Curriculum
Our forest preschool in Virginia Beach, VA, is designed to support holistic child development. We believe that children thrive in an environment that encourages exploration and creativity. Thus, our curriculum integrates social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development, allowing children to learn at their own pace.
We emphasize nature-based learning in Virginia Beach, VA, where children are encouraged to explore, play, and discover. Through outdoor adventures, they develop crucial life skills, problem-solving abilities, and a respect for the environment. Each day at our forest school offers your child the opportunity to engage in meaningful interactions with peers and nature.
While our days may appear open and child-led, our teaching is intentionally aligned with the Virginia Early Learning & Development Standards (VA ELDS). These standards guide early childhood programs across the state and support growth in five key domains:
Curiosity, creativity, focus, persistence, and self-directed play develop naturally in the outdoor environment.
Children learn to communicate, collaborate, build friendships, resolve conflicts, and develop resilience.
Rich conversations, storytelling, journaling, vocabulary building, and early literacy experiences emerge organically through exploration.
Climbing, balancing, running, fine-motor tasks, and sensory activities strengthen physical skills and coordination.
Children explore math, science, problem-solving, analytical thinking, and reasoning through hands-on discovery in nature.
These five domains provide a strong developmental foundation, while the forest itself serves as the living context for all learning.
Every experience—climbing, digging, observing, creating—connects to developmental goals
We meet each child where they are. Teachers observe play, document growth, and support emerging skills through:
Children are not rushed. They have the time and space to go deeper, repeat experiences, and follow ideas to their natural conclusion.
We do not use tests or worksheets. Instead, we:
Assessment allows us to understand each child individually—not to evaluate them against unrealistic academic expectations.
If you’re looking for a holistic child development preschool in Virginia Beach, VA, Neptune’s Forest is the ideal destination, as we nurture physical vitality, emotional intelligence, cognitive skills, and language through immersion in nature.
Mindfulness and patriotism also enhance our whole-child focus approach, so we invite you to join our growing community of young learners. Let’s help children learn through play in a nurturing, outdoor setting.
