The mission of Saplings Outdoor Enrichment Program is to create a culture of child-citizens who are connected to the Earth. We facilitate a deeper connection with local ecology through place based learning, while physically empowering children to interact with their environment. Our goal is to develop and foster awareness and compassion for all living things and the world we live in.
Our program is rooted in humanitarian principles that honor the evolving development of the young child. We ask our Saplings to explore the world around them, allowing them to take reasonable risks, while respecting their innate ability to work and learn. Our Directors support children’s inquiry and imagination through facilitation of investigation and experience. We believe that every child is connected to the earth beneath their feet, and we strive to strengthen and prolong that vital connection.
Kindness Policy
As naturalists we are charged with the responsibility to treat all living creatures with kindness and respect. At Saplings we are committed to nonviolent communication and encourage children to discuss their grievances with their peers and directors, and strive to foster co-creative solutions to conflict. We have a zero tolerance policy for physical violence.
Care for Community
We encourage all families to join us for family events three times per year. By fostering strong bonds within the community, we further foster the child’s bond to the earth. We will keep you informed with our newsletter, which will give you a window into your child’s experience. Parents are encouraged to attend the program once each season to engage in your child’s educational process.
Parent Involvement
At Saplings we encourage a culture of connection. This includes parent involvement in and out of the program. It is important that parents support their children through the process by having a positive attitude when it comes to new, and maybe ‘yucky’ or scary experiences, such as getting wet and muddy, handling owl pellets, playing with slugs, snails and worms, or climbing trees. Please encourage your child to take reasonable risks and push their comfort levels in regard to these activities. To further deepen your child’s experience, we encourage you to ask your children to tell you a story of the day. This will allow for deeper connection to the day’s events and will help you connect to their learning process. Don’t worry if your young child can’t recall the day’s events! We will give you prompts to help bolster communication.
Parental support also extends to drop off time. Please try to part with your child in a relaxed and cheerful manner. Young children sense our unease and will react accordingly. If we leave calmly, and cheerfully it will help ease the transition from home to Saplings. For the first month we will have a Kissing Spot, where you will invite your child to join the group, and leave them quietly.
We also ask that you read Coyote’s Guide to Connecting With Nature by Jon Young, Ellen Haas, and Evan McGown. This is a terrific resource for your family to understand the mentorship model we will be using in your child’s experience. Please feel free to ask us how to further engage in your child’s process of connecting to the earth and native ecosystems. We have tons of resources to share with you.
Our program is rooted in humanitarian principles that honor the evolving development of the young child. We ask our Saplings to explore the world around them, allowing them to take reasonable risks, while respecting their innate ability to work and learn. Our Directors support children’s inquiry and imagination through facilitation of investigation and experience. We believe that every child is connected to the earth beneath their feet, and we strive to strengthen and prolong that vital connection.
Kindness Policy
As naturalists we are charged with the responsibility to treat all living creatures with kindness and respect. At Saplings we are committed to nonviolent communication and encourage children to discuss their grievances with their peers and directors, and strive to foster co-creative solutions to conflict. We have a zero tolerance policy for physical violence.
Care for Community
We encourage all families to join us for family events three times per year. By fostering strong bonds within the community, we further foster the child’s bond to the earth. We will keep you informed with our newsletter, which will give you a window into your child’s experience. Parents are encouraged to attend the program once each season to engage in your child’s educational process.
Parent Involvement
At Saplings we encourage a culture of connection. This includes parent involvement in and out of the program. It is important that parents support their children through the process by having a positive attitude when it comes to new, and maybe ‘yucky’ or scary experiences, such as getting wet and muddy, handling owl pellets, playing with slugs, snails and worms, or climbing trees. Please encourage your child to take reasonable risks and push their comfort levels in regard to these activities. To further deepen your child’s experience, we encourage you to ask your children to tell you a story of the day. This will allow for deeper connection to the day’s events and will help you connect to their learning process. Don’t worry if your young child can’t recall the day’s events! We will give you prompts to help bolster communication.
Parental support also extends to drop off time. Please try to part with your child in a relaxed and cheerful manner. Young children sense our unease and will react accordingly. If we leave calmly, and cheerfully it will help ease the transition from home to Saplings. For the first month we will have a Kissing Spot, where you will invite your child to join the group, and leave them quietly.
We also ask that you read Coyote’s Guide to Connecting With Nature by Jon Young, Ellen Haas, and Evan McGown. This is a terrific resource for your family to understand the mentorship model we will be using in your child’s experience. Please feel free to ask us how to further engage in your child’s process of connecting to the earth and native ecosystems. We have tons of resources to share with you.
Typical Day
Arrive at 9:00 and parents ‘gear up’ children. Children and Julia sit down at the snack table to prepare morning snack, engage in daily chores and daily activity. Julia and children then circle up and the Inquiry of the Day (IoD) is posed (exp; Where do birds live, what kind of houses do they build, can we build a bird home, with what materials, where, etc?). Children engage in IoD. If we are discussing nests, we may build a ‘nest’ of our own, or go in search of different kinds of nests. The students lead staff to learning opportunities. 10:30 potty break, snack time and story sharing. What did we see and do? What worked and what didn’t? How might we improve our activity? After snack we return to our IoD or children are allowed to free play as they choose. A really engaging activity should hold all the students throughout the school day, and perhaps into days to come. 12:30 clean up tools, settle in for lunch and goodbye circle. 1:00 home.
Routines and Skills
Arrive at 9:00 and parents ‘gear up’ children. Children and Julia sit down at the snack table to prepare morning snack, engage in daily chores and daily activity. Julia and children then circle up and the Inquiry of the Day (IoD) is posed (exp; Where do birds live, what kind of houses do they build, can we build a bird home, with what materials, where, etc?). Children engage in IoD. If we are discussing nests, we may build a ‘nest’ of our own, or go in search of different kinds of nests. The students lead staff to learning opportunities. 10:30 potty break, snack time and story sharing. What did we see and do? What worked and what didn’t? How might we improve our activity? After snack we return to our IoD or children are allowed to free play as they choose. A really engaging activity should hold all the students throughout the school day, and perhaps into days to come. 12:30 clean up tools, settle in for lunch and goodbye circle. 1:00 home.
Routines and Skills
- Hazard Identification - how to stay safe outdoors individually and as a group. Taking turns, helping hands, space needed for task to be performed safely, snake safety, water safety, and plant identification.
- Gratitude - our routines will include time for giving thanks for what we have and what we have to give.
- Mapping - this skill is developed in the young child through song and story. As we traverse a landscape we may make a story or song to remind us of the landmarks to guide us back ‘home’. This skill helps to develop spatial awareness in young children.
- Talking Story - language and memory skills are nurtured when children are encouraged to recount their experience. The ability to articulate what the day held also solidifies that day’s lesson.
- Primitive Technology Skills - students will build shelters, learn to forage, build fires, make baskets and tools, and other hands on activities that will bolster their sense of safety in nature.
- Animal Tracking - throughout our days we will find evidence of animals interacting with the environment. These interactions lead us to pattern recognition that can later be translated into analytical and reading skills.
- Stalking, Hiding, and Camouflage - Children love Hide and Seek. This activity provides an excellent opportunity to teach ecological concepts to young children. Pattern recognition, listening skills, and quieting the body are among the many educationally valuable experiences that Hide and Seek provide.
- Singing - all transitions will be signaled through song. Children develop listening and memory skills through song and repetition. Singing also unites the group in a single activity. Work loads can be lightened, moods can be shifted, and learning opportunities are presented.
- Sensory Awareness Activities - by sharpening our senses we solidify experience and learn to quiet our bodies and minds. Each day will incorporate one period of a Quiet Sit, where students learn to listen for queues from their environment.
Tuition:
Three day- $400/month, two day- $300/month, one day $200
(10% sibling discount)
Please contact Julia at; saplings@jccslo.com with any special questions or requests regarding tuition and enrollment days
Three day- $400/month, two day- $300/month, one day $200
(10% sibling discount)
Please contact Julia at; saplings@jccslo.com with any special questions or requests regarding tuition and enrollment days