Starting an Outdoor Education group... Where to begin?

[Tassy]

I would love to start a group for my son (9.5) and his friends to teach camping/hiking/survival skills and to allow for more unstructured time in the forests, rivers, and beaches around here.  My oldest happens to be a boy but I was thinking it would be great if it were family oriented for when my girls are a little older.

Does anyone have any suggestions for websites or curriculum?  I googled "outdoor education" and got about a billion responses so I thought I'd inquire here to narrow down search to a few suggestions...I always get good ones from you all  :)

TIA!

[sierramv]

My son attends a weekly outdoor education/connection "class". They meet rain,shine,snow from 9-3 and the entire program is based and run outside. The first skill they learn is fire-building, then onto making bow-drills, whittling, tracking, etc. It is based off of the Coyote Menotoring Model. They offer workshops on this and there is also a book. He has been doing this progarm for 2 years and he has grown in leap and bounds.

[wondermama]

 

We are very, *very* fortunate to have an up-and-running program like this in our community -- I cannot say enough about how amazing and valuable it is :-).  Here are a ton of links from our teachers' website (www.wildnatureproject.com) -- you can find ideas, curriculum, mentoring, whatever you need.  Enjoy, and good luck! 

The Institute for Natural Learning, Brattleboro, VT
Recently founded by Mark Morey and specializing in nature awareness, the art of
mentoring, naturalist skills, and a residential program for adults.
www.ifnaturallearning.com

Wilderness Awareness School, Duvall, WA
Dedicated to caring for the earth and our children by fostering understanding and
appreciation of nature, community and self.
www.wildernessawareness.org -check out their great products: books,field guides, CDs,
and resources pages

Vermont Wilderness School, Brattleboro, VT
Founded on a commitment to building a powerful community of naturalists, teachers and
leaders.
www.vermontwildernessschool.org

Tom Brown's Tracking, Nature, and Wilderness Survival School, Asbury, NJ
Re-educate global consciousness toward environmental awareness through native skills
and philosophies. Based on the teachings of Stalking Wolf, the apache elder that trained
Tom as a boy.
www.trackerschool.com    

Hawk Circle, Cherry Valley, NY
A place where you can go to learn about yourself, about your place in the natural world
and learn about the power of community.
www.hawkcircle.com

Earth-Heart Institute of Vision and Healing
Vision Quests, Spiritual Retreats, Personal Intensives, Women's Retreats
This organization was founded by Malcolm Ringwalt who teaches alongside Tom Brown Jr.
at The Tracker School. This is where Kevin went to train in Vision Quest Protection.
www.earth-heart.net

White Pine Programs, Maine
Committed to renewing connections to the earth and deepening awareness of place
through nature based learning.
www.whitepineprograms.org

Way of the Dreamer
Workshops and articles about active dreaming with Robert Moss.
www.mossdreams.com

Kamana Naturalist Training Program
Blending field ecology with the skills of a native scout, Kamana is the independent study
guide to the complete naturalist.
www.kamana.org

Earthwalk Northwest, Washington
Unique courses provide in-depth, hands-on experience, allowing participants to deepen
their understanding of traditional skills while learning how to wisely use and honor the many
gifts the earth has to offer.
www.earthwalknorthwest.com

Shikari Tracking Guild
Provides the best available mentoring resources for students on a serious path to become
trackers in service to their communities.
www.shikari.org

Online Naturalist Resources
With online field guides, tips on attracting backyard wildlife, and lists of non-native invasive
species, this site is a great resource!
Enature.com

Nature Skills
NatureSkills.com is designed to begin or compliment your learning journey as a student of
the natural world.
www.natureskills.com

Four Feathers Wilderness Programs, New York
Bringing people to life through wilderness living and nature awareness education
www.fourfeatherswildernessprograms.com

Alderleaf Wilderness College, Monroe, WA
Offers innovative wilderness survival, tracking, and nature programs in the beautiful Pacific
Northwest.
www.wildernesscollege.com

Bird Language
Explore the language of nature and learn to interpret the calls and alarms of the forest or
backyard.
www.birdlanguage.com

 

[Starflower]

Wilderness Awareness School, Duvall, WA
Dedicated to caring for the earth and our children by fostering understanding and
appreciation of nature, community and self.
www.wildernessawareness.org

This organization trains adults and children/teens. Check out the links under Home Study. There are several nature schools in our area and many of them were trained by Wilderness Awareness School.

[ocelotmom]

Someone already mentioned Tom Brown. He has a book about teaching outdoor/survival skills to kids: http://www.amazon.com/Browns-Field-Nature-Survival-Children/dp/0425111067

We're considering putting together some sort of class based on that, ourselves.

[Ravin]

There's also Spiral Scouts and Roots and Shoots...the latter is environmentally focused, but very much about the outdoors.

[Lisa1970]

My daughter had a book called Survival Guide...I will get the title for you when she gets home. Anyway, she loved it. It taught knots and what things grown in the wild are safe to eat and so on. If I were ever stuck on a deserted island..I would hope to have her there. I think it would be good to use that book and go from there.