Eco (Wonder) School

Our Teachers

Hello! I am Amina, the founder of Eco (Wonder) School. I was inspired to start this program because of a deep passion of mine to provide nature and outdoor based, whole-child centered care. After almost 5 years, we are committed more than ever to offering what every child should have: countless opportunities for discovery, creativity, problem-solving and STEM education in Nature.

My background before teaching children is predominantly in public health and natural sciences. I hold a Masters Degree in Public Health and a Certificate from the UC Cooperative Extension as a Master Gardener.

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Testimonials

“I want to attend [as an adult]! Everything is so well thought out and the garden is magical.” - Jenna

“We could not be happier with Eco Wonder School for our daughter!” - Laura D

“This school is a gem! - Anushree G

Philosophy

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At Eco (Wonder) School we believe that children grow, learn, and thrive by following their own unique style of discovery. We believe children make sense of the world, who they are and form meaningful relationships with others through play and exploring the natural environment. We recognize that each child has agency and the capacity to make connections by interacting with their environment, their peers, and adults as co-learners. We also believe that children are self-directed and learn to socialize, communicate, and take risks through play, sensory experiences, and exploring the environment.

Eco (Wonder) School draws inspiration from Reggio Emelia pedagogy, as our learning environment is child-centered and where we utilize self-directed experiential learning with a relationship-driven focus. We also implore foundational principles of Permaculture in the classroom and in our garden classroom. Employing permaculture principles allows us to recognize the importance of living or relating harmoniously with each other and the natural environment like many nature-based programs. Together, these two philosophies create Eco-Wonderschool - a place where children are encouraged and invited to express and employ their ideas respectfully, responsibly, and within a community that recognizes that all things are connected and relationship-driven.

It is our goal to provide an environment that engages children with developmentally-appropriate activities and materials. At Eco (Wonder) School, children are given ample opportunities to explore and learn outside. We believe what children learn does not follow as an automatic result from what we teach. Rather, we believe it is a result of the their own doing as a consequence of their activities and our resources, indoor and outside.

We believe nature is one of the best environments for children as we support their development and help to prepare them to enter more traditional school systems in kindergarten and beyond.

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Location

Eco (Wonder) School is located in a bright, beautiful single family home in the University Village neighborhood of East Palo Alto.

We’ve thoughtfully designed our care environment with play and learning areas that allow children to explore various developmentally-appropriate activities based on their interests. Some of our favorite areas include nature area (for discovering nature and science concepts), manipulatives and math area (for fine motor skills and beginning math concepts), reading / cozy area (for literacy, relaxation, and respite), and art area (for expressing emotions and ideas).

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Children will spend about half of their time outdoors a mix of my private yard and local parks and playgrounds. Connecting with nature lets children gain deeper knowledge of themselves and the world.

At Eco (Wonder) School, I want to provide an environment that supports the cognitive, social, and emotional growth of each child.

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About our program

In a place where we recognize there are three essential teachers in a child’s life: their parents, their teacher/care giver at school, our program employs the natural outdoor environment as the third teacher. We are a special program because we believe in and respect the inherit strength, ability, and ingenuity that every child possesses.

Admissions

Join the Eco-Wonderschool community in four easy steps:

1. Explore our website

We’ve provided information about our philosophies and offerings to help you decide if our program may be right for your family.

2. Tour our program

Come see what makes Eco-Wonderschool unique. If we are currently hosting tours, you can request or schedule a tour at the top of this page. If we are not currently hosting tours, you’ll see a “Request Info” button at the top of this page; if you submit your information using this button, we will notify you when we start host tours again in the future.

3. Submit an Enrollment Application

If you would like to enroll, please submit an application. Note that we require tours for all prospective families. Please do not submit an application if you have not visited the program.

4. Enroll

After reviewing your application, we’ll send an enrollment invitation. Upon accepting your invitation you’ll pay your enrollment fee, fill out enrollment documents and review our Parent Handbook.

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