Hi...
We are the Bsisters!

We are forest school practitioners and educators, working with young children for nearly a decade since we moved to the United States in 2015 to pursue our graduate studies. As sisters, we not only live and work together but also collaborate on multidisciplinary art projects that have been exhibited in prominent Bay Area venues such as the Berkeley Art Museum, De Young Museum, and many other prestigious galleries.

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We hold a deep belief in the power of nature and the importance of an unstructured childhood filled with joy, free play and pursuit of intrinsic curiosities to build character and foster creativity and imagination. Our own upbringing granted us extraordinary access to nature—a vast valley that was our family’s land, with gardens of pomegranate, pistachio and cherry, multiple streams fed by natural springs, a large pond, diverse wildlife, domesticated animals, hills, and mountains. This cherished haven, where we spent all weekends with our extended family, became our playground and classroom. We explored the valley day and night, in snow, under the rain and in darkness of the wondrous nights lit by thousands of stars in the Milky Way. 
 

Nature taught us about joy and passion, turning us into grounded, creative, and driven people who left their home country in search of a better life, where home became a feeling of security in this world and a connection to something bigger than ourselves. Nature taught us about resilience and resistance, the power of imagination, and the creation of a personal vision that is our gift to the world. It kept our inner child alive and our sense of humor strong—our art practice is all about finding pleasure and humor despite the darkness of life in a totalitarian regime—as everything in nature is cyclic, every death is a rebirth, and light and darkness are two sides of the same coin.

Growing up with a psychiatrist dad, one of our hobbies was listening to cassettes of human growth and development or reading psychology books and discussing them together. These early experiences and knowledge of human development, psyche and mental health turned into an abundance of empathy and compassion for all people in our hearts which is the cornerstone of what makes us such attentive and caring educators and caregivers. 

Working with children in a variety of settings and contexts, through years have developed a deep-rooted passion in us for being with them and providing them with unique and alternative forms of education that promote a holistic development in their young minds. When working as art educators, in the limited and crowded cacophony of indoor classrooms we always felt the lack of a bigger and deeper creative context for children to draw inspiration from and to imagine forms, shapes and stories of their own. That is what brought us to the forest school movement. We believe in the transformative impact of forest schools where nature is our main teacher and learning is a “process” naturally happening through the real life experiences, and not a “product” that is promised but not deeply achieved! as Vince Gowman puts it "The best education does not happen at a desk, but rather engaged in everyday living – hands on, exploring, in active relationship with life.”  

Two Pines Forest School is our calling and true passion. We believe that children are not just catalysts for change—they are the change! They deserve a rich and nourishing childhood filled with the mesmerizing sensory experiences of the woods, and surrounded by a loving, caring community they feel they belong to. In that beautiful space between nature and nurture, meaning and purpose get discovered and some of the best and healthiest emotions and mental skills take strong roots in their psyche, paving the way for them to someday unleash their limitless potential, discover their most vibrant passions, and share their unique gifts with the world.