"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." - Henry David Thoreau
Life is for Learning
Our Mission: Learning responsibility, resiliency, and respect, grounded in nature.
Raven's Wood allows kids to figure out their strengths, develop their passions, breathe fresh air, and work and play hard together. Our teachers foster healthy self-esteem and independence. We teach by experiencing, hands-on, with respect for all life, all the time. We create our own positive spaces, our own sustainability, and our own courage and clarity. And yes, we learn. We learn math and science. We build. We read poetry and classics. We think. We explore cultures and methods. We share. We LOVE to learn, and to teach one another.
Raven's Wood allows kids to figure out their strengths, develop their passions, breathe fresh air, and work and play hard together. Our teachers foster healthy self-esteem and independence. We teach by experiencing, hands-on, with respect for all life, all the time. We create our own positive spaces, our own sustainability, and our own courage and clarity. And yes, we learn. We learn math and science. We build. We read poetry and classics. We think. We explore cultures and methods. We share. We LOVE to learn, and to teach one another.
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Raven's Wood Philosophy
Raven's Wood believes in hands-on learning with real tools and human interactions. We teach kids to make connections between acquired and new knowledge, build bridges with others, and understand their environment. We foster trust and self-confidence in a child in a natural setting, resulting in independent thinking, safe risk-taking, creativity and problem solving skills.
Check Out Our Programs
The Medicine Wheel
Our programs are seated in the teaching of the Medicine Wheel. In our lifespan, each of us travels the wheel, from east to north many times over, and, simultaneously, only once. In the process of these journeys, we acquire lessons and gifts that build who we are, how we think, and what we do. Raven's Wood uses these 'directions' to 'seat' out learning, our programmatic planning, and our curriculum. Each theme we use travels the wheel, building on knowledge and culminating in wisdom and sharing. This is a very tangible, concrete, and yet symbolic, way to teach kids, while coming to better understand their life as a journey.
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Field Studies for kids in grades K-8. One day per week, all year, kids spend their time in the Forest for their education. Kids learn to adapt to the weather, build base camps and shelters, and create their outdoor learning space in the woods throughout the seasons. March of 2017: 10-week program for PreK-K.
Little Bears Program in the forest for kids ages 5-7. Kids in this age group learn social skills, environmental and outdoor skills, reading readiness and literacy skills, and outdoor art skills. This is a good time to create and build healthy relationships, and to develop confidence and self-worth, in our young, emergent readers through nature, stories, and art!
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All-Our-Relations for kids in grades 4-8. This is a Field Study group for kids who identify as gay, lesbian, transgender, or other. Let's gather, learn, and make new friends!
Young Women's Circle, ages 10-14. Young girls learn about believing in themselves, being resilient via survival tales, ceremony, storytelling, the arts, and finding peace and space in nature.
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The Forest as Our Teacher
What path are you on?
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