Cedar & Bones draws inspiration from several child-centered educational approaches that shape how we support children, design learning experiences, and build relationships with the natural world.

Montessori

We value independence, practical life skills, purposeful work, and interest-led learning. Children build confidence through hands-on experiences, meaningful responsibility, and opportunities to do things for themselves.

In our outdoor setting, children practice independence by carrying their own backpacks, helping care for shared materials, and learning pack in / pack out habits while contributing to the daily rhythm of the group.

Reggio Emilia

We value observation, creativity, inquiry, and following children’s questions. Nature is our creative studio, and teachers support curiosity through open-ended questions such as:

“What do you notice?”
“Why do you think that happened?”
“What do you think will happen next?”

We also value imagination, storytelling, rhythm, and the importance of play in early childhood. We believe play is one of the primary ways children begin to understand themselves, others, and the world around them through self-created experiences.

Place-Based Education

We believe children learn deeply through relationship with the natural world around them — seasons, weather, plants, animals, insects, and ecosystems they come to know over time.

Children become part of something: part of a group, part of the land, and part of the environment they are in — not just moving through it.

We also believe children can begin learning practices of gratitude, reciprocity, stewardship, and care for nature by noticing where things come from, taking only what is needed, and learning how to give back and care for the places that care for us.