Is Yaban a school under the Ministry of National Education?

Yes. Yaban is a private kindergarten licensed by the Ministry of National Education (MEB) and accepts children aged 36–66 months. We follow the MEB Preschool Education Programme; the difference is that we deliver it spending half the day outdoors. The licence and other documents are on the About page.

How many children and teachers are in a group?

Each group has at most 14 children and 2 teachers. A teaching assistant joins the group during outdoor walks and workshops.

Does my child need to be toilet trained?

To start Meltem (age 3–4) it is enough to be close to dry during the day. Accidents happen; every child has a full set of spare clothes at school.

How does settling in work?

In the first week a parent can stay at school; we shorten the time together depending on the child. Most children settle in within two to three weeks. We make the settling-in plan with each family at the enrolment meeting.

How cold is too cold? When do you go inside?

There is no bad weather, but there is dangerous weather. We are indoors or in the shelter during lightning, storm warnings, wind chill below −10 °C, air pollution alerts and midday hours above 30 °C. In any other weather we are outside with the right clothes; we shorten or extend the time depending on the weather.

Will my child always come home wet and muddy?

Muddy yes, wet mostly no. The rain suit and boots keep the wet out; before lunch everyone changes into dry clothes and wet things go to the drying room. In the evening wet clothes go home in a separate bag.

The school forest in autumn: a golden oak, the log circle and black pines

The forest grounds after snowfall: a bare oak, snow-covered logs and black pines

The forest grounds in spring: an oak in fresh leaf, chamomile and black pines

The grounds in summer: deep green oak shade, dry grass and black pines

Every season,
half the day in the forest.

A licensed kindergarten for ages 3–6 at the forest edge in İncek, Ankara. There is no bad weather, only the right clothes.

Come to a visit day Pre-enrolment form

The school year, September to August

Today

In the forest this season

Autumn

Leaves, the first rain and mud at its finest.

The school year starts in autumn and the forest opens its door at its most generous. The oak turns gold, cones gather under the black pines and after the first rain the path fills with puddles. In September the groups get to know the grounds: which tree we gather under, where the boundary is, what we do when we hear the whistle. By November the children put on their rain suits and take off their boots by themselves.

All four seasons

Leaf archiveWe sort leaves by colour and shape, dry them and build our own archive.
Puddle scienceWhich puddle is deeper? We measure with sticks, throw stones and count the rings.
Cone countWe collect black pine cones and lay them out in groups of ten.
First fire circleAround a small fire lit by a teacher we learn safe distance; linden tea brews.

Children sorting autumn leaves by colour

In the forest this season

Winter

Tracking in the snow, steaming linden tea and long shadows.

Ankara's winter is dry and cold; when it snows the forest falls silent and every track becomes readable. In winter we adjust our time outside to the weather: on a sunny, still day we are out until noon; when the wind chill nears minus ten we do short rounds and warm up in the shelter. What winter really teaches is listening to your body: a child who is cold learns to say so, and a teacher learns to ask.

All four seasons

TrackingFox, hare, crow: we work out whose tracks are in the snow and follow them.
Ice experimentsWe leave water in a tray overnight; coloured ice shapes swing from branches.
Sledge slopeOn the slope behind the school, one at a time, with a teacher watching.
Stories in the shelterLinden tea and a long story under the tarp while snow falls outside.

A teacher and two children studying fox tracks in the snow

In the forest this season

Spring

Seedlings, tadpoles and days that grow a little longer each day.

In March the ground thaws and the garden is ours again. Spring is when we observe the most: we photograph the same branch every week and count buds turning into leaves. Frog spawn in the pond becomes tadpoles and tadpoles become frogs; the children learn this change not from a book but from the tub in their own hands. Spring rain means mud; the rain suit matters as much as in autumn.

All four seasons

Planting dayWe plant tomato, bean and squash seedlings in our own bed.
Pond watchWe scoop tadpoles into a tub, look through a magnifier and put them back.
The same branchEvery Monday we photograph the same branch and count its buds.
Bug hotelsWe build insect houses from reeds and cones and watch who moves in.

Children and a teacher planting seedlings in wooden beds

In the forest this season

Summer

Stories in the shade, dams in the stream and thyme-scented steppe.

In June the school year ends and summer school begins. Ankara summers are hot and dry, so the summer programme is built around the clock: long walks in the cool of the morning, quiet work indoors or in the oak's shade at midday, stream and water play towards late afternoon. The steppe smells of thyme and lavender in summer; the children learn to recognise plants by smell.

All four seasons

Stream damWe build a dam of stones and sticks in the ankle-deep stream.
Shadow mapHour by hour we mark where the big oak's shadow moves.
Scent walkThyme, sage, mint: we learn steppe plants by smell.
Hammock storiesA hammock and an audiobook in the shade during the midday heat.

Children building a stone dam in a shallow stream

There is no bad weather.
Only the right clothes.

Yaban has 3 groups, each with at most 14 children and two teachers. About 48% of the school day is spent outdoors, in rain, snow or wind.

We talk about things not in a classroom but where the question comes up: at the edge of a puddle, over a track in the snow, beside the seedling bed. The outcomes of the Ministry of Education Preschool Programme are worked on here too, through real tasks.

Our approach and safety

Three groups, three paths

The groups are named after winds. As children grow, the path gets longer; each card shows the daily walk of that group.

MeltemAge 3–4 (36–48 months) A first meeting with the forest: slow, safe and full of play. 14 children · 2 teachers · 600 m daily walk

PoyrazAge 4–5 (48–60 months) The path gets longer, the questions deeper. 14 children · 2 teachers · 1.2 km daily walk

KarayelAge 5–6 (60–72 months) Ready for primary school: a long road, big responsibility. 14 children · 2 teachers · 2.4 km daily walk

Groups are formed by age; for siblings and children on the age boundary we decide together at the enrolment meeting.

A day, stop by stop

The school day is 8:00 hours; 3:52 of it is spent outdoors. Four stops of the day:

08:30Welcome and the mud room
09:30Morning circle
10:00Forest time
15:45Free play and goodbye

The daily rhythm in detail

Who is in the forest?

Watching children look out of the classroom window, I kept asking myself the same thing: why don't we take the lesson out there? Yaban is the answer to that question.

Özge IlgazFounder and head of school