Forest Explorers
Forest Explorers
Ages: 4-6
Fridays
8:00 am to 12pm
Sept. 5th through November 21st
An immersive forest experience, where children will explore the cycles of nature, plants and wildlife families through guided lessons, art, crafting and play, while developing relationships with the land, ourselves and each other.
What It’s All About
This program is built on five foundational pillars.
Cultivating Stillness and Deep Connection
Through daily sit spots and slow observation of our natural world, we begin to equate the stillness of our body with the unfolding wonders of the natural world. When we are still the wild comes near.
Building Community & Thoughtful Communication
We practice and model active listening and authentic, feelings and needs based communication. When we listen with our whole body, we get the gift of learning about what is alive in those around us. When we know others are listening in that way, it becomes easy to share what is alive in us.
Ancestral Skills As Connection to The Natural World
Each skill we acquire is done with the goal of deepening awareness of our interconnected relationship with the world around us. We learn how to harvest a plant and how to help it grow. We learn where the turtle likes to make it’s home by following it’s food source, and why the moss grows freely on one side of a tree. Each of these things leads us deeper into relationship with the non-human living world.
Discovering the Joy of Authentic Self-Expression
Whether through art, dance, sharing circle, or song we encourage the radical and authentic expression of what is in each of our wild hearts. Conversely we seek to recognize the strengths and beauty in each other daily– reveling in our diversity, celebrating our similarities.
Reverence, Reciprocity, & Respect
We approach the natural world and the people in it with a recognition of the sovereignty of all living things. We are all connected, and so we care for each other as if caring for ourselves. We leave berries on the bush so that other animals can eat. We say thank you to the willow when we harvest their branches to make baskets; and we help each other with the knowledge that, when we need it, they will help us in return.
Daily Rhythm
Drop Off: 8:30am
We gather together at the entrance of Elk Rock Island. Perhaps settling in at the table to craft or playing on the playground with our friends.
Gathering Circle: 9:00
After Hiking out to our gathering spot, we will take time to share, set our expectations for the day, and decide as a group where we would like to play.
Morning Play: 9:30
An unstructured playtime for kids to explore, climb trees, and have fun.
Snack: 10:30
We will reconvene to eat a little snack and recharge.
Sit Spot & Nature Sharing: 11:00- 12:00
A sit spot is a place chosen by the student where they will sit in observation and stillness of the natural world. The spot never changes, but what is happening there will. Each of us will observe and share our findings.
Lunch: 12:00
We will, generally, hike back to the entrance of the park to eat our lunch. Allowing time for a little play and a little rest.
Exploration & Skill Building: 1:00
After lunch, we head out to practice our ancestral skills, discover knew plants and animals, and/or further investigate a new habitat.
Snack: 2:00
We will reconvene to eat a little snack and recharge.
Afternoon Play: 2:30
We process what we have learned through play and connect deeply through our imagination.
Reconvene & Closing Circle: 3:30
We beginning hiking back to the entrance, stopping at our gathering spot along the way. We will stop to share, process, and plan for the next time.
Heading Home: 4:00pm
Pick up at the entrance to the park.
FAQs
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Register for this course by clicking on the registration button at the top of the page. Fill out and sign the forms, and we will reach out to you shortly after to arrange a $50 course deposit. This deposit is refundable up to a month before the course starts. After that point it will be used toward the $50 supply fee and can no longer be refunded. First months tuition, and all following monthly tuitions, are due by the 5th of every month.
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Our maximum teacher to student ratio for this course is 1:8. We will never have more than 8 students in this class. Occasionally, there may be a visiting teacher present, which will lower the class ratio to 1:4. We believe that small class sizes are the best environment for deep learning and deep relationships. We are committed to maintaining an intimate class size to better serve the students, teachers, and families.
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The Wild & Free program will run on Thursdays and Fridays during the Fall and Spring. During the winter, the class will be offered on Fridays with additional indoor crafting and ancestral skills courses being offered on Thursdays.
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Class will be held rain or shine! That being said, there may be some days where it is unsafe for us to be outside, such as extreme heat, thunderstorms, or days when the roads are unsafe to drive on. If this happens, we will do our best to schedule make up days for the course. If we are unable to do so, we will issue refunds in the form of future class credits for every day after the first missed class date.
