Nature is a tool to get children to experience not just the wider world, but themselves.

We accept children from kindergarten to 3rd grade.  The activities and curriculum in our program are geared for this age. Older children may not be stimulated in such an environment; however, they will be accepted on a case-by-case basis.  

Our facility is adjacent to the school, so we will simply walk up the hill to pick them up and walk them to our facility. There are no additional transportation fees.

We are open whenever Wakefield Forest is open.  Our hours are from 3:20pm-6:00pm. We adjust our hours for early release days (still TBD at the creation of this page). We are not open on teacher workdays.  For more details, see the family handbook.

Kirsten has a vast background in education.  As a child and young adult, she assisted in her mom's day care.  She also did a lot of babysitting, coaching, and she was a camp counselor at a number of camps. She has a Master's Degree in Education and spent ten years teaching for FCPS. After her children were born, she opened her in-home day care in 2010. Since then, she has received well over the required 16 hours of annual continuing education. Kirsten was a Master Gardener and enjoys learning about and spending time in nature. She is also CPR and First Aid certified.  

Kirsten's Nature School is a State-licensed program.  This requires that teachers and residents have background checks. Depending on the position and age , this includes criminal background checks, child protective services checks, TB screenings, emergency preparedness training, and other training.  The facility receives two unannounced inspections annually. We take pride in having a well-maintained space, both indoors and outdoors. We also have cameras on the premises (Ring and other cameras).