MONROE — At a new preschool here, kids will be listening to Mozart in a barn, collecting eggs from a chicken coup, feeding farm animals and tending a garden.
Teacher Korista Minney is putting an outdoorsy spin on early-childhood education with a program that combines daycare and preschool.
Five Acre Farm Learning Center is located about six minutes south of Monroe. It is set to open later this month once the six student spots are filled.
Minney, 24, worked as a nanny before studying early-childhood education at Central Washington University. But she decided she wanted to teach in a different environment than that of a school district.
“I very much like the idea of a natural classroom,” she said. “Children learn better when they’re outdoors.”
Students will split their time between the classroom and outside activities at the farm.
The kids will take turns being responsible for feeding and watering the goats, rabbits, chickens and pigs.
They’ll learn to count by collecting eggs from a colorful chicken coop. They get to take a carton of eggs home every week.
Each student will get their own planter box. They’ll choose which plants they want to grow and be able to take their produce home to eat.
“They get to take pride in watching their parents incorporate it into meals,” Minney said.
Each kid will have their own art easel in the barn. Classical music will be played while they create their works.
“It’s amazing to see how into the music the children get,” Minney said.
In the classroom, a professional curriculum that includes, motor skills, math, science and literacy programs will be offered.
Five Acre Farm is now accepting students who are ages 3 to 6.
Tuition for the program, which runs from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on weekdays, is $650 a month. The schedule is flexible so parents can drop students off and pick them up as needed.
“They’re going to get dirty, they’re going to have a blast and they’re going to be tired at the end of the day,” Minney said.
Amy Nile: 425-339-3192; anile@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @AmyNileReports.
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For more information, go to fiveacrefarm.org.
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