We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Emily Howard a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Emily, appreciate you joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard
The philosophy our school is so different from most other preschools. Our curriculum, both academic and social and emotional is fully integrated into a natural outdoor environment. We have four distinct learning areas outside to meet the needs of each age group. More climbing, more running, more jumping, more exploring, SAND id a small preschool in a very urban community. We turned an unused and covered drainage ditch into a natural wetlands. We turned a patch of dirt into a community garden with a stream, garden beds and even a airstream turned art studio. We turned and patch of overgrown ivy into woods with walking paths and and logs to climb and sit on. We use sticks and dirt instead of crayons and markers. We welcome the weather everyday instead of running inside from it. We play in the dirt barefoot and we play in the rain and we play in the snow (not really but we would if had some!). And we play in the water and in the plants we grow and we learn about how our bodies work and move in each environment. I’m sorry… I get on my soapbox about giving children the freedom to explore their natural world and how they live and move in it. Two of my favorite things about how we are different from the other preschools and early childhood education in general are watching our pre-k children learn to climb trees (crepe myrtles) and watching our younger children realize that they can jump from one stump to the next! Every time a child realizes that they can do this- and they have to do it all by themselves- is so joyful and it reaffirms what why our philosophy is so special and so important.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I graduated from college with the intention of landing a job as a travel writer at The National Geographic. Instead I followed the love of my life to northern New Mexico where we ran a small farm with my husband’s natural grocery store. We eventually moved back to Atlanta, to Decatur, where we are raising children, chickens, dogs and a cat or two. When my children were small and my husband was getting established, I was fortunate enough to teach at the preschool with my children. This meant that I could be the primary parent and get out of the house and do something that I really enjoy. It was such a gift that I never knew I needed. Eventually I left preschool and took a job with a law firm. I was going to make some money and do great things! It lasted two months. I quickly learned that I am miserable in an office surrounded by grownups and little imagination. I also realized that teaching in a preschool is doing great things. Working with small children is possibly the best and the most important work ever. Today I am the director of a small preschool, SAND Preschool, in Decatur Ga. Our model is two fold. One is that we believe that children learn best moving and being outside. Children are not made for desks and stillness and quiet. Someone once called children, “noise with dirt on it”. They nailed it! There is nothing more beautiful than being part of a community that values the noise and mess children bring.
The second part of our mission at SAND is that we believe that everyone we encounter deserves respect. Everyone. From our littlest community members to our community members in need… our program is part of a larger church community, in a urban area on a busy corner in front of a hospital. We celebrate all of it. Each person, each encounter, each moment.
One day I will live on the Georgia coast and quilt (my passion second only to my family and maybe gardening) and grow heirloom tomatoes but for now I can’t imagine a life without all of the laughter and the love of my SAND family.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Everyday! Our program moved to a virtual platform when all of the schools in the US closed. We decided that if we wanted to stay open and stay safe then we needed to move outside! We had so much help from the Forest School community- how to teach without walls, without all of the things that we are taught is important to learning like tables and chairs. Today we teach entirely outside and 100% in the moment. We pivot every time we stop and allow a child to take the time to explore deeply. When a child is drawn into an activity or a movement or an insect, flower, or stick and we stop and fully engage in the moment we move from what we thought was important to what is really important we pivot and we learn so much more. Everyday. Being outside means that we have to change our plans on a moment’s notice. Is it wet? Windy? Hot? Cold? How do we need to adapt for the changing weather?
Everyday. Covid has changed the way families live and move in the world. Some children have never played with other children. Some have never been away from home. Some have never seen extended family. We have to help families navigate new ways of living fully in the world.
Everyday. With each new family and each new child we have to adjust our expectations on what is important in each moment.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
I am so grateful that all of our new families have come from word of mouth! 100%! When we were building our program we had such a tight budget. Magazines and websites that catered to families were way too expensive for us so we had to be creative. We set up a booth at the spring concert series in our town and donated 1 week of summer camp to the concert series raffle. We supported sports groups where our logo would be on display all season long and we participated in community fun runs and fundraisers. Anywhere where we could be seen Before Covid we offered tours during the day so families could just sit and watch how we interact with one another. It was a very genuine experience. Today we have more families than we have space. While this seems like a good problem I wish that we could welcome every child into our community.
Contact Info:
- Website: Sandpreschool.org
- Facebook: SchoolAtNorthDecatur
Image Credits
Christina Ferreria