Reestablish and reinforce meaningful connection of children and families with creation, community, and each other through experiential and collective learning in an outdoor, growing, environment.
Never be within doors, when you can rightly be without.
Charlotte Mason
So, what is it?
Currently in our fourth season, the Creator’s Classroom is an outdoor learning environment that offers immersive and multi-faceted learning through land cultivation, food growing, free play, artistic expression, language expression and appreciation, nature exploration, and family involvement. Traditional school topics are woven with hands-on experiential learning and are largely inquiry based because our approach is not product driven, but rather to foster a love of learning. Structured learning times are divided into mixed-age groupings of Kinder-2nd, 3rd-5th, and 6th+ with some additional self-directed inquiry led activities specifically tailored for our middle school learners. While our older kids are engaged, the pre-K explorers will have time for sensory exploration, free play, and a few learning activities as well. Communal lunch time will include collective food preparation from harvest ready crops. Families will participate in work days to help prepare, cultivate and maintain the acre of land that we share with other community members. As crops begin to produce abundance, students will harvest and prepare dishes in our outdoor kitchen. There will be quarterly family events such as S’mores and Stars so we can have fun together as families and kids can show off their hard work! We are looking for families ready to be engaged, contribute, and help grow our vision!
Currently offered on Thursdays, 10am-2:30pm $285/mo
Here’s more about the three learning components of our time:
Nature + Food Connections
We will observe nature and natural systems while cultivating land and growing food, flowers, and herbs. We will make connections of our well-being to time outdoors, preparing and eating the nutritious foods we have grown. Incorporating scientific language and hands-on lessons will grow our vocabulary and deepen our understanding of the natural world. Learning about the power of food and plants as medicine will give us a sense of empowerment to bring health and healing to our bodies. Older children will also discuss larger land, food system, and environmental stewardship topics.
Storytelling
We all have stories that live within us. And all of our stories are worth telling. How do we create an atmosphere that preserves the stories that we want to share? How do we get them out when oftentimes our hands can’t keep up with our heads? How do we find and keep joy in reading and writing? This is what we will explore, together, through water coloring, nature journaling, poetry tea parties, handcrafts and other avenues that engage our hands, hearts and minds.
Art + Handcrafts + Life Skills
Our youngest learners will engage in hands-on crafting and art, often featuring natural materials and fibers. The older elementary kids will be refining their handcraft skills, learning new are techniques, and engaging in project-based building or cooking. The oldest kids will engage in larger multi-week projects, home economics, and general life skills. Game days will be sprinkled in on occasion.
