Homeschool Programs

The Riekes Center Nature Department has been providing high quality nature immersion and education for the past 20 years. All of our Youth Nature Programs bring students outside to form deep connections to the natural world through learning and through immersive experience. Our learning focuses on a diverse range of topics including: learning about the natural history of local ecosystems, how to identify and use native medicinal and edible plants, wildlife tracking, bird language, ancient living and survival skills, developing sensory awareness, homesteading skills, rural skills, and learning to be comfortable being fully immersed in nature.

Creating deep connections to nature is the cornerstone of our department. We nurture these connections while helping students achieve personal goals in this environment. Whether it is learning to identify 20 species of birds by song, how to track coyotes, or how to build a debris shelter, each student follows their own passion in nature. Our instructors mentor students through the art of questioning and share their own individual expertise and passions in natural history subjects. Our curriculum draws upon the core routines of nature awareness as detailed in the book Coyote’s Guide by author Jon Young, one of our department’s founders. Richard Louv, author of the landmark book Last Child in the Woods, describes these mentoring techniques as “good medicine for nature deficit disorder.”

Our youth nature programs are recognized internationally as being at the forefront of the nature connection movement. We utilize core routines of nature awareness and cultural mentoring techniques to connect kids to the land, themselves, and each other. We offer nature immersion programs for ages 3 to 18.

Our curriculum focuses on the core routines of nature awareness, which include:

Hazard identification
Experiential games
Journaling
Tracking
Extended wanders
Sit spots (a spot in nature to visit on a regular basis)

Program Times: All of our youth programs run from 9:00am-3:00pm

Ages: Newts (Ages 5-8), Kestrels (Ages 9-12), Teens (Ages 13-17). Age ranges are not always concrete, but students wishing to be in an older or a younger class will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Our programs for preschool aged children (3.5-6 years old) are the Santa Cruz Forest School and the Woodside Forest School. Please see our webpage for that program to register your younger children!

Locations: Our youth nature programs are hosted in several locations. 

Tuesday: Del Monte Indian Village in Monterey

Wednesday: Stevens Creek County Park (Cupertino) and The Nest (Santa Cruz)

Thursday: Huddart Park in Woodside

Friday: Huddart Park (Woodside)

School Holidays

Fall Break: November 25th-29th

Winter Break: December 21st-January 5th

Staff Training: February 17th-21st

Spring Break: April 14th-18th

Field Trips: Each class goes on 6 field trips per year to other nature locations. We include field trips in our programs because it gives the students a chance to explore a diversity of ecosystems and landscapes. Field trip locations are no greater than 1 hour away from the regular program location. Field trips are included on the program calendar to give parents a chance to schedule their travel time and arrangements appropriately.

Camp Outs: We host two 3-day camp outs per year for the Kestrel and Teen programs. One camp out is hosted locally within 2 hours of the Riekes Center, and the other camp out may be hosted somewhere more distant but no more than four hours from the Riekes Center. The camp outs are optional and are paid for separately. We are currently unable to provide transportation to camp outs, but we can help facilitate carpooling.

Cost: There are 32 weeks per program year. The Newts and Kestrels programs cost $3,600. The Teen program costs $3,833.

Scholarships: The Riekes Center for Human Enhancement is dedicated to making its programs available to all students, regardless of that student’s ability to pay or perform. We are able to offer scholarships up to paying for the full tuition of a course. If you would like to apply for a scholarship, please email scholarships@riekes.org and nature@riekes.org to request a scholarship application and a registration code. Please include in your email the program you are applying for scholarship for.

Charter School Vendor Status: We accept funds from Ocean Grove and Inspire Schools.

Registration

Registration for the 2024/2025 Homeschool Programs opens on June 3rd, 2024.
If you would like to get on our interest list for early registration, please email nature@riekes.org.

Program Dates: September 8th, 2024 — May 18th, 2025