My name is Kamaria Gray, and I am a mother to a wonderful four year old.

Becoming her mother changed the way I see children not by making me believe my child is special, but by showing me that all children are.

I have watched her move through the world with deep curiosity, tenderness, and imagination hugging trees, collecting litter at the park, inviting the wind to her birthday parties, and building homes for ants in our backyard.

Motherhood didn’t just transform my life; it clarified my purpose.

I am creating a small forest and home-based school in Detroit fixed in that clarity.

This is a Reggio inspired, nature centered early childhood program that blends indoor learning with outdoor forest play. The curriculum is handmade and responsive built around children’s questions, interests, creativity, and relationship to the natural world rather than rigid instruction. Children will be co-researchers in their environment, learning through observation, storytelling, art, movement, and care for the land.

The program will operate as a hybrid space: part in-home learning environment and part outdoor forest classroom, where children are free to explore, create, and connect with nature in an unhurried, intentional way.

I am also committed to offering sliding scale tuition for families in the neighborhood, because access to this kind of nurturing, imaginative education should not be determined by income.

This GoFundMe is to support the physical foundation of the space:

* Revitalizing and restoring the outdoor learning environment so children can safely and freely play in nature

* Essential indoor renovations, including plumbing repairs and improvements needed to meet safe, functional, and welcoming standards for children

* Basic materials and setup costs to bring the Reggio-inspired curriculum to life in a hands-on, prepared environment

At its heart, this school exists because I believe children deserve more than instruction they deserve wonder. They deserve space to be seen, to be trusted, and to grow in relationship with the world around them.

I am creating this space so every child can feel like my daughter held, free, and deeply known in their individuality.

This is a school built from love, observation, and the belief that children are already whole. My role is not to shape them into something else, but to protect the conditions where who they already are can unfold fully.

My name is Kamaria Gray, and I am building a forest and home-based school in Detroit grounded in one belief: children deserve wonder, and wonder deserves structure, care, and a place to grow.