Our Philosophy

We believe in learning through experiences, exploration and flexible thinking. Our goal is to teach a child how to learn and they will fall in love with learning. We believe that knowledge is most important possession one can have therefore love for learning must be introduced, developed and nurtured in early childhood education. Children at Huckleberry Forest learn through creative play and a wide variety of science and art experiences. We create the environment where children will feel happy discovering things for themselves and feel encouraged to communicate and build their self-esteem. Our teachers will help the children discover their hidden talents and work with them to bring out their best. By giving the children an opportunity to learn through imaginative play we will bring out creativity, empathy and curiosity and create a happy child. Acknowledging that the children are designed to learn through play and that childhood is play, not work, we will be able to help them expand their horizons through play and not by pressuring them with direct skill work, worksheets and flash cards. This is the key point of our philosophy so we will reinforce it using a concrete example that comes from our long experience of working with children.

We might study a country like France, which starts with letter "F". If a teacher tried to write "F" on the board and then tried to teach three year olds to write it on paper, children would most likely lose interest right there and take over the class. Instead, a skilled teacher would make a game out of it. For example, the teacher would draw letter "F" in the air several times and then she/he would ask the children to find a letter "F" somewhere in the classroom. It might be on the rug, on the wall or somebody's shirt. They could come up with words that start with letter F etc. At some later time they will be in a position to write letter "F" in another game. We will not "take their hand" and make them write "F" or make them draw something to impress you, the parent, which is a practice in some preschools. We do not want to create backlash and frustration in children to impress those who finance us. In other words, children have great observation skills at an early age, and they can find and observe the shape of letter "F", when their fine motor skills get developed through other activities we do, then their hands will be ready to easily learn how to write letter "F". You will be amazed later.
Our classes will provide various learning experiences that will lead to emergent literacy but focus less on mechanics. Children at Huckleberry Forest are encouraged to learn in context and through fun, meaningful way. We believe that learning in context is the key to intelligent learning and development of love for learning.

While we are mainly inspired by the teachings of Rudolf Steiner (The Waldorf education), followed by Piaget and Montessori we pride ourselves by being different from "an average Montessori preschools" because we teach these philosophies through art and science. Our teachers are professional dancers, actors and painters therefore they have unique abilities to inspire kids to imitate them. They also have the knowledge to teach these essential arts which further develop various motor skills in children which we believe are essential at this age.
Please refer to our curriculum page to see some concrete examples of what we teach.

What Sets Us Apart and Our Commitment to You

We strongly believe in our philosophy but the philosophy is meaningless if it is not implemented correctly or implemented at all. At Huckleberry Forest our first two lead teachers are still young and energetic individuals with strong art background, with at least 10 years of experience on average in teaching our philosophy to preschoolers in Seattle. They know how to earn respect from children and exert authority through positive discipline and at the same time provide children with a caring and loving relationship parallel only to that of a parent. Out teachers are also the business partners with every interest to convert this education philosophy into concrete results visible in your child's education, and that is our commitment to you.

We will strive to create our Huckleberry Forest “Family” by organizing various social events like parents morning or evening out, moms yoga and running classes as well as other social events but we will never lose sight of our primary mission which is educating your children. We believe this is extremely important and it is what separates us from many other preschools. We operate with minimal overhead cost. We manage the business side of things after classes are over. People on the payroll are only those who add value to your child's education, like cooks and teacher assistants. The lead teachers are also the directors so they have a direct control on how the children are thought. That is how we can keep our tuition rates lower and quality of education high.

Huckleberry Forest will remain true to its original purpose of focusing on children's education first. We will efficiently invest the vast majority of our resources directly towards education of your children and we will not ask you for monetary donations to help with school operations. We happen to believe that when you open up your heart to donate, you should donate to those who are really unfortunate and really need your donation. We will work hard to justify and earn your investment in us, and that is also our commitment to you.