Art and Science Kids outdoor preschool serves children ages 3 to 5 in Oregon's wild and beautiful Illinois Valley. Our home is a land of wild places, free flowing rivers, and abundant animal life. We believe that children thrive outdoors where their curiosity and imagination roam, all while they're building rich relationships with each other and the natural world. We teach fine and gross motor skills, social development, and perseverance to preschoolers while following a nature immersion model of education. We meet in public forests all seasons of the year to hike the trails, jump in puddles, look at bugs, and engage with the natural world through play and curiosity.
Art and Science Kids outdoor preschool serves children ages 3 to 5 in Oregon's wild and beautiful Illinois Valley. Our home is a land of wild places, free flowing rivers, and abundant animal life. We believe that children thrive outdoors where their curiosity and imagination roam, all while they're building rich relationships with each other and the natural world. We teach fine and gross motor skills, social development, and perseverance to preschoolers while following a nature immersion model of education. We meet in public forests all seasons of the year to hike the trails, jump in puddles, look at bugs, and engage with the natural world through play and curiosity.
About Us
Art and Science Kids is a grassroots organization offering programs designed with Illinois Valley kids in mind. We serve children of all ages, and we work directly with local families, non-profit organizations, agencies, and public schools to provide unique educational experiences for children from a variety of backgrounds. We have offices located in the Illinois Valley Family Coalition building at 535 East River Street in Cave Junction. We also offer programming at our Dogwood Forest property at 590 North Old Stage Road in Cave Junction and forests in our local parks. We are working to build an enriched community that will grow over the coming generations.
Our Programs
Outdoor Preschool
Our preschool serves children ages 3 to 5 in all seasons. We teach social development, motor skills, and perseverance. The children carry their own backpacks on our daily adventures, and we sing songs together. Our outdoor preschoolers enjoy extended free play sessions, art activities, and wildlife observations.
Forest Fridays
Forest Fridays is a multi-age nature immersion program on Fridays for children in kindergarten through grade 2. Through this program we offer Illinois Valley children the opportunity to study, explore and apply scientific principles in our local Siskiyou forests. The program runs in 12-week sessions in the spring and fall each year.
Art with Ariana
Veteran art teacher Ariana Jurisic maintains a busy studio at the I.V. Family Coalition building on River Street. She teaches all ages of children with a strong focus on the fundamental elements of art. She offers afternoon classes, summer workshops, and even Mommy and Me classes on Sundays.
Private Tutoring
We tutor children of all ages in early literacy, mathematics, writing, and more. Our tutors meet with families early to establish goals, and we check in with classroom teachers to ensure we are working together. We teach basic study skills
so students are always moving toward independent mastery of skills and concepts.
Our Philosophy
We strive to provide opportunities for the children of the Illinois Valley to learn, create, and explore. Our teaching philosophy sees the teachers as guides, and the students as teachers also, creating an environment where everyone is empowered to learn. All of our activities have been gradually shaped over the last three years by our staff and volunteers with attentive observation of the students, and we believe that creative educators make the best teachers. Impassioned about education beyond Art and Science Kids, our staff frequently attend local meetings with community development initiatives to discuss intervention strategies, education plans, and student advocacy. Through sponsorship programs and donations, we aim to ensure all children are included regardless of socio-economic background.
