Little Macacos Forest School

Our Teachers

Founders

Cristina Richardson, Founder

Cristina opened Little Macacos because she wanted to provide the best care for her own children so they could grow and develop while continuing to work and contribute to the world herself. She has experience working as both a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and Supportive Living Coach for those with special needs. Both positions helped her cultivate the empathy and skills of care giving, patience, and responsibility at the professional level. In the early stages of Little Macacos, she was also a Tutor for students from pre-kindergarten to college. Through this experience, she learned how to work with children in the context of academia.

Cristina is a mother of three and graduate from the University of Phoenix with a Bachelor’s degree in Health Management and a Master’s Degree in Child Development and Organizational Leadership.

​

Philosophy

Little Macacos Forest School is a outdoor education program for young children based out of Elysian Park in Los Angeles. The three components that come together to form the foundation of our outdoor education program are nature-based learning, Spanish language development, and STEM-inspired curriculum. We believe that this unique combination of focused programing, combined with our beautiful outdoor classroom, deliver a truly transformative learning experience for our students.

Location

Little Macacos Forest School is located in a inviting, beautiful home in the Elysian neighborhood.

We’ve 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), art area (for expressing emotions and ideas), and sensory area (for spatial awareness and learning through the five senses).

Children will spend most of the day outdoors at a local park. Connecting with nature is vital to a child’s happiness and growth.

At Little Macacos Forest School , I want to provide an enriching environment where children feel free to explore and play.

Lttle Macacos Forest School is located in Elysian Park near the Chavez Ridge Disc Golf Course on Solano Canyon Drive. There’s plenty of parking near the playgrounds on either side of Solano Canyon Drive.

About our program

Each day, we leverage the wonderfully natural setting that is our outdoor classroom to help foster the growth of our students and address their developmental needs. Our curriculum is flexible enough to meet each child where they are and allow them to run at their own pace. All children are different and not all learn the same as others. With our low provider to student ratio, we offer greater teacher-student interaction with more individualized teaching and care.

Our curriculum is STEM-inspired, child-centered, 100% outdoors, and taught in both Spanish and English. At Little Macacos Forest School, our mission is to be a guide in your child’s journey navigating the many wonders of our outdoor classroom.