About Us

Our Mission

Our goal is to build a strong community where compassion, health, and an authentic connection to Mother Earth and each other is valued.

Blessing Farm and Forest is located on a residential property in the lower South Hill. Our moving-parts farm play yard is on a 3/4 acre parcel of land with whimsical gardens, fruit trees, wild areas and a young permaculture food forest. We have a small flock of friendly chickens, several fluffy bunnies, domestic quail, two cats and two entertaining miniature goats we care for everyday. The unique, magical Ben Burr forest is only a stone’s throw away where the children spend time hiking, exploring and playing.

Our Program

Blessing Farm and Forest is an outdoor, mixed-age program that carries a strong focus of rhythm, repetition and reverence. Our goal is to give children the gift of ample unstructured time playing freely outdoors. We want children to develop confidence, independence and resilience while at the same time connecting deeply to nature and each other. Through warm, loving relationships between the teachers, students and animals, we strive to foster a strong sense of connection, empathy and compassion for others, including our animal and plant friends.

How do we express this mission in the structure of our program?

  • Daily nurturing care of animals, land and gardens
  • Ample time and space for children to run, climb and be active. Children build confidence, strength and grace through having enough time to move freely and take risks with their peers.
  • Children are supported in their growing independence and competence through daily activities that include real work with real tools. Shovels and rakes are available for digging in the mud pit, raking leaves, shoveling mulch, etc. Seasonal work includes planting seeds, caring for the garden, harvesting from our fruit trees, preparing food, spreading mulch, pulling weeds, moving compost, etc.
  • Social relationships are given time and space to grow authentically and organically. With warm, loving guidance from the teachers, children are supported in navigating the complicated work of working together within a group of peers.
  • Teacher and children come together each morning in a dynamic and fun circle during which they sing seasonal songs, practice finger plays, play games and experience seasonal movement journeys.
  • At Blessing Farm and Forest we value the ancient wisdom of oral story telling as a way to instruct and teach the children through an age-appropriate and organic way. Teachers tell culturally diverse fairy tales, folk tales and nature stories Often children will hear the story first, watch a puppet story and then act it out after they have learned it by heart.

Community

At Blessing Farm and Forest, we hope to offer our families an opportunity to form a strong community of people who hold similar values. We need connection and community now more than ever!

Meet our teachers

Sommer Blessing, Lead Teacher

Sommer brings a rich and diverse background to her work as an educator. She holds a BA in Educational and Cultural Studies from Evergreen State College, a Waldorf Teaching Certificate from Sound Circle Center in Seattle, and a Permaculture Design Certificate from Lost Valley in Oregon. Her strong work ethic was shaped early on through her time as a wildland firefighter in Oregon, and her understanding of human and ecological relationships grew through extensive travel—volunteering on organic farms across Europe and studying Spanish and cultural immersion in Central and South America. Her fieldwork in Mexico in wildlife biology, with a focus on ornithology and botany, also continues to inform her nature-centered approach to teaching.

For over 15 years, Sommer has devoted herself to nurturing and educating children of all ages. She has taught in a variety of settings, including the Seattle Tilth Children’s Garden, AmeriCorps programs, Brightwater Waldorf School in Seattle, and as a teacher at Windsong School in Spokane. Through these experiences, she has developed a deep appreciation for the rhythms of childhood, the importance of meaningful work, and the power of imaginative play.

Sommer is continually inspired by the wisdom of Waldorf education and the healing presence of nature and animals. Her teaching is grounded, heartfelt, and alive with the magic of the natural world—guided always by her most beloved mentor: Mother Nature herself.

Hayden Chism, Assistant Teacher

Since childhood, Hayden has cherished the outdoors through activities like camping, hiking, fishing, skiing, and spending long, hot summer days at the lake. With five years of experience as a nanny, she had a remarkable opportunity in 2019 to be a live-in nanny in Oahu, Hawaii, where she connected deeply with the ocean and the interconnectedness of all living things.

After returning to the Northwest, Hayden welcomed the birth of her baby daughter and has been diligently pursuing a degree in teaching. As a mother, one of eight siblings, and an aspiring teacher, she is genuinely intrigued by the Waldorf method and is excited to be part of it firsthand.

Cory Nowlin, Assistant Teacher

Cory has been known as a village auntie for over 20 years. In recent years she was the after care lead at the Waldorf School in Sandpoint, and also a rotating lead at a forest pre-school in Taos, NM. 

While at university, family work beckoned Cory, leading her to study and practice as a doula in support of birth, post partum, and end of life. Simultaneously, 13 years as a licensed massage therapist has continued to stoke the passion of studying human physiology and development, emotional intelligence, and tending to the nervous system. Children and animals have taught her some of her deepest lessons, as did her travels globally and within. Rudolf Steiner and Bell Hooks have shaped her studies, as well as the 8 limb path of yoga, and indigenous practices of Hawaii and Thailand, among other cultures closer to home.  Freshly moved from Sandpoint to Spokane, she notices the similarities of this city with her hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Melissa Cotter, Administrative Assistant

Melissa Cotter is an adventure seeker, outdoor lover and mother of a spirited little one. Having an 8 year career as an orthodontic assistant doing bill paying and ordering, Melissa decided to slow down life and become a stay at home mom. It was then she found Blessing Farm and Forest, a beautiful outdoor school for her son. Soon after, an administrative position opened up and it was a perfect fit with her passion for organization, personal finance, and still being connected with her son’s learning experience.