the land and the teachers

The Land

Mother Earth School takes place on a swath of three neighboring farms in Hillsborough, NJ: Umrit Farm, Axcel Farm and Park Family Farm. This site along the Millstone River has nourished children's thriving and growth for hundreds of years. The Lenape, who are this land's original stewards, had ancestors who fished in the "Mattawong" (the river that is "hard to travel") and grew crops all along its fertile valley. The one-room schoolhouse, Blackwells Mills School, served children here from 1841-1918.  Now families from many backgrounds and cultures make this river valley home.

Teacher and founder

Ms. Elia is Mother Earth School's primary teacher and founder. She has 17-years' experience in nature-based Waldorf early childhood education. Her background in child development, particularly brain and sensory systems, has helped her discover that farms and woods make the best classrooms! At Mother Earth School, Ms Elia works together with the farmers, animals and plants who show so many ways to live and grow on the good soil!

A Waldorf alumnus, herself, Ms Elia has always loved stories, fiddle playing and singing, handwork, and working with animals. She brought these interests to the children when she started her teaching career at a small suburban Waldorf early childhood program in Colorado.

While the teachers tried to recreate farm and forest-like experiences in a walled-in small yard, a bicycle trail, and classrooms along a busy street, the Rocky Mountains' skyline on the distant horizon invited Ms Elia try to imagine a fully land-based program! Her further experiences in Vermont and New York showed many versions of this: schools that bordered state forest land where the children played, schools with small-scale farm and garden operations, and schools with fully outdoor classrooms and forested play yards. Throughout these experiences, her primary question has been: what do young children really need?

Her professional development studies in trauma-informed education, working with special needs, and brain and sensory development have all been integrated into the programming at Mother Earth School. Ms Elia has deepened her educational values by mentoring teachers, including those at Nepal's Kathmandu Waldorf School and forest programs at Head Starts and Public Pre-Ks. She continues to learn from colleagues within the Waldorf movement, including those she meets as the logistics coordinator for the annual conference hosted by the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America. Ms Elia loves her work with parents, too, observing children's play and exploring their development together. While her primary question remains a core motivation for her work, she feels great joy to see the blossoming of the children in her care!