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Fiddle Tree Nature Center

Homeschool   Enrichment   Program

Girl Harvesting Vegetable

Christ-centered and inspired by God’s creation, Fiddle Tree Nature Center is a homeschool enrichment program located on a charming 46-acre farm in Santa Fe, TN.

Happy Kids Huddle

The nature center provides opportunities for children to engage in cross-curricular learning through hands-on, inquiry-based farm and nature projects, shaped by student-specific interests and goals.

Fiddle Tree Nature Center is currently enrolling ages 6-12 for Tuesday and Wednesdays

Limited spots available.

For more information and to schedule a tour, contact Gina at FiddleTreeLC@gmail.com

Our Teachers

Gina Pittman

As a very young girl, one of my favorite books was The Little House by Virginia Burton (1942). The little house lived in the country and I lived in a small house in East Nashville. The story always gave me a sense of peace and created in me a desperate longing to escape to the country. In 2013, I stood on what is now our dock, and told my husband, “this is the one”. Fiddle Tree Farm slowly came to be as we added goats, chickens, rabbits, ducks, sheep and a large hoop house, to the rolling 46 acres with creeks, woods and pastures. But, something has been missing. 

 

I was a teacher before I ever earned a degree. As a child, I would set up my classroom as soon as I returned home from school requiring my younger brother to attend classes long before the state requirement. I was a tutor in high school and a nursery teacher upon graduating high school. I tried to do other things. I went to law school, majored in accounting and communications for a bit. I even went to beauty school, always returning to teaching.  When my boys, who are now men, were just little fellas we found this magical Reggio-Emilia inspired preschool that honored the child and all of God’s wonder. I was fortunate to work there for many years and eventually serve as the director for a year, during which time, I helped start the nature playground. Spring Hollow was the catalyst for returning to school and earning my teaching certificate and my masters in administration. As a result, I have spent the last 20 years dedicating myself to education, from teaching preschool, homeschooling my own children, serving as a classroom k-5th grade teacher, working as a gifted specialist (pre-k-12) and serving as a guide in a homeschool tutorial. I am now hoping to combine my experiences with my passion and create that same kind of wonder for elementary age students right here on our farm. God has been preparing me for this very moment in time and I am thrilled to be opening Fiddle Tree Farm Learning Center in September of 2022. 

 

“But ask the animals and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you, or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you …. In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” Job 12: 7-10

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Amy Darnell

...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

 

I firmly believe that part of the “good work” that God began in me was that of being a teacher. Teaching is not just something I do; it’s a huge part of who I am and something that God knit into my being. Throughout the years, being a teacher has taken on many forms. As a 5 year old, this looked like teaching and reading to my stuffed animals. As an elementary school student, this looked like playing “school” with my younger sister and neighborhood friends where I was one of the teachers, complete with hand-written lesson plans and a gradebook. As a high school student, this looked like tutoring younger students at a local elementary school and volunteering each summer for the VBS program at our church. It was a no-brainer for me that I wanted to go to college to get a degree in education upon graduating from high school. So in 2005, I moved from Texas to Alabama and attended Auburn University from 2005-2009. I graduated with an undergraduate degree in Elementary Education and had a 4th grade teaching job at an amazing school lined up back in Texas; I was finally a certified teacher with my very own classroom! Since 2009, I have taught 4th and 5th grade, served as a math coach, and taught PreK at a parent’s day out church program. Teaching has most recently taken on the form of homeschooling my two boys and serving as the assistant director at a homeschool tutorial. 


As a teacher, and now a homeschool mom, I love building relationships and community with children, families, and other homeschool moms. I am passionate about meeting children where they are at academically, emotionally, spiritually, and developmentally and providing opportunities to make learning fun, engaging, and organic. One of my ultimate goals is to foster a child’s growth in such a way that they are able to thrive while feeling loved and valued. I am over-the-moon excited that I get to work alongside Gina in her new endeavor at Fiddle Tree Farm Learning Center and can’t wait to see what God has in store!

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