Our Program
Strong Roots Classes are rooted in deep connection to one another and to the natural world. All classes support the playful creativity, joy, and natural beauty that is CHILDHOOD. Children are guided through rich story and the song of the land to deeply bond with the land in a beautiful relationship—one that will remain a part of them for many years to come. We aim to protect the wonder of childhood and the child’s innate connection to nature and strongly believe that place-bonded learning does just that.
place-bonded learning
Children are innately connected to the natural world. It feeds their soul, creates wonder, offers opportunities for risk-taking, adventure and a passion for discovery.
At Strong Roots, we believe children engage in deep learning through bonding with familiar places and spaces in nature throughout the seasons. We believe that this bond begins when children hear the story of the land, learn the ancestral heritage of the land, and develop their own stories of the land. They hear the song—the forest speaks to them and they back to the forest. As they grow in connection, their comfort level increases. In this very comfortable and simple environment, with a familiar rhythm to our classes, children feel confident to take risks and reach deep levels of learning and engagement through their own questions and discovery. The land becomes a part of who they are and feeds their desire to discover, share stories and care for their special place.
purposeful work
The learning of our youngest children, especially, is driven by the modeling of adults engaging in real, authentic work projects in a way that is worthy of imitation. It is through this work that the children can engage in work alongside their guide or feel free to engage in their own play.
Guides will not interrupt or draw children out of their play, but, instead create an environment where rich play is at the heart. It is through play that young children learn the most and we believe that play is richest in the natural world.
Phenology walks
All of our classes spend time walking, wondering, noticing, discovering and, most importantly, connecting. In our youngest classes, we hike the same trails again and again, noticing the changing landscape. As the children grow, the hikes lengthen and we explore beyond the same trail or two, but we are still continually noticing nature’s happenings.
Each class takes time to sit quietly with nature, observing and connecting with a piece of the land to which they feel most drawn. It is in these quiet moments or these shared phenology hikes, that the children connect with the land on a deeper level. It is here that they start to give names and stories to their favorite places and that they look forward to returning week after week.
authentic project based learning
In the classes of our oldest learners, guides set up learning expeditions for the students grounded in inquiry and discovery. Children engage with the natural world to ask and answer questions. They research, collaborate, create and finally present their learning in a real, and authentic way. These projects are deeply connected to their natural learning environment. All of the projects are rooted in natural discovery and rich in the arts and literacy.
Students have created maps on canvas of the places they have named and discovered using materials from the natural world. Poetry of the places that they felt most drawn to emerged and were shared in our community as a whole. They have researched animal shelters, found shelters on the land and then worked in groups to build their own shelter, gave name to their shelters and created story of them. They have studied the teachings, legends and symbols that guided the Anishinabe and, in turn, created their own teachings, legends and block print symbols based on what surrounded them at the Izaak Walton League and what they felt most significant in guiding their own community. Their legends were dramatized and shared with our community as a whole.
Each session brings a new expedition and new discovery!
community
Strong Roots was not founded with “school” in mind, but with community at heart. It was founded out of a desire to connect families to one another and to the natural world. Classes are filled with opportunity for children to connect to one another. Each class starts and ends in circle and shared learning through play and projects is a part of every class.
Outside of classes, we offer opportunities for families to connect at seasonal festivals and gatherings. The land becomes a part of each and every member of our community.
More about OUR COMMUNITY.
Follow these links
for more information about learning from and in nature:
Why Kids Need to Spend More Time in Nature
Why on Earth do we Trap School Children Inside Four Walls to Learn
Children who Play Outside in All Weather Grow Up Resilient
For more information about waldorf philosophy:
Waldorf Education is Developmentally Appropriate—What Exactly Does that Mean?
The Role of Purposeful Work in the Waldorf Kindergarten
for more information about wildschooling
““We do not have to be the entire universe for our children. That position is already filled. Invite Mother Nature back in and she will line their path with bluebells, fireflies and skipping stones. She will grow them an oak to lean on, wild strawberries to ache for, wings for flying and deep roots to whisper them home.”
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