Hello all. I am new to this forum but thought it was an incredible opportunity to ask for advice and a change to a particular type of early education choice. I am the director of the first licensed forest kindergarten in Massachusetts. As this philosophy of education gains momentum in the US I am looking for continuity in licensing-first in my home state! My business partner and I have had many conversations with other educators who would like to open similar programs. I have been trying to work with the Massachusetts EEC but so far each time a forest kindergarten is going for licensure the MA EEC is reinventing the wheel and making different decisions that are compromising the integrity of what "forest kindergarten" actually means.
Recently, a program that has existed for three years learned that they needed to be licensed (this too is a gray area, depending on hours of operation, are you operating with sessions?...we were in this same position 5 years ago) and the state EEC shut them down, displacing numerous children and families from continuity of care. Our program remained open during the entire licensing process and so I am heartbroken for the families and the director. While I know every program will have their own unique tweeks, the foundation of forest kindergartens are the same and I believe as the first licensed forest kindergarten we should be used as the precedent for all others. I have written to the licensor who shut down my colleague's program, her supervisor and my licensor, and I am going to reach out to my local MAEYC offering my support and expertise on the process of becoming a licensed forest kindergarten.
I know the state of Washington has new regulations for forest kindergartens (which personally I think are too stringent) and I would like to work towards something similar. I have been talking to my licensor for 5 years about changes to our MA EEC regulations and have not gotten anywhere. I think I need to go higher up in the establishment.
Do you think I should contact my local state representative and have her broker a meeting with the Massachusetts EEC commissioner? I am trying to determine first steps in helping to get my colleague back up and running as well as to break down walls (ha...from a nature-immersive educator, where there are no walls) to help forest kindergartens become a better understood and equitably treated early education choice in Massachusetts and across the country. Any advice/thoughts...and I want to get enough forest kindergartens together so we can change the insurance world (another discussion).
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Christine Heer. M.Ed., Director Sprouts Farm and Forest Kindergarten (Millis, MA)
Dover MA
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