5-7 years
The next chapter, rooted in nature
Journey offers a private, OSPI-licensed, fully outdoor kindergarten and first-grade program for children ages five to seven. It extends the school's nature-rooted experience into formal education, giving families another way to imagine the early elementary years.
Many Journey preschoolers continue into this program. Familiar relationships and values can help support that transition while children take on new learning. Families coming from another setting can also ask how the school supports a child who is getting to know both a new community and an outdoor learning environment.
Ask how learning takes shape outdoors
An outdoor setting offers real materials, changing conditions, and questions to explore. Observing, comparing, describing, and collaborating can connect children's curiosity with formal learning. Nature is a co-teacher, but an outdoor setting alone does not tell you everything about a program's curriculum or instruction.
Ask Journey how literacy, mathematics, and other learning are organized, how progress is documented, and how teachers support different needs. Those conversations are important for understanding the actual program. This overview does not substitute for current curriculum details, assessment practices, or requirements that the school can explain directly.
Prepare for the practical side
A fully outdoor program also raises practical questions about clothing, weather, daily routines, and your child's comfort. Talk with the school about its current arrangements and guidance before making plans. Do not assume that the preschool's schedule, equipment, or routines describe every part of the elementary program.
Enrollment opportunities depend on available space, with tours tied to openings. Use the waitlist information to understand the process, and contact Journey for program-specific questions. The Natural Start resource collection offers deeper context for nature-based education; ask the school how those wider ideas translate into kindergarten and first grade here.
We'd love to meet your family
Curious about life at Journey? Connect with our school to share what matters to your family, explore our programs, and find your next step together.
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