Good news! Openings are available for our upcoming Session 2 of Nature Connections:

Session 2: 3/29 – 5/17 (Rain make-up if needed: 5/24/17)
Fee: $220 Early Bird Registration by 3/10/17; $235 after 3/10/17.

 Nature Connections
9:30 a.m. – 12 noon
Ancil Hoffman Park, Carmichael

12 Weeks • Wednesdays, beginning February 1, 2017
Fee: $375 Early Bird Registration by 1/18/17 1/27/17; $400 after 1/18/17 1/27/17.

or choose a 6-week option*:

Session 1: 2/1 – 3/8 (Rain make-up if needed: 3/15/17)
Fee: $220 Early Bird Registration by 1/18/17 1/27/17; $400 after 1/18/17 1/27/17.

Session 2: 3/29 – 5/17 (Rain make-up if needed: 5/24/17)
Fee: $220 Early Bird Registration by 3/10/17; $235 after 3/10/17.

*Class space limited. Those enrolling in the 12-week option will have priority.

Self-payment discount: $10 off for 12-week session; $5 off per 6-week session.

No classes on:  3/22, 4/12 & 4/19

Location & Time:
9:30 a.m. – 12 noon
Ancil Hoffman Park
6700 Tarshes Dr, Carmichael, CA 95608
Specific meeting place to be e-mailed prior to class start date.
Please note: Ancil Hoffman is a County Park charging a $5.00 parking fee. Alternatively, an annual County Parking pass, good for other County parks as well, may be purchased here. 

Self-Paying Discount: $10 off per class for those who are paying the entire balance via online payment or by check. Self-payment discount not applicable to those who are doing split payments with charter school. Multiple class discounts are not applicable to the Nature Connections program.

Split Payments: If you need to split your payments between charter school and self-payment, contact WLR.

Nature Connections Class Description

This outdoor educational program is designed to foster future stewards of our natural resources through hands-on experiences that awaken the senses and lead students to deeper understanding of our local geography while gently awakening their intrinsic love of the land.

As an inter-disciplinary program, students will engage not only in science but also art, public speaking, local history, some writing (nature journals) and technology (Google maps and iNaturalist). Learning will be facilitated through the use of “Core Routines” such as Sit Spot, Expanding Sensory Awareness, Questioning and Tracking, Animal Forms, Wandering, Mapping, Exploring Field Guides, Journaling, Minds-eye Imagining, Listening for Bird Language, Gratitude, and Story of the Day.

Nature Connections is built on the foundation of Coyote Mentoring which facilitates conscious expansion of awareness through both the major and minor senses while deepening relationships with the environment including family, community and nature.

From Coyote’s Guide to Connecting with Nature:

‘The Core Routines of Nature Connection are things people do to learn nature’s ways. They aren’t lessons. They aren’t knowledge. They are learning habits. Luckily for us as nature guides, shifting our mental habits into these Core Routines of Nature Connection comes as second nature to all human beings. This way of knowing was not born a few hundred years ago, or even with the rise of civilization thousands of years ago. Rather than informing, our teaching job educates ourselves and those we mentor to discover what the Haudenosaunee people call our ‘original instructions.’ Humans evolved with original instructions designed for dynamic awareness of nature. If we can inspire practice of these Core Routines, remembering our original instructions will happen on its own.”

WLR’s Nature Connections class will cover topics such as:

• Hiking Basics: the 10 Essentials and Leave No Trace principles; appropriate clothing, footwear, and foot travel techniques.
• Native Plants and Habitat Restoration: edible and medicinal plants, California Native Plant Society, Invasive plant removal, and native planting processes including seed collecting.
• Watersheds and Water Conservation: macro invertebrates, water quality and water safety.
• Stewardship: trash cleanup, parkway etiquette, plant restoration and maintenance.
• Primitive skills: shelter building, introduction to friction fire, cordage and bush craft
• Wildlife: tracking and identification, including bird language, field guides, and ecosystems
• Parkway Stakeholders: meet and work with others who strive to protect the land and people (e.g. rangers, other naturalists, plant specialists, maintenance staff, farmers, water conservationist)

In addition, the mixed-age program for Grades 1-8 provides opportunities to cultivate leadership and mentoring skills as well as promoting community.

Instructor: Guy Galante

Students will need to wear appropriate clothing (sturdy shoes or boots) and may need to bring minimal supplies such as water bottle, notepad, pencil and colored pencils.

Please note: Ancil Hoffman is a County Park charging a $5.00 parking fee. Alternatively, an annual County Parking pass, good for other County parks as well, may be purchased here.