Natures Classroom: Clarified

Our Brighton location runs every season of the year, whereas our Cavan and Cobourg locations only run in the spring, summer and fall. 

Our programs are designed for children ages 4–12, but this is simply a guide. Every child is unique, and we’re happy to chat with you if your little one falls outside this range to see if it’s a good fit.

Our facilitator to child ratio is 1:7, this is subject to change based on the unique needs of each group.

Although not set in stone, our days typically flow something like this:

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• 9:30am- Drop off

• 9:30am-10:00am- Morning circle

• 10:00am-10:30am- First snack

• 10:30am-12:00pm- Theme centered activity/forest exploration/free play 

• 12:00pm-1:00pm- lunch

• 1:00pm-2:30pm- Theme centered activity/forest exploration/free play 

• 2:30pm-3:00pm- Second snack

• 3:00pm-3:30pm- Closing circle

• 3:30pm- Pick up

Yes! For. the most part anyways. Each of our locations (Brighton, Cavan and Cobourg) have sheltered/indoor spaces for us to utilize for programming and/or inclement weather.

However, our goal is to be fully immersed in nature for the duration of our day together.

Our winter session is an exception to this guideline. With the extreme temperatures of winter and little hands we spend about 40% of our day in our heated into learning space.

Yes! Please pack a healthy, litter-free lunch that includes enough food for two snacks and lunch. We also ask that you send a full reusable water bottle, refills will be available as needed throughout the day.

Our programs run almost exclusively outdoors and amongst ALL the elements… “there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear”. 

Please ensure your wild one(s) have proper outdoor gear and that it reflects the calling forecast each day. 

We also ask that you pack the following:

• Extra set of clothes, including socks and underwear

• Reusable water bottle

• Rain boots/water shoes/gear suitable for mud/water

• Bug spray + tick repellent

• Sunscreen + sun hat (season dependant)

• Extra hat and pair of mitts (season dependant)

• Medications with instruction of when to use and how much to administer (if applicable)

Although we promote, support and encourage bathroom breaks in nature, we understand that this isn’t every child’s preference. As such, each location has indoor bathroom access or access to a porta-potty.

Ensuring the safety of your wild one(s) when we spend our days immersed in nature is of utmost importance, and although mother nature provides safe elements for us to explore and play in 95% of the time, it is sometimes, and rarely the case that being so exposed and immersed can/could put our safety in jeopardy.

In the event of inclement weather, including but not limited to:

• lightening/thunderstorms

• extreme windstorms

• extreme heat (32 degrees celcius+)

• extreme cold (-25 degrees celcius-)

• poor air quality

• tornado warnings

Over the duration of our session, if any of the above weather concerns arise on a scheduled day of Child of the Wild, we will monitor weather forecasts closely and update parents as necessary, this could look like:

• shifting program start/end times

• shifting from a full day to a half day of programming

• canceling the day altogether

We will always communicate our decision regarding inclement weather no later than 7:30am the day of scheduled programming and will do our best to communicate the evening before if the forecast is obvious enough.

As stated above, these circumstances rarely arise, but when/if they do, as section 4 in our waiver states, we will attempt to reschedule any missed program time, but this may not be always possible. As such, Child of the Wild will not be held liable for loss of fees or program time due to unsafe weather conditions that will/could jeopardize the health and safety of our program facilitators and wildlings.

The amount owing per session is dependent upon how many wild one(s) you are enrolling and what the duration of the session is. We use sliding scales to help determine the day rate that aligns for each family, see below. 

Single Child Sliding Scale

$65-$85, per day

Two-Sibling Sliding Scale

$60-$80, per child, per day

Three-Sibling Sliding Scale

$55-$75, per child, per day

There is NO explanation required upon registration as to which amount, within your applicable sliding scale, works for you. 

To calculate your total amount owing:

Sliding scale daily amount x # of children enrolling x # of weeks in the session = total

If attending more than one location multiply the total amount by the number of total days attending. 

Payment can be made via e-transfer to info@childofthewild.ca‍ (note that we are NOT set up for direct deposit and you will be required to make a password)

We are happy to accommodate payment plans if it supports the doability of sending your wild one(s) to our program. Please connect with us via email (same as above)  to explore this further.

We believe that nature-based learning should be accessible to ALL families. To support this vision, we offer sibling discounts and sliding scale rates to ensure that our programs are as inclusive and affordable as possible. Please see our Bridge to the Wild page for more information.