About Chispas: Tending the Sacred Flame in Children
Chispas is a groundbreaking guide for educators, caregivers, and community builders seeking to revolutionize how children learn and grow—rooted in nature, equity, and intuition. Drawing from her lived experience as a teacher, mother, and founder of the Chavitos Nature Program, Meag Diamond offers a deeply personal and practical toolkit for those ready to step outside conventional education models and reimagine what it means to teach and nurture. Blending memoir, pedagogy, and reflection prompts, Chispas invites readers to reconnect with their inner wisdom, prioritize holistic wellness, and foster community-based, culturally responsive learning environments. Each chapter explores essential themes such as honoring the child, embracing unstructured play, welcoming conflict as a tool for growth, and realigning education with the rhythms of nature. Whether you are starting a nature-based program, raising children in alignment with your values, or seeking new models of leadership and education, Chispas lights the way toward a more compassionate, joyful, and liberated path forward.
Meag Diamond is a Cedarsong certified Forest Kindergarten teacher. For 17 years she has taught in the public and private school environments in Washington and in Lagos, Nigeria. Before starting Chavitos, she spent six years at a local public Montessori school as a Lower Elementary Teacher. Meag holds her National Board Certification in Literacy and also possesses a Montessori certification. Meag is passionate about plant medicine and social justice. She has started growing herbal medicine in her wild garden and uses them in her home apothecary. She and her husband tend to land and have been learning to align with the land’s vision and destiny. Meag dreams about helping others start their own nature-based education schools.