Nurturing kind, confident children through outdoor discovery, emotional validation, and nervous system regulation among the coastal redwoods and forests of Humboldt County.
Our Philosophy
Everything we do grows from these four commitments — the same ones that shape our forest school days in McKinleyville, California.
Being outdoors naturally regulates a child's nervous system. Set against the coastal air and towering trees of McKinleyville, children are free to ground themselves, explore, and create in the moment of inspiration.
Children speak without judgment. Here, they are always accepted, their feelings are always valid, and they learn to work through problems with gentle, loving support.
We follow the child's natural spark. By encouraging curiosity and critical thinking through hands-on outdoor play, children build authentic self-confidence from within.
Growth happens in connection. Serving families across McKinleyville, Arcata, Trinidad, and Eureka, we foster empathy, self-love, and a deep sense of place.
Humboldt Outdoor Rhythm
Our daily rhythm is shaped by Humboldt’s coastal climate — fog, sun, rain and all. Tap a moment to see how the day unfolds.
09:00 AM
We open the day together with an emotional check-in and weather readiness — layers zipped, boots on, and every feeling named and welcomed before we head out into the coastal morning.
Values
Children who feel accepted exactly as they are grow into adults who trust themselves. Self-love is the first thing we teach, and we teach it by how we speak to them.
Big emotions are not misbehavior. We name them, sit with them, and help children find their way through — the heart of social-emotional outdoor learning in Eureka and Arcata families' words.
Critical thinking grows from real questions. Child led learning in Arcata and McKinleyville looks like mud, tools, arguments about how things work, and answers the children find themselves.
Fog, salmonberry, elk tracks, storm-wracked spruce. Play based education in Trinidad, CA means knowing the land you stand on and caring for it.
Serving Humboldt County
Growing With Nature School is located in McKinleyville, California — Humboldt County, 95519 — between the coastal dunes and the redwood edge. We welcome families from across the Humboldt Bay area who are happy to travel to McKinleyville for an outdoor, child-led alternative to conventional preschool and early elementary settings: no worksheets, no shaming, no rushing children past their feelings.
Our home base
Growing With Nature School is physically located in McKinleyville, California — Humboldt County, 95519. Families walking in from Central Avenue, Hiller Park, and Dow's Prairie searching for a nature based preschool or outdoor school in McKinleyville find us minutes away.
Families we serve
We are not in Arcata, but we welcome Arcata families who are willing to travel to McKinleyville for child led learning, a forest school alternative to traditional daycare, or an outdoor kindergarten program.
Families we serve
We are not in Trinidad or Westhaven, but north coast families who already live outdoors make the drive to McKinleyville. Play based education here means tidepools, spruce forest, and children who know the weather before they check it.
Families we serve
We are not in Eureka or Fieldbrook, but parents searching for a social-emotional outdoor school or a gentle, non-punitive learning environment are welcome — many carpool north to McKinleyville together.
If any of those brought you here, you are in the right place. The next step is the parent questionnaire — it tells us about your child, your family, and how you hope they will be supported outdoors.
Real photos from real days — mud, meadows, ladybugs, rope swings, and quiet corners across Humboldt County’s coastal weather.
Parent Questionnaire
This is how we begin every relationship — slowly, and with real curiosity. It takes about five minutes, and a person reads every word.
FAQ
