Sego Lily Children’s Garden offers unique learning experience for Moab preschoolers

On any given weekday morning on the little farm tucked away off of 500 W, a group of children may be traipsing around the orchard or hopping off logs in the natural-built playground area of Sego Lily Children’s Garden. For these kids, the outdoors is their classroom, and whether they’re bundled up to face the January cold or in t-shirts as the season thaws, they spend nearly their entire class session time in nature. 

Sego Lily Children’s Garden has been offering an alternative preschool option for Moab families for more than 15 years. The “Waldorf-inspired farm forest school” emphasizes play-based learning, developmental opportunities, and outdoor time. 

Waldorf is a holistic education model that emphasizes a low tech approach in the early years, encouraging children to engage in imaginative play, hands-on work, and outdoor and artistic activities. As a complement to that philosophy, Forest Schools emphasize child-centered learning and hands-on experiences in a natural setting. Sego Lily combines these two models through its programming, offering preschool, after-school kindergarten, and summer camps. 

Tiger Keogh founded Sego Lily in 2009. A Moab local who had lived in Alaska, Oregon, and New York, she had returned to Moab in 2007 after retiring from a Waldorf teaching job on Long Island. Keogh first became interested in the Waldorf education system when she lived in a tiny town in Alaska. She read about Waldorf in a mothering magazine and began to learn more about the philosophy. She began homeschooling her children, and eventually other kids from her community, before moving to Oregon and teaching at a Waldorf school there while completing her teacher training. Long Island was her next stop, where she lived from 2001 to 2007, getting her master’s in high school education.

Back in Moab, parents who knew she had been a Waldorf teacher begged her to start a preschool where they could send their kids a few hours a week – so she did, basing Sego Lily out of her property near Old City Park.

Annie Watts Thomas joined as a parent volunteer when her son was attending the preschool – in 2016, she took over the direction of Sego Lily and the school moved temporarily to her backyard on 500 W. It was then that the kids began tromping across the street to the farm owned by Ray Alger, where they would explore the grounds and learn from “Farmer Ray.” Watts-Thomas could see that this space had potential for a magical partnership, and eventually founded Our Village Community Center as a nonprofit to support their initiatives. After two years of planning and discussing with Alger and his daughter, Our Village purchased the farm across the street in 2018, and the small but mighty team immediately had their hands full.

“It was a couple of preschool teachers learning how to be farmers and run a nonprofit all at once,” Watts-Thomas said. 

The farm turned out to be the perfect fit, and even amidst some necessary remodeling, the benefits were immediately apparent. The 5-acre farm offers plenty of space for “adventure time” and the play area is built out with natural features that encourage “full-body” learning. 

“Our whole playground is built to encourage the proprioceptive and vestibular systems in children, and learning through play and movement,” Watts-Thomas said, pointing out the various features that encourage jumping, pulling, pushing, balance, and more.

Sego Lily focuses on “rhythms” of the day – what they call “out-breaths” and “in-breaths” balancing full body movement with sit-down storytime, crafting, or meals. Sego Lily has a large focus on nutrition, another area where they benefit from being able to access farm-fresh food. 

“Especially in a child from 1 through 7, we want to surround them with beauty. It’s about creating a table and gathering that’s almost a festival, and a celebration of the beauty of our world,” Keogh said. Children are exposed to new fruits and vegetables, learn to use utensils, and help prepare food throughout the seasons in different ways.

“It’s actually one of our deepest learning spots – a lot of conversation happens, they learn more about their foods and different tastes and textures, and they learn a sense of reverence at the table,” Watts-Thomas said.

Our Village and Sego Lily run hand in hand, with community partners such as Moab Manna Farm and Moab Community Gardens helping farm plots of land alongside weekly volunteers and a growing staff.

The preschool now offers three house sessions four days a week and is working to become a licensed daycare or micro-school, which will allow them to offer longer hours for families. Each session has a maximum of 12 spots for kids, with three teachers to support the classes. They also host an after-school kindergarten program and are planning to again offer camps this summer. 

Watts-Thomas acknowledges that Sego Lily’s learning model may not be for everyone, but hopes that the preschool offers Moab parents a different model for their children. 

“We’re not your sit-down ‘ABC’ preschool at all – I would say the beauty and the nature are big parts, and then focusing on full body movements – learning through play and movement,” she said.

Sego Lily and Our Village work hard to support new parents in Moab – they plan to continue offering everything from nutrition classes to parenting classes to postpartum support, important initiatives at the most vulnerable time for parents.

Those interested in learning more about the mission and initiatives can check out the new Sego Lily website at segolilymoab.com – parents interested in enrolling their kids in preschool or summer camps can contact the school by emailing segolilychildrensgarden@gmail.com or calling Watts-Thomas at 435-260-0294. Any community members interested in volunteering are also encouraged to reach out.