Kinderfarm closes after decades of getting kids ‘kindergarten ready’

IOWA CITY — After almost 50 years of educating 3- to 6-year-olds in Iowa City, the nature-based Kinderfarm Preschool program closed Friday after celebrating its last class of preschool graduates.

Much of the students’ time at Kinderfarm was spent outside exploring, caring for the animals on the 20-acre farm and digging in the garden. Twice a day, the children helped with chores including feeding and giving water to the horses, pigs and chickens. In the garden, the children plant tomatoes, snap peas, carrots, potatoes and other vegetables later used in their lunches and snacks.

For almost 30 years, owner Heather Norman, 57, has provided a nurturing environment where preschool children learn independence, confidence and responsibility.

“There’s no place that you can laugh as hard as we do,” Norman said. “One of my teacher associates was in tears yesterday she was laughing so hard. That happens all the time here.”

When it’s time to clean the animal’s stalls, the children were the first to grab a wheelbarrow and pitch in, she said, even when “sometimes it smells.”

“The kids are outside, digging in the dirt, learning responsibility,” Norman said. “If it’s raining outside, we still have to go feed the animals. You’re not made out of sugar.”

In between playing and chores, Norman said, many books are read to the children every day. When they graduate from Kinderfarm, the children can recognize their name, write their name, cut with scissors, sit in a group and stand in a line.

The students also learn to put on their own coat, snow pants and boots, pour their own drinks and serve themselves food, she said. She was always asking, “Is that Kindergarten ready?”

Kinderfarm is also where Norman raised her own children, who inspired her to launch a day care center 30 years ago to meet a need and stay home with them. She purchased the business and property from the first owners, Jim and Phyllis Tucker, who opened Kinderfarm in 1973.

Kinderfarm was a “great environment” for Norman’s kids to grow up in, she said. In September 2020, she and husband Jeff Norman welcomed their first grandchild — “baby Lila” — who was born four months before the January 2021 due date weighing 1 pound 10 oz.

“The day she was born we searched the cupboard to find something that weighed that to pass it around for the children to see how big this baby was,” Heather Norman said. “It ended up being a package of cookies.”

Maya Haukap, a Kinderfarm teacher associate, said the farm was an “idyllic little oasis.”

“It can be fun to get dirt under your fingernails,” said Haukap, who began working at Kinderfarm in January 2021. “I grew up like that. I believe being outside in the fresh air is really good for your body and mind. They learn responsibility, group work and how to be respectful and cautious of animals.”

Diana Helling, a Kinderfarm teacher associate who has worked with Norman for 27 years, said Norman “embodies Kinderfarm.” “She is very creative, very invested in the children and makes everything a learning opportunity,” Helling said.

Heather and Jeff initially hoped to sell the property and find someone to continue the preschool. But after not receiving any offers, they decided to hold on to the land.

“There’s only so much land in the world, so when you own a piece of it sometimes it’s wise to hold on to it,” Heather Norman said.

Part of the reason the Normans decided to retire from Kinderfarm is because Heather will have knee replacement surgery June 9.

After she recovers, she said she is going to consider her options including possibly reopening it as a preschool or repurpose the property for something else.

Norman has been able to help the 20 families she serves find alternative preschool and child care. “It’s been hard for them, very difficult,” she said. “There’s not a lot of programs in Iowa City for preschool-aged kids.”

Clare Mummy said when she was looking for preschool for her children Skylar and Sloane — now 7 and 9 — Kinderfarm was “a perfect fit.” When Mummy would pick her children up from preschool, they never wanted to leave, she said.

“They would take me in to the barn, we’d let the horses sniff our hands and play with the kittens. I loved watching them be completely at ease,” Mummy said.

Adam Ciha, whose daughter went to Kinderfarm about four years ago, said it was an “obvious instant fit.”

“It taught her a lot of responsibility and making sure a task gets done,” Ciha said. “It’s very sad to see it close. Its impacted so many people in the area in such positive ways. It’s a unique part of the community we’re losing.”

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