About Acorn to Oak

What is Acorn to Oak?

Acorn to Oak develops nature-based early childhood curriculum. Our materials are secular, neurodiversity-affirming, and rooted in the belief that children learn best through the natural world. We have been developing educational resources since 2021. 

Acorn to Oak’s Educational Philosophy 

Acorn to Oak’s Early Learning Curriculum brings education to the child’s whole being. Our teaching philosophy integrates the Head, the Heart, and the Hands. 

The Hands are part of the Physical Body. This is the child’s awareness of the physical self and their intuition. Acorn to Oak’s curriculum is entirely hands-on. Whole body movements play an essential role in each individual lesson. Fine motor activities and finger plays are used to engage early writing skills. 

The Heart is our Feeling Sense. In order for a child to be able to learn, they must be in an emotionally regulated and supportive space. Acorn to Oak provides stories, poems and imaginative play invitations to engage the child’s spirit of play. Storytelling, imagery, and rhymes are integral tools in memory formation. Art lessons and music are integrated into all lessons. The child builds confidence in their own self-expression and interpretation. 

The Head is the thought realm. Children see the world through curiosity and the pursuit of truth. Acorn to Oak’s nature-based curriculum is child-led. Children are encouraged to independently investigate the natural world that surrounds them.

We believe that education starts with connection. Our curriculum is gentle, and allows space for the child to dig deeper into the subjects in a way that is meaningful to them.

A Nature-Based Curriculum

Nature provides the most inviting, mentally stimulating and, nourishing learning environment. Studies show that children who are neurodiverse, have experienced trauma, or have learning differences especially benefit from nature-based learning. Learning in nature provides a multi-sensory experience. Research has shown a correlation between memory and learning and students‘ exposure to multi–sensory instruction techniques (Orton, 1996).

The Rhythmic Reading Method

Acorn to Oak has created a new method of teaching reading called the Rhythmic Reading Method. Children learn to read using poetry. This method of reading is a collaborative process between caregiver and child using language-rich literature.

Poetry is the integral tool used in the Rhythmic Reading Method. Reading poetry is a collaborative movement between caregiver and child. The caregiver reads the unbold text, and the child reads the text in bold.

Poetry is used to reinforce letter sounds, to discriminate between long and short vowels, hard and soft letter sounds, and to reinforce words that have been learned previously. Reading poetry reinforces the development of auditory discrimination. Poetry uses devices such as alliteration, rhyme scheme, assonance, onomatopoeia, to convey an image. The child is able to naturally pick up on these sound patterns, and predict words based on the patterns they hear.

In the Rhythmic Reading Method, children learn to read using real-world text. There is no transition between reading levels. The child reads real poetry from the start. Rhythmic Reading is taught in combination with phonics with sight words, setting the foundation for fully understanding our written language and how it functions. The Rhythmic Reading method combines the child’s natural curiosity and captures them with engaging text. The child learns to read new words intuitively, and is given the opportunity to become a natural reader from the very start of their reading journey. The Rhythmic Reading Method can only be found in Acorn to Oak’s curriculum. Read more about the method here. 

Our Commitment to Access

At Acorn to Oak we believe that every family deserves access to a beautiful, thoughtful education regardless of their financial situation. Visit our Equity Pricing to learn more.