In the "quiet" hallways of most schools, you'll find students sitting in chairs and tracing along dotted lines. Even in early childhood, the term "rigor" is heard far too often; teachers worry that by allowing students to play with blocks standards will be missed. Thes...

Being a green school is more than just turning the lights off when we leave a room. It also includes being good stewards of the crops that are grown here, in the Midwest. Local foods don't have to travel as far, they support the regional economy, encourage sustainable...

Would you like to know more about a progressive approach to education? Come join us to talk about Raintree Kindergarten. It's an environment that honors the light of the child, while giving them the skills for success in the future. We are Reggio-Inspired, which for us...

During our conferences, last week, we spoke a lot about the social emotional growth of your children and I have a story to share to illustrate just this. There’s this thing I hear all the time: “You’re a preschool teacher, you must have a lot of patience!” To be honest...

Speaking candidly, not all project times go as planned. And, as a teacher, we are planners. So, when times of learning and engagement do not follow our scope or directions, we feel many feelings. We believe in the light of the child, and we believe in emergent curricul...

Vaskebjorn is the ultimate gathering of educators: a place for sharing innovative approaches and ideas to enhance place-based learning in wild spaces. The first Vaskebjorn was held in 2016 at Raintree School in St. Louis and many educators have enjoyed an intimate, dyn...

"Design thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer's toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success."

Tim Brown

CEO of IDEO

Why save all the fun for grown-ups?  Rai...

After a year of dreaming and planning and dreaming some more, the time has come to bring our ;attest big, hairy, audacious goal to life.   Forest Hymn for Little Girls shouts across the globe - girls need wild spaces - or will with your help!  Following girls under the...

Forest day started like any other: fort building, leaf rubbings & story telling when, all of a sudden...  

"I heard a BOOM!"

"I think at night time the wind blew so fast and cracked it and then it fell down!"

"It's sad... The tree lost it's life. It's dead...

Helping an entire community (of people, cars, and deer) takes time.  It happens in “eurekas” and “ah hahs”.  During whispers in the playground cave and chats along the forest trail, plans are hatched and schemes are laid. 

Ideas to help a community must incuba...