Fox & Fern: a nature based preschool

03/27/2024

Loomis was a wild man. He was kicked out of obedience school, he had to be locked in the bathroom at parties so he didnt convince the partygoers to throw sticks for him until he passd out. One time he ate like 60 gingerbread ornaments I had made and decorated with puff paint. He dug up my garden, he ate from the table sitting on barstools. He had a 10 foot vertical jump. He was lawless and reckless. He loved water and fetch and food and mostly he loved his people. By the time his little sister, pip was born, he was 8. A proper big brother. He was like a pup again. By the time I opened the daycare, Loomis was 9 years old. At 10, We thought goodbyes were imminent when his larynx began to collapse and he began struggling to breathe, but we borrowed 3.5 more years of time with a big surgery. He returned to work. He had finally settled and he had finally found his calling. He had accepted that dock diving was a notion of the past and eating sticks was now dangerous to his condition. He was a nanny now. He had to get serious. Where those kids went, Loomis went. He used to beg mercilessly as he got older so sometimes I would have to close him out of the playroom during lunchtime, but he would just bark incessantly until I let him be back with his babies again. He needed to be near them at all times. He was the therapy dog for the kiddos who had a hard time with morning transitions, or missed mommies during the day. He would let them cling to him and snuggle him. Until he licked their faces with his smelly old man breath and they decided they had met their comfort quota. He would plop himself right down the middle of the action, and refused to move no matter how much they demanded more space for their blocks and trains. As he got older, they would all remind each other, “be gentle with loomis he’s an old man.” Today we said goodbye to the best nanny dog. He loved those kids and I know that he is very happy being able to continue watching them all from somewhere over the rainbow. We love you Loomis, you were the best coteacher I could’ve asked for. I am so grateful for every beautiful phase of your long life. 🌈 (can you spot Loomis in all the pictures with the munchkins?)

01/26/2024

DAYCARE CLOSURE SALE TOMORROW

SATURDAY 1/27 10am to 4pm

toys, books, games, furniture, outdoor toys, etc…

12 Old Charlton Road, Oxford, MA 01540

01/01/2024

Happy New Year! I cannot express the gratitude I feel for everyone who has supported me in this business over the last four years. I wasn’t sure if this was going to be a lifetime career for me once Penelope went to school, but I fell so deeply in love with all of the children I worked with, it was so hard to say goodbye. Hard to close my doors after so much passion and investment. This work has inspired me to pursue my bigger dreams in psychology- hopefully one day working to support families again through therapy. I feel so honored to have worked in child care, to have been taught by these kids. I have such a deep respect for anyone who cares for and loves our children. From the bottom of my heart: Thank you for being a part of Fox and Fern. 

12/20/2023

My babies. Soaking in the last week with them. ❤️

12/14/2023

12/14/2023

We enjoyed a bit of this today

☀️❄️

11/24/2023

I may be closing my doors, but my sister’s incredible herbal apothecary is not! Shop local small business this season! She just updated her website with new product!

11/08/2023

Hello friends,

I have been hesitant to announce this because I have so many feelings about it. As I continue to get requests for care, it's time to share. I have made the incredibly difficult decision to close Fox and Fern Family Preschool at the end of the year due to scheduling conflicts, as I pursue my Psychology degree full-time. This has been a heart-wrenching decision, but I have sought a partner in this business for a long time and have yet to find the right person to work alongside me and make it possible to stay afloat while I am in school. Its been a rollercoaster splitting my passions between family, my school and my business for so many years. I knew when I started this in order to be with Penelope, and raise her according to my values, among nature, open-ended play and creativity that I may not do this work forever. This career surprised me: the struggle, the patience, the compassion and the love I have experienced cannot be expressed. I love the children I work with and have worked with so much that saying goodbye much sooner than I anticipated is breaking my heart.

I have the utmost respect for those who teach and care for children, they are so deeply essential to our society and our children. Family childcare providers do not get the respect they deserve, for the education they provide, the passion, the dedication and the immense love they pour into our children. I have been incredibly fortunate to feel appreciated and cared for by my families, but as a collective, teachers and child care providers lack the support they need. We get really hung up on “traditional” expectations: Abcs and academics through worksheets and sitting still. Controlling childhood impulses and forcing children into little boxes. Children learn through play, through expression, through their environments. They learn through creative teachers who are willing to teach outside that box as many of the incredible family child care providers I know do. I sharethis because this field is underrepresented and sometimes dismissed as somehow not "true education.” I speak for this community when I say, that perception is wrong. Play-based, child-led learning is slipping away. Family child care is a backbone in this country, please be sure it is supported and respected for the quality education it can be.

Thank you to my families for entrusting me with your precious littles, to my mom (everyone's Grammie) for assisting me, supporting me and offering her creative ideas and excitement. Thanks to Will for being my maintenance man, entertainment crew and back up whenever I’ve needed him. For sharing his home with this wild, loud business and for falling in love with their little personalities right along with me. Thank you to my neighbors and in-laws N***y and Gumpy, our resident grandparents, listening to the shrieking, crying and laughter through the woods and always stopping by to dote on the munchkins. Thank you to my kiddos for stealing my heart and healing me in more ways they will ever know. To everyone who has supported me in this endeavor, for all of the love I have received from afar, cheering on my philosophy and pedagogy, sending me books and articles. But mostly, thank you to Penelope, for inspiring me to try harder than I’ve ever tried, to be a better mother, teacher and woman and for inspiring it all. I am so proud of what I have done and the connections I have helped the children make with the world around them. Once a fox always a fox! 🦊🌿❤️

11/08/2023

Posted this before but it’s important. I read an article about how helicopter parenting, or not allowing your children to play without supervision is hurting their autonomy and confidence. Of course, in child care I am constantly vigilant, but I do believe that as a parent freedom without monitoring and intervening is really important in helping them find ways to trust their body, problem solve and learn through experience..

GOOD ADVICE FOR SENDING A DIFFERENT KIND OF ENCOURAGING MESSAGE TO OUR CHILDREN

Sometimes it is easy to use phrases that come naturally but here are some other options that promote awareness and problem solving rather than fear and worry