Heron's Nest

Farm and Forest Family Childcare

Summers and School Year

for ages 3-6

 Who we are and what we believe in

Heron's Nest is a nature-based home program for ages 3-6, located in Deerfield, MA. The safe and inviting context of a home garden helps to teach the arts of loving interdependence, devotion to meaningful work, and admiration of our natural world. Animal care, gentle gardening, music making, movement journeys, story telling, and hand crafting are integral pillars to this program.



Our days are a flexible combination of structure and free play; we believe in a child-led curriculum in order to foster willful learning and genuine curiosity. We are home to a herd of dwarf goats, a flock of ducks, and expansive gardens for work and play.



As farmers and artists, our teachers Heron and Josie Wakerobin work to create a bright space full of song, plants, creatures, and liberated play for children to share.


We are enrolling families in a full year preschool program,

September 2023 to June 2024

Children ages 3-6 are welcome to enroll. The program will be offered for the duration of a school year - Early September 2023 to mid June 2024, 5 days a week, but you may enroll your child in just Tues/Wed/Thurs. We will enroll a maximum of six children to ensure a high quality of care as we are launching this new program. We will follow the general schedule of our local school district in regards to holidays and vacations.


Hours: 8 am - 3 pm (half day pick-up is only available for a small number of children in order to ensure sufficient enrollment)

 We are licensed through the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC)