CLICK: READ THE ARTICLE (PDF, 270kb). Salt Spring Newspaper, the Driftwood, on  WOLF Kids Program 12 August 2009.

NATURE-BASED PROGRAM CONNECTS KIDS AND WORLD: Home school starts third year on Salt Spring

By Frank Burnaby

Special to the Driftwood

A nature-based home school program on Salt Spring has been operating for two years and is looking to expand this year.

Wilderness Awareness Salt Spring (WASS), which previously included children aged eight to 12, hopes to open up to a more diverse range of ages in the upcoming season.

Although nature-based learning has been fundamental to the development of children through the millennia, it has been pre-empted only recently by industrialized culture. Now with the importance of our relationships to nature renewed, wilderness awareness movements have come into their own.

The Salt Spring program is designed to vitalize a child's intuition and instinctual intelligence, which guides and connects him or her to fulfilling relationships within the community and our world.

"Our approach to studying nature," says David Krieger, one of the instructors and program director, "combines modern scientific understanding with more first-hand connections that ancient cultures had with the natural world. Students may become skilled naturalists and master trackers in our program, yet ultimately our goal is to create centered, healthy, self-motivated young adults, able to think critically for themselves. Then they will have the confidence and inspiration to dream a vivid vision of their own future, and have the skills and enthusiasm to pursue that vision."

The wilderness curriculum focuses on many topics including: survival, mammals, tracking, bird language, plant uses, aidless navigation, native cultures, ecology and community, with plans to coordinate mature mapping programs with the University of Washington and Wilderness Awareness School Kamana.

"The learning is fun and profound. When young people expand their awareness of the natural world, they engage their inner voice, intuition and heart. It is truly remarkable," says Krieger, "how they begin developing into physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually centered people."

Krieger and fellow intstructor Tashmyra Crowe consider themselves mentors rather than teachers.

They say the mentor's role shies away from lecturing and downloading students with curricula of facts and information. The emphasis is upon students discovering their own gifts and interests. The mentor does not give answers, but guides the innate curiosity in every child to further question, investigate and find meaning in the natural world around them.

"We call this method Coyote Mentoring," says Krieger. "It's a technique that encourages creative thinking, rather than providing answers. This results in a deeper learning experience, and stimulates the growth of problem-solving skills. We are seeing a dramatic expression of self-sufficiency in our children, as well."

One of the school's goals is to be supported by the larger community of amateur and professional naturalists, artists, crafts people, teachers, elders and other young people.

"When young people expand their awareness of the natural world, they engage their inner voice, intuition and heart."
DAVID KRIEGER
WASS Instructor

"Having volunteer days enables people, plants and animals to serve together as the real teachers of our students," says Krieger. "This is crucial for successful mentoring."

Krieger and Crowe have studied for over 10 years with renowned naturalist Jon Young and The Wilderness Awareness School in Washington and with Tom Brown Jr. at The Tracker School in New Jersey.

They have been teaching outdoor and environmental education for over seven years in Canada, the United States and Thailand.

If there were suddenly no airplanes, ferries, or cars, or fuel to run them, what would it take to get from one place to another. WOLF KIDS took the challenge to find out. With only their wits, courage, and physical strength they began a project this winter to prepare for a journey from the south end of Salt Spring to Skutz falls, which is up the Cowichan River on Vancouver Island.

WOLF KIDS is a wilderness and nature education program on Salt Spring, now on its fifth year and comprised of a group of homeschoolers. Each year they take a challenge. For instance, staying up all night tending a small fire alone in the forest, or last year running from the south end 18 kilometres to Ganges, to the amazement of their own parents. This year 5 of the older students aged 10-12 started their travel challenge June 22nd from King Fisher Cove on the South end. This challenge was not a battle against nature or a race, but an opportunity for the students to step into the flow and rhythm of the natural world, and safely push the limits of what they thought they could accomplish. They made everything they needed for the voyage themselves, including the watercraft. Each of them were only allowed to select 3 store-bought items, to use for themselves or share. All chose a bit of plastic sheet, and a wool blanket for two choices, then a flashlight and matches etc to share, although they all know how to make fire with the bow drill method. They made cedar backpack frames an lashed on their supplies, gathered wild food, and had to earn the rest through various extra challenges along the way.

For a boat the students tested some designs, and chose to build 4 sea going kayaks and their paddles, with the help of 'Kayak monk" Russell Harris. Over the months, the children sewed clothes for the trip, stretched and tanned a cow hide for moccasins, made cedar root and bark baskets, and raw hide water bottle holders, cedar frame back packs, and flint knapped obsidian knives.

The journey took place over 4 days, 2 days by kayak for approximately 25 kilometres to the Cowichan River, and then 2 days on foot for approximately 27 Kilometers up to Skutz Falls. 'Gumboot Guiding' of Cowichan bay provided a voyageur canoe to accompany the crossing for safety. In further preparation for the trip, students studied maps, and the geology and history of the Cowichan River and Salt Spring Island.

 “Our Tracking' approach to learning is based on asking questions and finding answers by looking for signs and clues, and then cross referenced research. So called 'primitve' skills, are learned and used to give understanding and context to the more modern conveniences and skills, which they are also learning, and most of us take for granted,” says David Krieger, one of the instructors. 

Last semester students built their own shelter from scratch, only using hand tools. They felled and peeled logs, hauled rocks for making walls, fitted the structure together using only natural cordage, made their own clay oven, and harvested and wove grass mats for blinds and seating.

With small programs such as Wolf Kids hidden away in the woods, it is hard to imagine the amazing achievements of these students. This trip was an opportunity for them to show family, friends, and their community yet again, a huge accomplishment they have been working hard on this year, and most importantly to experience for themselves the joy and accomplishment of an education in nature.