CAHOOTS Nature Programs for Children
CAHOOTS Nature Programs provide year-long weekly nature connection and adventure for children, based on Nature Awareness and Coyote Mentoring, in the south end of Salt Spring Island.
We offer 2 Sept-June weekly programs:
THURSDAYS 10am – 3pm, for ages 6-9
FRIDAYS 10am – 3pm, for ages 7-12
All programs also have field trips to other south end locations.
Costs vary depending on how many sessions in each program. Payment plans are available. Children may be registered in more than one Cahoots day. Note that each day runs independent of the other days.
Our creative mentoring approach honours each child’s unique gifts and passions, encourages self-awareness in learning, supports a sense of belonging in community, and awakens a deep kinship with nature.
What happens at Cahoots?
At Cahoots, every day is a special adventure on the land, in the company of friends!
Learn how the animals live in the wild, finding all their food, medicine, shelter, and water. Learn the old skills that have allowed people all over the world to thrive in nature!
Play games, go on wild adventures, make natural crafts, and cultivate a deeper sense of our place in the natural world.
Through activities, challenges, stories, and song, children will discover greater self-confidence, learn cooperation and teamwork, develop empathy, and gain a sense of environmental care taking.
Each day will be a new opportunity to connect with nature and each other by:
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playing games
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hearing nature-based stories
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building and tending a fire
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learning knife safety and carving tools
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weaving baskets and other nature crafting
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foraging for food and medicine
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discovering nature mysteries
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learning bird language
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expanding our senses
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tracking wild animals and more!
We prioritize small group learning and one-on-one mentoring to really get to know your child and bring forth their natural passion and curiosity for learning while ultimately drawing out and lifting up their own unique gifts. Driven by inquiry and connection, we will create a group experience that time and time again has demonstrated increased confidence and self-expression, resilience, compassion and understanding, and a deep love for self, others and the natural world.
Our instructors are highly specialized and deeply skilled in Deep Nature Connection Awareness, Cultural Repair, Community Building, and Coyote Mentoring. They truly “walk the walk” in all aspects of this work, practicing the core routines of nature connection in their own everyday lives, and carry a deep commitment to children and future generations.
What’s the difference between Cahoots and WOLF?
Cahoots mentors are trained and experienced in the same deep nature connection mentoring model as the mentors of WOLF and all our programs.
WOLF Kids (ages 8-13) and WOLF Pups (ages 5-7) offer more comprehensive, long-term mentoring programs that run more days per week, with a constant group of children that have WOLF as one of their primary learning environments, often over years. WOLF includes a deeper level of nature immersion, skills, challenges, rites of passage, and more parent and community involvement than Cahoots.
Cahoots programs include similar richness, fun, adventure and hands-on learning that WOLF provides; WOLF adds deeper layers and levels of challenge and learning, and has significant rite of passage experiences that the children work towards during the year.
Cahoots programs are ideal for families who are looking for:
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one day of outdoor nature programming with friends to augment their child’s homelearning or schooling
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a Friday adventure program to get their school child outdoors into nature in a fun, meaningful way
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a Thurs or Fri outdoor program to combine with the south end Heartwood programs
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an opportunity for nature connection for a child who may not be ready for the fuller experience of WOLF, or for whom the full-time WOLF program may not be a fit
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an experience of our unique nature connection mentoring for their child in a small group setting
CAHOOTS Nature Program Costs:
Costs vary depending on how many sessions in the program, and are by Sliding Scale.
Payment plans are available for each program, with a deposit to register and options to pay in a lump sum or in 4, 8 or 10 installments. Children may be registered in more than one Cahoots day. Note that each day may have different mentors and runs independent of the other days. We take a 6 week break from mid-Dec through January during the darkest, coldest time of year.
THURSDAY Program Costs: 32 Sessions. Sliding Scale starts at $1580 (plus GST).
FRIDAY Program Costs: 27 Sessions. Sliding Scale starts at $1340 (plus GST).
All supplies are included, except personal knives (available for purchase for $30).
Friday programs follow the sd64 Calendar so there is no Cahoots when there is school on Fridays.
We accept all Distributed Learning and Online Learning Funding for Cahoots (ie Heartwood, NIDES, SIDES, SelfDesign etc).
“Our challenge isn’t so much to teach children about the natural world, but to find ways to sustain the instinctive connections they already carry.”
~ Terry Krautwurst
