Our school-aged enrichment programs are designed to supplement a standardized curriculum through project and place-based learning, child led activities, freedom of movement and risky play. What originally began as homeschool enrichment courses are now available to all students, including those enrolled in local public schools. Families who are homeschooling may enroll in multiple days to support their home based learning, while children enrolled in district learning might only attend once a week.
As a parent, you can advocate for holistic education of your child through a customized hybrid learning model with local school districts and Olympic Nature Experience. We are happy to support any family curious about partnering with their traditional public school and our school-aged programs, just email us!
Testimonials
“My son went to public school Kindergarten 4 days per week and attended Nature Skills I on Wednesdays at Olympic Nature Experience. It provided him with the balance he needed to stay focused inside by having the dedicated time and freedom to move, play and lead every week. He excelled academically and socially in both environments!” – Merissa Koller Williams
“Our daughter has been a student at Olympic Nature Experience since she was three years old and made great friends along the way. For her Kindergarten year we blended public school and Nature Skills I to ease her transition to a new school environment. She went to ONE every Monday throughout her Kindergarten year. We reached out to her elementary school Principal over the summer to arrange this alternative schedule.
It was a great experience for our family and it allowed our adventurous daughter to continue learning inside and outside fo the classroom.” – Ashton & Bryan Harp
Social Studies: Civic Involvement, Group Decision Making, Team & Community Building, Natural History, Anthropology
Environmental Sciences: Seasonal Changes, Animal Habitats, Plant Studies, Geography, Ecosystems
Wilderness Skills: Plant Medicine, Knife Work, Tool Use, Fire Building, Navigation, Shelter Building, Cooking, Tracking
Math: Patterns, Symmetry, Engineering, Spatial Relationships, Estimation, Measuring, Practical Math Use
Language Arts: Literature, Storytelling, Journaling, Group Discussion, Vocabulary
Creative Arts: Songs, Crafts, Storymaking, Music, Journaling
Personal Development: Community Agreement Making, Teambuilding, Group Games, Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Physical Well-Being: Natural Movement, Aliveness, Agility, Awareness, Quiet Reflection, Sensory Development
Natural Sciences: geography, aquatic and marine biology, botany, wildlife, and ecology
Wilderness Skills: friction fire, shelter building, knife safety, tracking, and navigation
Social Emotional Skills: gratitude practices, listening, compassion and building community
Academics: journaling, storytelling, measuring habitat health, history of place and phenology, mapping
Movement: games, challenges, animal forms, sensory awareness practices
Life Skills: responsibility, optimism, perseverance, self-assuredness, self-regulation
Olympic Nature Experience offers students the chance to guide their own learning through a child-centered, inquiry-driven experiential educational approach. This fundamental teaching philosophy unfolds in a natural outdoor environment without any walls. The curriculum spans all subjects and disciplines as nature experiences often integrate reading, writing, math, science, and art. Learning outcomes emerge from real-time exploration and hands-on experiences, rather than from preset concepts found in textbooks or on screens.
All programs take place entirely outside on the North Olympic Peninsula between Port Angeles and Sequim, Washington.
Nature Skills classes take place at our Green Point location in Agnew.
Way of the Woods takes place at Lazy J Tree Farm.
Olympic Nature Experience offers school year and summer programming. During the school year, we follow a calendar similar to local districts – running from September to June, with breaks throughout the year. Enrollment in programs is for the entire 9 month school year.
Nature Skills I (ages 5-6): Mondays & Wednesdays 930am – 130pm at Green Point
Nature Skills II (ages 7-9): Fridays 930am – 130pm at Green Point
Way of the Woods (ages 10-12): Tuesdays 930am – 230pm at Lazy J Tree Farm
Safety is our highest priority and we are constantly aware of the environment and all changes that are happening including the children’s abilities and energies as well as the weather and location.
Our instructors are specially trained to recognize forest and nature dangers and prevent unnecessary risks while children play in the forest. We teach children to recognize and asses their own safety levels and ensure that the boundaries around their play are clear and followed. Some inherent risk occurs while children play in the forest, however, we feel that this risk is developmentally appropriate and satisfies children’s need for challenge and growth of their physical and emotional selves.
In the modern world, we have been taught that learning is solely didactic education of a teacher “teaching.” This means that unless a students is being talked to, given an obvious lesson, they will not perceive their own activities as “learning.” In our coyote mentoring model, it’s common for a child to say or think, “I didn’t learn anything.” In reality they are deeply immersed in nature, becoming more knowledgeable about their place, skilled in being part of a community, and deeply connected to one another. Additionally, they are practicing skills that will set them up for a life time of learning: critical thinking, problem solving, perspective taking and observation.