For the third year in a row, many families gathered together this past week for a day camp offered at the Kirkmont Center as an extension of the full-year program, Journey Nature School.
This summer camp for ages 5-11 utilizes aspects of the year-round program, such as a combination of educational philosophies that focus on the whole-child development in a nature-immersive setting.
In addition to the summer camp, prospective families are invited attend the Thursday, Aug. 3, open house play date from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at the Kirkmont Center, 6946 County Road 10, Zanesfield, to learn more about the program now entering its fourth school year as a preschool alternative and homeschooling supplement. The open house will include a tour of the spaces.
Lead Educator & Administrator MacKenzie Myers Fitzpatrick said she approaches each day with a bit of disbelief, as her dream of providing learning that gives way to the dynamic learning experience of a young child is now a reality.
“It’s so amazing that the program has grown to welcome Kori Watkins (lead educator) and Tori Zupan (assistant educator) to support our two mixed-age classes,” she said.
As children participate in unstructured play at JNS in wooded spaces, exploring a wide range of expression styles and engaging in mindfulness practices, they lead their learning and make meaningful connections.
“I like learning new things about plants and animals. And playing cageball is really fun,” said student Boone W. , who is looking forward to his fourth year at Journey Nature School. “We get to build things, like our own games. We found a stick and used it to play limbo and one time we used a vine to play jump rope.”
This learning program aims to give young children more than the opportunity to get dirt under their fingernails, slow down to observe local wildlife and use parts of their creative brains to create new pathways, Myers Fitzpatrick said. As each day is rooted in effective communication and relationship-building, these children of the modern world are given the chance to blend the roots of our ancestors with the knowledge and progress of the world today.
In addition to this week of summer camp, JNS is looking toward its fourth school year “with joy and hopefulness,” the lead educator said. While many families are returning, the program has spots available for the fall through spring quarters for children ages 4-9 years old.
This learning program is both a preschool alternative and a homeschooling supplement; however, you are not required to have previously homeschooled your child to participate in this program.
“Our greatest dream is that our kids will break the mold, that they will go forth in the world full of curiosity and courage and forge their own path,” JNS parent Hannah Wischmeyer shared.
“At JNS, our kids spend their day immersed in nature, actively problem-solving and building the social and emotional skills for that kind of future. Movement, exploration, peaceful conflict resolution and inquisitiveness are coached and encouraged. This exceptional school has transformed our children, our parenting and our lives.”
For more details on registration and programming at Journey Nature School, individuals and families are invited to attend the open house, to visit journeynatureschool.
Journey Nature School students explore a water habitat at the Kirkmont Center, 6946 County Road 10, Zanesfield. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
Pupils at the Journey Nature School work together on project. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)