Your child will have more outside time than any normal family child care or child care center. We are outside for the majority of our morning, on average we spend 3 hours each morning before rest time.

There is no such thing as “bad” weather. We have your child safely clothed. We dress for any weather, sunscreen, sun hats, and shaded woodland forts in the heat of the summer and full body, waterproof snow gear for our coldest winter days, rain gear for our muddiest puddle days.

I am a MSDE-licensed family child care program. Per my license, I can care for 8 children but we are really comfortable with 6 children.

Well, this is an interesting question. Here at Hummingbird Hill, we know that robust social-emotional engagement and nature connection will prepare all children with the necessary self-regulation and executive function skills to jump right into any learning environment. “Both kindergarten teachers and academic research agree that self-regulation and executive functioning play key roles in a child’s successful transition to kindergarten. A child’s social-emotional skill – ability to express wants and needs, respond appropriately to adults and other children, enthusiasm for learning, persistence, and ability to cope with frustration – is highly correlated with academic success in kindergarten and in later grades.” ORNAEYC

Nature connection give children the ability to respect and discern different aspects of nature and the impact of man-made and natural events on nature. They learn to respect others’ space and gain the self-control. Because the forest environment is not entirely predictable, children develop flexibility of thinking as they adapt to the changing environment. Most of all, it creates a relationship needed in order to protect the earth.