Leaping Lizards Preschool

Falling into autumn…..

Magdalena Cabrera — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:07:06 +0000

Today is warm and mild. The leaves on the sweet gum trees at Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve are golden, red and orange. Today we hiked up Blue Oak Trail on our adventure. The kids enjoyed meeting dogs as we hiked up the trail. Most of the dog owners are happy to share the trail with a gaggle of kids. The couple today let us pet their trained but “career-changed” seeing eye dog! Who knew seeing eye dogs could change careers?

On the way up the hill ( the hike is all uphill going out and all downhill on the return leg), we encountered a dead mole. Yup, a dead mole. It was fuzzy and small and dark gray and dead. ”Why is it dead, teacher?” they ask. ”Well, it could have been old and then died. All things die eventually. Or maybe it got sick from a mole disease. Or maybe it didn’t find enough to eat.” This is how it goes on some hikes. Lots of questions, lots of curiosity. And that is how it works best.

Further up the trail, we saw a dead tree. Yup, a dead tree. Uh-huh, trees die eventually as well. Roaming around outside in natural settings gives children the time and opportunity to observe life in all its forms sprouting and growing, aging and dying. We talk about the circle of life so the kids, as well as the grown ups, can be reminded of how natural it is to be born and to die and how important it is to be alive while we are here.

“Hey kids, isn’t it great to be out here running around and playing?” ”Yes, yes, yes!!” they all sing back.

May we all enjoy the spring, summer, fall and winter of life.

Leap on!!

What do kids need most?

Magdalena Cabrera — Fri, 06 May 2011 22:29:51 +0000

Hmmm………that is a good question. Well, they need food, water and air. Yes. We aren’t talking that basic here. OK. Then they need love. Now we are getting somewhere. And they need to love and run and jump and touch and smell and taste and drink life in. Yeah, now we are cookin’!! They need time outside, in the dirt, in the water, touching worms, smelling the mugwort, tasting mustard flowers, seeing the pelicans and wearing their hoodies backwards so they can pretend they too are pelicans. They need to feel the wind on their faces. They need to see the sun glisten in the water and smell the bay smell and collect little stones and make birthday cakes in the sand. They need time to make paint with rocks and paint their faces. They need to walk in the creek and feel what it is like to have their shoes, socks and pants get wet. The magic that happens when they have the chance to experience this kind of childhood living is wonderful to see.

This is what Leaping Lizards is about. And it should be what childhood in general is about. Kids don’t need more screen time or more academics shoved down their throats. They need time outside, plain and simple. Summer is approaching. Warm weather, longer days, vacations. Take an evening walk with your kids, go to the beach, find your local nature preserve and go. Just go…. outside. And the amazing thing is that these are experiences we all need no matter what our age.

Wishing you all a lovely Mother’s Day….. outside!

Leap on!!

Rain, rain…….

Magdalena Cabrera — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 20:53:58 +0000

How can you go outside when it is raining?! Easy. You get your rain coat, boots and a rain hat and go. Kids love a walk in the rain for all the water play that it offers. And we know all kids love water! Today, I took my group to Foothills Park and we walked up into Wild Horse Valley to the end of the road. The creek was surging with large amounts of the magical stuff, the giver of life, water. The kids made boats out of leaves and logs, threw stones down the culvert to listen to the “music” that the rolling of the stone made as it made its way to the other end of the culvert, we looked for bones that had been washed down by the water, Erika and Juna and Llew made mud pies and mud cakes. Everyone found the sensual pleasures of wetness and textures and none of us minded the cold. So long as one keeps moving, and kids are perpetual motion, one stays warm. Jumping across the rivulets of water was a good game too. Much fun awaits us all if we just dare to go outside and feel our way along in the wet weather. Other good places to go on a rainy day are Huddart Park or Wunderlich County Park.

As always, think outside the box for your entertainment, remember to connect with nature and leap on.

About this blog……….

Magdalena Cabrera — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 18:33:02 +0000

I didn’t formally introduce myself on the first blog post. I am the founder, director and lead teacher at Leaping Lizards Nature Awareness Preschool. I’ve been teaching in this field for nearly 23 years. My hope for this blog is to inspire parents, grandparents and any other person who shares time with young children to go take a hike and enjoy connecting with nature. The only thing there is to know is where to go. The rest is easy! Points to remember while hiking with young children:

1) Hike at their pace. Stop often. Turn logs over to see who lives underneath but be sure to put the log back just as you found it. If you don’t feel comfortable catching and holding what might be living there, just observe.

2) Take a snack including water and be prepared for the weather by dressing yourself and your little one(s) in layered clothing. Don’t forget your wide-brimmed sun hat (one per person) and sunscreen.

3) Notice, notice, notice. It doesn’t matter so much if you know the names of trees or crittters or anything really. It is feeling nature that counts. Also, kids will enjoy the experience more if, along the way, you can get silly and play with them while on your outing and not make it about covering a long distance or “learning” something. They will be learning to enjoy, be curious aand care about the natural world just by being out there with you.

4) Invite another family to go with you if you like. Sometimes when kids have other non-related kids to adventure with it can make it more appealing. Try not to let yourself get too absorbed by your own adult chit chat though. Make this time about escaping from cell phones, to-do lists, traffic, lines at stores, laundry, bad news, etc. and about connecting with your kids, yourself and Mother Nature. Notice the quiet, the smells, the textures , the harmony of where you are. And of course, have fun!

“Look, I caught an eel!”

Magdalena Cabrera — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 03:43:48 +0000

Today we hiked from Vista Hill at Foothills Park down Chamise Trail to Boronda Lake. This is a great hike on a sunny, cool day. The .7 mile hike is downhill to the lake but then it is, obviously, uphill back to your vehicle. The one thing to be aware of though is that Foothills Park is open only to Palo Alto residents. Sorry.

Along the way, be sure you watch for the poison oak off to the sides along the trail. After you make the turn to go toward the lake, you don’t have to worry much about it though. Today we saw checkerspot butterfly caterpillars on the sticky monkey flower plants in the draw below the bridge along this trail. The kids were thrilled to see the fuzzy little gray guys munching down the leaves.

Once we were at the lake we saw a handsome cormorant sunning itself on the boat dock. A ruddy duck sat next to it, curiously. Our noises scared them both away. What a surprise! Clearly hiking with 8 three and four year olds is not a quiet proposition. I collected sticks to be used as ”fishing poles” and immediately the kids wanted to begin to “fish.” There is usually enough floating plant material in the water next to the dock for the kids to scoop up. One of my little guys called out ” Look, I caught an eel!” after catching a long piece of tule leaf. The kids decided that they were going to “bake” the fish. I have the kids lie down on their bellies when fishing which makes it less likely for them to launch themselves or each other into the water! It was a lovely day for us all.

Happy hiking and leap on!

The Leaping Lizards Philosophy

Magdalena Cabrera — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 06:39:13 +0000

“If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength.”

- Rachel Carson, The Sense of Wonder

Read more about the Leaping Lizards philosophy.

Leaping Lizards Testimonials & Press

Magdalena Cabrera — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 03:28:27 +0000

Over the years, parents and children alike have learned from their time in Leaping Lizards. These are a few testimonials of their experiences.

Words from Former Students

This essay was written by a former Leaping Lizards student for her 7th grade public speaking class. She decided to write about Leaping Lizards and the impact it had on her.

Magdalena

Sometimes when you feel really small, you don’t think you can make a difference for the people that matter to you. Magdalena never made me feel small, even at four years old- she never made anyone feel small. Right before kindergarten, I wrote a song. It was for her, my preschool teacher at leaping lizards. When I sang it to her, she sat there crying, and she hugged me. I wondered why she was crying; she wasn’t sad. I learned she was crying out of happiness. Magdalena showed me tears of joy. She found happiness from paint stains on pint-sized chairs, kissing banana slugs, and me. When someone is so great to me, I feel like I should be able to make them happy too. It is a wonderful feeling when I can. I was amazed that I could make someone so happy with one little poem, and promised myself to do it again.

Magdalena was generous, caring, fun-loving and a nature enthusiast. Every day we used to meet in that woman’s own garage to color and paint. She had a beautiful garden. I remember Magdalena was good at crafts. Sometime she played guitar and we all sang along. She took us on hikes in the woods, showed us how to paint our faces with rocks, and how to eat fruit without wasting anything. We never hiked too far for our little feet, and always stopped somewhere fun, like a river, a pond, or a clearing. She even taught us how to use a hammer and nails, so we could make pencil holders for mother’s day. One day she showed us a log fort. We had loads of fun with that.

She led by example, and I am still following. In seventh grade, I always eat my apples right down to the core and watermelon into the rind. I love painting with watercolors and acrylic paints, and doing all kinds of 3D art as well. I don’t play guitar, but have taken up the violin. Many places we went around the bay area I still visit with my family today. I hike a lot, and have accomplished ten miles in a day with M&Ms. I am also a beginning backpacker- someday I hope to go backpacking through the wilderness of Alaska. I still write poetry and build forts. I try to make people happy and be kind. I know that I can mean so much to those who matter most to me. Sometimes I even cry tears of joy.

These poems were written by a 7 year old former student and dedicated to Leaping Lizards.

Hello Forest

Hello forest I’ve come again
to see the wonders you have to share today
I’ve come to play
in your leaves and your streams
I’ve come to follow your never ending paths
You live!
I run down a river and
I happen to see a chestnut
rolling to me. I pick it up
It is brown and very smooth
I look up and to my right I see pile of them
as if welcoming me
I feel the breeze hit against my cheek
I smell the redwoods’ leaves
and think how wonderful it is to be here

My Heart Soars

In the darkness of the moonlight of nature,
the beauty of the trees and the softness of the sky,
the fragrance of some pinecones speak to me.
In the morning I feel the strength of the sunlight
the taste of berries
the trail of lightning
And the life that never goes away
They speak to me and my heart soars

Words from Parents

Visit our Parent Testimonial page to read what parents of current and former students say about the program.

Leaping Lizards Reviews

See reviews of Leaping Lizards on Yelp:

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In The Press

Gentry Magazine, November 2011
My Life: My Words – Magdalena Cabrera, Founder of Leaping Lizards Nature Awareness Preschool
As told to Jessica Goldman

(click image for full size)

Eucalyptus, December 2009

More Schools Inspired By Nature
written by Jennifer Moscatello

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