135/month |
3 Days M/W/F | $700/month |
2 Days T/Th | $510/month |
AFTERNOON ENRICHMENT FOR HOMESCHOOLERS
AGES 4-8
Fern Brook Nature School's homeschool enrichment program provides a
supportive environment for children to engage in structured and unstructured
activities in a nature-based setting that enhances their homeschool
curriculum. The project-based learning model integrates math, science,
literacy, social studies, social-emotional development, fine and gross motor
development, art, and music.
In this program, children build a sense of community while learning through
nature. This is an opportunity for homeschooled children to gain valuable
problem solving, critical thinking, cooperative learning skills while building
independence, confidence, and a connection to the natural world.
This program is for children who are 4 - 8 years old at the start of the school year. Children
who are aged 6+ must be registered as homeschoolers in their school district.
This program is a supplement to, not a replacement for, a family’s own homeschool
curriculum. Families should refer to the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks to guide them
as they create a homeschool program that meets the specific needs, interests, and strengths
of their child.
Click here for the school calendar.
Enrollment
Begins
February
1st
Full
Full
Full
Full
Full
Full
All 2025 summer program spaces
are filled at this time. If you
would like to be added to the
wait list, please email
fernbrooknatureschool@
gmail.com.
Learning Goals
At Fern Brook Nature School , children will:
- observe, wonder, question, and inspire
- problem-solve
- take risks in their learning and physical development
- create positive relationships with their peers and teachers
- build an understanding of science and social studies concepts
- practice mindfulness and meditation
- become environmental stewards
- develop language and vocabulary for conversational and academic purposes
- learn foundational literacy and math skills
- ​letter and numeral identification
- letter-sound correspondence
- sight words
- emergent reading skills
- storytelling, drawing
- emergent writing
- counting
- shapes
- patterns
- data collection and analysis
- measurement
- calendar math
What does child-led learning look like at Fern Brook?
Topics of study are designed around children's current interests, rather than teacher-created themes.
Teachers facilitate high-interest centers to promote language development, imagination, creativity, social relationships, and academic skills incorporating a variety of hands-on learning materials.
Structured mini-lessons and activities are purposefully placed into the schedule to prepare children for traditional kindergarten.
Children engage in project-based inquiry, following the Reggio Emilia philosophy of documenting and displaying the learning process.
Literacy, math, science, social studies, and social-emotional learning are embedded into all activities to create authentic, meaningful learning opportunities.
Fern Brook Nature School is set on 15 acres of private land. It contains a shallow brook, lots of trails, meadows, gardens, fruit trees, berry bushes, wildflowers, and more! We spend just about 100% of our time outdoors.
Our mud kitchen and sensory tables give children lots of opportunities for measuring, scooping, pouring, problem-solving, and experimentation.
Loose parts and natural landscaping provide space for children to climb, jump, build, crawl, balance, and roll.
Provocations are set up to extend current topics of study.
Outdoor Space
Children have the opportunity to participate in farm chores as much as they feel comfortable.
Animal chores include:
feeding & watering
grooming
​
Garden chores include:
tilling
planting
watering
harvesting​
​
Of course, observation and inquiry-based learning are always happening on the farm.
The Farm
Our two indoor learning barns serve as emergency shelters for extreme weather.
In addition, our extended care group utilize these heated and air conditioned spaces for rest time and indoor activities.
Learning Barns
Get in touch with us.
51 Soule Street Middleborough, MA o2346
Address
Phone Number
Email Address
fernbrooknatureschool@gmail.com
(508) 944-8691 Call or Text
FACEBOOK/Instagram
www.facebook.com/fernbrooknatureschool
@fernbrooknatureschool
"Children deserve to grow and learn in a place & alongside a force that is a wild and alive as they are."
-Nicolette Sowder
"There's nothing wrong with having a tree as a friend."
-Bob Ross
"It's a wondrous thing how the wild calms the child." -Unknown
"I am happy out here. Dirty feet, messy hair, & wild water on my skin. Out here with the wild things; this is where I belong."
-Brook Thompson
"We could have never loved the earth so well if we had no childhood in it." -George Eliot