Welcome to Mother Goose in Nature
Honor self-initiated learning
Connect with nature
Share the joy of parenting
Mother Goose in Nature offers playgroup classes and private sessions for very young children and their families.
Guided by the teachings of Rudolf Steiner and Emmi Pikler, we see the first years of the child's life as the most fundamental time for their life-long development.
Parenting can be daunting but we joyfully journey together through three pillars:
by supporting the child's self-initiated movement/play/learning,
by elevating everyday caregiving activities with respect and trust, and
by honoring the rhythm of nature within and of the outer environment.
Our mission is to serve both child and adult to learn and grow holistically into healthy and happy members of the one big community called planet earth!
We are creating a local network of like-minded parents who value in-person and direct encounters with each other and with the natural beauties of the Lower Hudson Valley area. We hope you join us!
"Every education is self-education." --Rudolf Steiner
Hiromi Niwa
Birth to Three Specialist,
Waldorf Certified Early Childhood Teacher
As an early childhood teacher, I thought I knew how to be a good mom. But very soon I found out that parenting was unlike anything I have ever done. The first few years of my motherhood felt like a never ending obstacle race going back and forth from home to work to daycare to train stations.
Searching for inspiration, I went to study at Sophia's Hearth Family Center in Keene, NH in 2009, where I learned to trust the children's innate ability to lead their own healthy development. I was able to drop much of my well-meaning, but unnecessary interventions and replace them with respectful caregiving and support for their self-initiated learning. I learned to do less and enjoy more.
Through group and private sessions, I have helped hundreds of parents do the same. Motherhood has been the greatest gift of my life and I feel passionate about spreading the joy of parenting and building a community of like-minded parents, because "it takes a village to raise a child."
I am certified in Waldorf Early Childhood Education, with over 15 years of experience in Preschool, Mixed-age Kindergarten and Parent & Child Classes in Waldorf schools in NY, as well as Early Childhood Centers in Japan.
