Join seasoned instructors Thomas Meli, Josh Roberts, Erin Domagal and Sheena Marie as we journey into the magical secrets waiting for us in the woods.

Through song, games, primitive skills, environmental projects, adventures, journaling, and more – we will follow your children’s hearts into what they most desire to learn.

Using experiential learning skills, your children will exercise self-confidence, creative problem solving, and compassionate communication.  Additionally, we will explore place-based knowledge such as local edible and medicinal plants, animal biology, ecology, geology, and more.

Letting your child’s excitement and passion lead, we will link what they already love to an expanded connection to place.  Our goal is for your child to emerge with a deeper sense of belonging to the greater community of life.

Spring Curriculum Will Include:

• Land stewardship & caretaking skills such as identifying exotic invasive weeds as well how to encourage natives.  This includes basics in landscape ecology and plant identification.
• Shelter craft such as debris hut, understanding how heat moves and how to trap it for your benefit.
• Navigation skills – how to orient yourself, and how to find your way if you are lost.
• Primitive Fire making skills such as bow drill & hand drill, fire safety, match handling, teepee and tinder construction,
• Water finding / purification skills – how to know if water is drinkable or not and how to purify it if it isn’t.  Basic meteorology skills, weather prediction, cloud identification, etc.
• Gardening skills – partnering with Regeneration Farm  to help harvest and plant.
• And much more!

Program Information

Serving:  Youth age 7 years and older, and teens.

Dates: Nine Tuesdays and three overnight experience this spring:  3/13, 3/20, 3/27-3/28 (overnight), 4/10, 4/17, 4/24-25 (overnight), 5/1, 5/8, 5/15-16 (overnight).

Time: 10:00am – 3:30pm on Tuesdays, pick-up from overnight, time to be announced.

Location: Beautiful land bordering the Shawangink Ridge at Outback Farm, 81 Clove Valley Road, High Falls, NY.

Resources: For additional learning and support, we may recommend some resources to enhance your child’s naturalist journey. Depending on their age, learning style, and skill, we may suggest Kamana for Kids, Kamana One, or a specialized packet suited for their needs.

Cost: $660 includes tuition, land use, and materials fees.  Limited scholarships available depending on enrollment and need.  Program cost does not include Kamana for kids / Kamana One / specialized packets which we may recommend, but are optional for your purchase (approximately $25).

Register Now for Dawn Song Village Program

Additional Questions and Information:Please call Thomas Meli at 516-850-8187 or email him at tpmeli@gmail.com about this program.  Please call David Brownstein at 845-256-9830 or email him at david@wildearthprograms.org with questions about registration.
Note to Parents:  We would like to include parents in the process as much as possible.  If you would like to visit the program, or be involved in some piece of it during our time out there (especially the overnights), please contact me to let me know of your interest.Though what happens in our days is highly dependent on what is alive in the children to learn, a curriculum is available for parents who would like to use it to submit to the State.

An Imaginary Moment at Dawn Song Village School:

To the east, I watched as she stalked up slowly and gently to a robin with the intention to touch it.  As she moved a purple damselfly landed on her arm and she smiled.  To the south, a boy is excitedly collecting wood from a Pine grove across the stream to see how the heat and light of a Pine fire differs from a fire made from Oak.  To my west he is splitting dogbane to make cordage for the hammock he wants to sleep in for our overnight.  To the north she is following the tracks of Deer to its day bed while her friend is hiding in the brush nearby to see if she notices.  So much pulls on our natural curiosity!  Why is there a Pine grove over there past the stream anyway? I hear the crunching of leaves as he walks over to check the plant field guide to find out if that is a Cedar or a Pine.  I hear the grasses bend to the east and see the gleam in her eyes as she reaches out to touch the Robin. It flew out into the Cedar nearby, but later it will return to the nest it already made in her heart.

Join instructors Simon Abramson, Tyler McNamara, Alisha Mai Frank and special guests for edgy and fun experiences in nature.

We’ve found that there’s no easier place than nature to become our favorite versions of the people we are. We expect that each weekend, you’ll walk away with an extra dose of joy, strength and confidence.

We welcome you to join ROPES if you’re ready to show up as yourself and to take risks.

See you out there,
Simon Abramson
Tyler McNamara
Alisha Mai Frank

Program Information

For: Teens age 14+ and attending high school – ONLY 20 SPACES AVAILABLE.

Dates & Times: Three Friday evenings and three overnights from December through May.

Friday Evening Programs are from 5pm-11pm:

• December 9
• January 13
• February 10

Friday-Saturday overnights from 5pm–2pm (the next day):

• March 9-10
• April 13-14
• May 4-5

NOTE: Parents of registered teens are asked to join us for a parent meeting, Wednesday, Jan 11 from 7pm-9pm. This meeting will be for parents and instructors and will be an important opportunity for the instructors to share about the ROPES program.

Instructors: Simon Abramson, Alisha Mai Frank, Tyler McNamara and Special Guests

Cost: $540, can be paid in lump sum or seasonal installments. Scholarships (limited) are available upon request. Wild Earth has never turned anyone away for lack of funds.

Additional Questions and Information
Please call Tyler at (828) 335-3446 or email him at tyler@wildearthprograms.org with questions about the program or call David at 845-256-9830 or email him at david@wildearthprorgams.org about registration.

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ROPES Registration

1. Complete the Program Registration Form below
2. Make payment online or mail a check
3. Print, complete and mail Medical Release & Participant Agreement

*Deposit Policy: A minimum 25% non-refundable deposit is due when registering for a program. Full payment is required at least two weeks prior to the start of the program unless you have arranged to pay installments over the course of the program.

Household Discount Policy: A second member of the same household registering for the same program will receive a 10% discount off the regular program fee. A third member of the same household registering for the same program will receive a 40% discount off the regular program fee.

Confirmation Letter: Prior to the start of a program, you will receive a confirmation letter with instructions for and directions to the program.

Cancellation Policy: Participants canceling one week or more before the first day of a program begins will receive a full refund less the non-refundable deposit. Cancellations from 48 hours – one week prior to a program receive 50% program credit (non-transferable and valid for one year), 50% balance forfeited. Cancellations less than 48 hours prior to a program will receive no credit or refund. All payments for Herbal Intensive with Dina Falconi are non-refundable and non-transferable.

Scholarships: A limited number of need based scholarships are available. Please include a short note in the comments section of the online registration describing your needs and indicating the amount you are able to pay for the program, or call David at 845-256-9830.

Program Status: If you are wondering if a program may be cancelled due to weather, please call our office at 845-256-9830 to check on the status of the program.

Email: info@wildearthprograms.org
Phone: 845-256-9830

Please make checks payable to:
Wild Earth

Checks can be mailed to:

47 Butterville Road
New Paltz, NY 12561

We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, disability, national or ethnic origin, or sexual orientation.

Wild Earth is an equal opportunity employer. Wild Earth is a not-for-profit public organization, and recognized as a Federal Tax Exempt Organization under I.R.S. code section 501(c)(3).

Come explore the beauty and the bounty of the gardens, fields and woods in this six month comprehensive course.  We will cover a vast amount of information encouraging the daily use of herbs for food, medicine and pleasure.  This course is designed to provide inspiring, practical and thorough “hands on” herbal information that can easily be incorporated into one’s life.

Topics include:

• Herbal Therapeutics
• Wild Plant Identification and Application
• Wild Food Foraging and Culinary Preparations
• Medicine Making
• Herbal Skin Care
• Nutritional Healing… and More

A significant amount of class time will be spent outdoors studying wild and cultivated plants. We will then bring these plants into our kitchen-classroom and transform them into food, medicine and various other preparations.  As part of our learning experience, we will prepare and enjoy a primarily “wild” delicious meal influenced by the plants that are in season.  Everyone will make an abundance of preparations to bring home and begin to create their own medicine chests.  In the last part of each class we will focus on a particular organ system, health topic or special project.

Program Information

Dates: One Saturday every month, May thru October 2012 (May 5, June 2, July 7, Aug 4, Sept 8 & Oct 13)

Time: Saturdays, 10:00AM to 4:00 PM

Location: The lovely hamlet of Lyonsville, Stone Ridge, NY

Cost: $600, includes material fee, $150 deposit due with registration, final balance due by April 1 (Note: All payments are non-refundable and non-transferable for this program).

Register for the Herbal Intensive Now

Dina Falconi, is a clinical herbalist with a strong focus on food activism and nutritional healing.  She has been teaching classes about the use of herbs for food, medicine and pleasure, including wild food foraging and cooking, for over twenty years.  She produces Falcon Formulations natural bodycare products and Earthly Extracts medicinal tinctures. She is a founding member of the Northeast Herbal Association, a chapter leader of the Weston A. Price Foundation & on the board of Slow Food-Hudson Valley.  An avid gardener and wildcrafter, Dina is passionate about ecological agriculture and has completed the Permaculture Design Certificate course.  She is author of Earthy Bodies & Heavenly Hair: Natural and Healthy Personal Care for Everybody.

Still have a question?  Please call Dina Falconi at 845-687-8938 with questions about the content of this program, or contact David Brownstein at david@wildearthprograms.org or call 845-256-9830 with questions about registration.