Big Tree Little Preschool
A play-based and nature-oriented preschool
Currently enrolling ages 2 through 6 for full or partial day preschool or kindergarten.
Big Tree Little Preschool -
Where Curiosity Thrives
Nature-Based Learning
Big Tree is a nurturing, nature-infused community where children thrive. Nestled on five sprawling acres, our preschool embraces a child-driven, forest school philosophy blended with the Reggio Emilia approach to early education. For over 15 years, we’ve been guiding young learners to discover, explore, and grow in a setting that values curiosity, creativity, and respect for the natural world.
Kindergarten and TK
Our licensed offerings support each stage of early education—from toddler programs to transitional kindergarten and kindergarten. Families enjoy the comfort of a cohesive learning path that retains the same nature-first, child-led approach, ensuring a smooth transition year after year.
Focus on Experiential Learning
Daily routines revolve around outdoor play, hands-on projects, and collaborative discovery, ensuring every child’s imagination and sense of wonder flourish. From watering gardens to balancing on logs, our students learn practical skills and develop confidence through supervised risk-taking—safely building resilience and problem-solving abilities in real-world contexts.
Immersive Curriculum
Whether your child is investigating insects on a nature walk or creating art from natural materials, each moment is intentionally designed to foster independence and lasting love for learning. Experience the transformative power of a true nature preschool—where childhood unfolds under the canopy of curiosity and where every day is another adventure waiting to be explored.
From our families. . .
We have been serving Vista and our surrounding community for over ten years.
I can't really say enough good things about Big Tree, but I will close with my most important thought: the teachers. Ms. Rebecca, and all of her staff, are some of the warmest, kindest, and patient women I have met. You can tell they really are invested in making sure each child's individual needs are met, and that every parent's concerns and needs are heard and met as well. They are always very communicative and transparent, and are willing to do whatever they can to keep their students and families happy. It's a sweet gem of a place for children to spend their days growing. In fact, most days it is quite hard to convince my kids to come home, they are having such a blast!
We have such big love for Big Tree. My little one LOVES it here, and she is learning so much with the caring, experienced teachers and the wonderful, diverse group of kids. She is growing leaps and bounds socially, emotionally, and academically, and she is already learning so much about her connection to the larger world. The nature hikes, the special guest story & music time, the incredible outdoor play spaces, the dancing, the art, the yoga, the songs, the strong but flexible structure of the day and the rhythms of the week - seriously, it makes me want to go to preschool again. It means the world to me that my daughter absolutely loves this school. I know that this is the best educational foundation I could ever ask for.
We love this school and the teachers! My son attended Big Tree Little Preschool's TK program and I couldn't be more impressed. Miss Carol, the TK/K teacher, is knowledgeable, experienced and caring. She lovingly prepared my son for Kindergarten beyond what I thought was possible. She knew exactly what he needed to know and how to help him get to that point. The instruction was student centered and included real life application as they spent a lot of their time exploring the world around them in their amazing outdoor space. Everyday I was excited to hear him tell me new things he learned. We both work full time and it was nice having our son attend TK at BTLP because even when it wasn't TK hours, he was cared for by the other amazing educators at this school. They spend a lot of time outside which was great for my son. I always felt comfortable bringing my son to this school because I knew he was in the hands of individuals that cared for him and looked out for his best interests. I highly recommend this program to anyone that asks. Your child will leave knowing all they need to know making the transition to elementary school seamless.
We have an independent, well rounded, kind and curious kid thanks to the care our daughter received at Big Tree and would definitely recommend this school to parents that are looking for a smaller setting where kids are not just another headcount. Our daughter just graduated from Big Tree and while we were very sad to have to say good bye, we could not be happier with how well Big Tree prepared her for starting Kindergarten. Miss Carol is a wonderful and experienced teacher who has been with the school for 10 years and our daughter was excited every morning to go to her TK class. She made great friends there and all the other teachers were very kind and respectful with the kids as well (most of them also very long time teachers there). I really appreciate the play based and child-led learning approach and that most of the time was spend outdoors (the playground is large and has a big tree to spend shade), exploring critters, learning about sustainability (no screen time necessary) and building important social skills. The school is also diligent in putting the health and safety of the kids first and they are making sure there are plenty of activities to chose from, be it for imaginative play, art, fostering curiosity and basic scientific thinking or supporting conflict resolution.