Waldorf inspired Nature-Based Early Learning in the Flathead Valley.

About our School

Welcome to Rain or Shine School where we learn in and from nature. We are deeply connected to Waldorf Education principles. We serve the Flathead Valley -including Somers Montana, Lakeside Montana, Kalispell Montana, Bigfork Montana, and beyond. Our school is a member of a community of nature and forest schools – an educational model established in Scandinavia in the 1950s that values the social, emotional, and non-cognitive roots of human learning. UR OCH SKUR means "RAIN OR SHINE"- and that is where we draw our inspiration for learning. You'll find the children out in the rain, jumping in puddles or in the snow- making tracks; no matter the weather, we are outside learning together! We follow the pedagogical approach that a child's need for knowledge, activities, and togetherness is fulfilled by being in nature. Children learn how to be in nature and how to protect it. This is achieved by having fun together outside in fields, mountains and on lakes, in all weather, all year round. Partnering with the child's parents ensures quality outdoor activities and promotes a connection to nature beyond the classroom.

Acknowledgement.

Although we are much inspired by European Pedagogy for education, we want to acknowledge the indigenous peoples of Montana, specifically the Flathead Valley. We believe that access to nature is a human right and recognize that structural inequities impact participation in outdoor experiences. Through staff training, grant funding, and culturally diverse curriculum, we commit to providing greater access to inclusive nature experiences so that everyone can benefit from the healing power of nature.

A land acknowledgement is a statement that formally recognizes the historical and continuing connection between Indigenous peoples and their native lands. In this spirit, we humbly make this land acknowledgement.

We acknowledge that our program activities take place on the traditional homelands of indigenous people, including the Bitterroot Salish, Upper Pend d’Oreille, and the Kootenai peoples who have lived and cared for this land since time immemorial. They were forcibly removed from their homelands and moved onto reservations by colonizers. They are still thriving today as Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. We commit to including land acknowledgements in our programs, strengthening relationships with tribal nations and Indigenous peoples, learning from Indigenous educators, and with permission, including Indigenous education and traditional ecological knowledge in our programs.

Mission

We offer a learning environment vibrant with nature that nurtures a sense of community and collaboration, among children, their families, and the Earth.

Rain or Shine School’s mission is to ignite a passion for learning and collaboration. We provide meaningful experiences that fully engage young minds creating global citizens whose lifelong love of learning makes the world a better place for all. 

We provide meaningful and immersive nature-based learning experiences for the children of the Flathead Valley through enrichment programming in and around the Flathead Lake area.

We believe childhood is a time of exploration, discovery, curiosity, and wonder and that there is no better classroom than the natural world.

Philosophy

We know early childhood education is typically the first step away from a home setting and into an outside learning environment. Rain or Shine’s vision is to make early childhood education a community experience where every member contributes to our children's education. Our program creates a secure and nurturing environment where children can learn about themselves and their world through play and healthy outdoor adventure. Children learn best through exploration and we pride ourselves on maintaining an environment that encourages wonder, exploration, and self-reliance. Children are our future; they are the stewards of our planet. We must give them the tools to take care of her. That is what we strive to do daily.

Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach of us more than we can ever learn from books.

— John Lubbock