About Me

Jacqueline Houston at Enchanted Garden Preschool, a waldorf inspired preschool

My name is Jacqueline Houston, and I moved to the U.S in 1989 from England, where I grew up in Shakespeare’s county of Warwickshire. My background is in English Literature and naturopathic medicine, but I found my true passion in the world of early childhood when I had my own children. All four of them went through Seattle Waldorf School from kindergarten through 8th grade. When my youngest (twins!) started kindergarten in 2002, I opened my own home-based, Waldorf-inspired preschool, which I have been teaching ever since.

Jacqueline Houston at Enchanted Garden Preschool, sandbox play
Jacqueline Houston at Enchanted Garden Preschool, outdoor play

My British heritage has given me not only a huge repertoire of nursery rhymes and songs, but also a love of gardening. The children play in an English Garden brimming with plants such as wallflowers, hollyhocks, roses, sunflowers, and daisies, surrounded by tall maples beloved of birds and squirrels.

My literary background has inspired me to write my own preschool stories about Mindy Mousekins, who has seasonal adventures in Bluebell Woods, and to write my own preschool-friendly poems and songs about what we observe together in my beautiful garden. Here are two of them:

Crows

  • At the tippity top of a great tall tree
  • A big black crow sat looking at me.
  • Caw, caw, caw said the crow
  • As the top of the tree swayed to and fro.
  • Here comes his wife; here comes his mother;
  • Here comes his sister, and his aunt, and his brother.
  • Dozens of crows that chatter with glee
  • Are having a party in the top of my tree.

The Owl

  • Squirrels wake up with the sun
  • And go out for a little run.
  • Rabbits wake at break of day
  • And dash outside to romp and play.
  • But as the sun begins to rise,
  • The owls all yawn and close their eyes.
  • “It’s time for bed” I hear them say,
  • “Let’s sleep until the end of day.”