We are now an ESA approved vendor for home school families.
Use your Class Wallet account to pay for Forest Fridays and Summer Magic Camp.
(You will receive your invoice within three days of registration)
Questions about ESA?
Contact our Home School Community Coordinator: Jada@forestmagic.org
What is Forest Magic Camp Like?
Camp starts with packing our bags and filling our water every morning at 8:30 at the drop-off spot.
Next we take about two hours to explore the forest and mosey up to camp, taking various routes that the campers and staff choose. We usually cover between 2 miles and 5 miles, but there is a lot of side-questing going on, some tree climbing and rock climbing, lizard catching, stink bug befriending, and grasshopper jumping.
Everyone carries their own water and snacks and whatever else they pick up along the way, along with a poncho because we are always hoping for monsoons. Some campers like to take turns walking the camp dogs, others like to break out the maps or chat with each other and with the Trail Wizards and staff members. The camp community this summer will probably include about 20-25 campers each session, 5-10 trail wizards, and 2-3 adult staff members. Sometimes parents stay to hang out or come to visit camp during the week as well.
Once we reach camp, around 10:30, there is loads of free time when campers can snack some more (fruit, trail mix, sunflower seeds, granola bars, crackers and goldfish, vegis and cheerios have been popular choices in the past), investigate
the craft supplies and outdoor gear in our camp trailer, swing in hammocks, read a book, draw, paint, use the zip-line, climb, swing, dig, build things, make slime, play games, pet dogs, throw things and just do whatever. Some like
to hike some more or hunt lizards and bugs, stage scavenger hunts or go geo-caching. Others love to sit back and relax with a friend or on their own, pet a dog, play some chess, or make a mess of slime or oobleck, paint, or
mud. Sometimes they build giant boats. It really depends what takes their fancy.
At 11:45 or so one camp family group of 4-6 campers and their Trail Wizards will begin to prep the food for everyone for lunch. Everyone will be called to wash up and eat at 12:15. We eat healthy food every day, expanding out horizons by picking different fruit, vegis, grains and proteins everyday so that everyone has a balanced meal.
After clean up, a different family group is in charge of journal time. They will have chosen a theme earlier in the day or earlier in the week that they would like to share with their peers, and they will present a story song or activity to get everyone thinking about their theme before we all settle down to write for about 30 minutes.
Everyone has free choice time again after journals, until its time to clean up and head down the hill to the pick-up spot at 3. The trail down is very short and takes about 5 minutes, so that in the hottest time of the day we barely have to walk at all to get back to our cars and home wash all of the mud, dirt and slime out of our hair.
If it rains, we play in the rain. If the lightning comes within 10 miles we retreat to the cars in the drop off spot (five minutes from camp as the crow flies down hill) or at camp and wait it out, and then play in the mud. If ts hot we play with water and take advantage of shade. If its cold we put on hoodies and run around, or cuddle into blankets in the tent.
No matter what we really get to know our friendly neighborhood forest, from the mud and dirt to the bugs and bark.
Programs
We combine a Montessori philosophy of independence, individualization, and mastery with the forest school philosophy of exploration and discovery based in
connection to the natural world.
In both our school-year programing, and our camps,
we immerse ourselves in learning from, in, and about the natural world that we are a part of
as we help your child to find the magic of being themselves
and recognizing their own potential
academically, creatively, actively, and socially
.
