Whole Earth Homeschool Program

YMCA Great Hollow Wilderness School
225 Route 37
New Fairfield, CT 06812

Forms you'll need:
Registration Form
Medical Form
Waiver






The Great Hollow Wilderness School offers seasonal semesters of Wilderness programs for home-schooling children under the subtitle: “Whole Earth Homeschool Program.”

We offer high quality, dynamic immersion into Nature, weaving experience and fun into inevitable learning and growth. Our programs are designed to offer experiences difficult if not impossible to replicate at home. The Whole Earth programs garner an awareness of the world around us while creating a vibrant learning community among students.

Our 890 acres of beautiful sanctuary land offers a huge variety of ecological diversity from which students can glean wisdom and wonder. Challenges found in nature interaction elicit creative problem solving, self-awareness, confidence, and teamwork. Time spent in nature cultivates myriad benefits for the entire human being, making childhood the perfect time to nourish a strong and healthy relationship with Earth.

 

Fall 2011 Offerings

Wilderness Challenge Expedition

Ages 12-17
October 11th – 14th

One week intensive course designed to build on basic Wilderness Skills.  Activities are physically demanding, and may include hiking, canoeing, climbing, caving and more. Students will learn where to camp and why, while developing leadership skills, an increased awareness of how to act effectively in a survival situation, and inner resilience.  Cost for the week is $475 and includes all food, gear and technical supplies.

 Tuesdays

Wilderness Skills

Ages 12-17
September 20^th - November 8^th

Advanced exploration/survival skills class.  Shelter building, fire-making for different purposes, crafts projects from basket weaving to primitive musical instruments to primitive tool making and more.  Learn native histories and awareness skills, plant identification, wild edibles/medicines, ecology, water purification techniques.  Use applied mathematics to calculate the rate of growth of conifer trees, and make maps to scale.  Self-sufficiency, self-confidence and self-actualization.

Explorers

Ages 9-12
September 20^th - November 8^th

Learn how to tell where you are and where you're going.  Exploring, hiking, awareness activities, signaling, plant identification, tracking, stalking and camouflage.  Build a natural jacuzzi; learn about glacial erosion, creative learning and team building.  An exploration of everything for the explorer in all of us

Thursdays

Scouts
Ages 7-9
September 22^nd - November 10^th

Foundational exploration/expeditions class.  Hiking, fire-making, habitats, safety, history, eco-games, eco-art, survival skills and awareness activities.  Come have fun and learn about nature at the same time!

Pioneers

Ages 9-12
September 22^nd - November 10^th

Intermediate skills-focused class.  Fire-making for different purposes, natural dye making, basket weaving, primitive tool making, stalking/camouflage, plant and animal identification.  Learn about wild edibles and herbal medicines; make butter, wild fruit preserves.  Build and use a natural oven.

Fridays

Micro-Scouts
Ages 4-6
September 23^rd – November 11^th

An introductory class for our youngest pupils.  Eco-games, eco-art, counting, sorting, exploration, storytelling, basic plant and animal identification, hiking and crafts.  Learn about caretaker philosophy and the responsibility of humans to our land.  Explore, observe and interact with nature in a fun setting.

 
Naturalists
Ages 7-14
September 23^rd – November 11^th

Learn about nature hands-on; botany, geology, animal husbandry, bird watching, herbs, journaling, tracking, earth sciences.  Students make tinctures, elixirs, learn about wild edibles, composting, ecosystems and biomes, and relevant primitive skills. Make natural tie dyes and learn firsthand about invasive species that are endangering local trees such as Hemlock and Beech and what we can do to protect our land.

 
Want more information?  Come to the Whole Earth Homeschool Open House on Saturday, September 10^th from 10am-2pm.  Meet our instructors, discuss the curriculum and enjoy some time at the Hollow!

Forms you'll need:
Registration Form
Medical Form
Waiver

For additional information about our Whole Earth Homeschool Program, contact:

YMCA Great Hollow Wilderness School
Phone: 203-746-5852
Fax: 203-746-1232
Email: Karen Kellett