Best Special Needs Schools in Mokena, Illinois (2026)

Free Haven Forest School holds class outdoors in all weather on a private, non-visiting campus in Mokena. Our founder, a homeschooled teacher who left traditional classrooms, opened the school in the fall of 2021, and our programs now serve children from toddlers to age 14. Our full-time K-4 Forest School meets Monday through Friday. Mornings cover reading, writing, math, hands-on science, history and geography, and afternoons are open for exploration, including our survival skills course. We group students by ability in math and reading, give MAP tests three times a year, complete quarterly evaluations and hold conferences twice a year; grades may be combined based on enrollment. Teaching follows a Reggio philosophy with a focus on social-emotional habits, and programs are taught from a Biblical Christian worldview, with Bible verse memorization and prayer before meals. For homeschool families, Forest Explorers offers part-time history, science and art classes for grades K-5, plus Wild Explorers for grades K-2. Treetop Tots is a weekly parent-and-toddler nature playgroup for ages 15 months to 3 years, and we also run an after-school program called Treecess and summer programs.

• Private Christian forest school (K-4)
• Forest school education
• Outdoor education
• Reggio Emilia approach