Fridays
10 -13 year olds meet up on Fridays at Whatcom Falls Park for adventure filled days outdoors where nature is the classroom. Hiking, carving, crafting, running, sneaking, hiding, building, listening, and learning the whole time. Mountainside days are a great addition to a homeschooling curriculum and provide an opportunity for long term mentorship throughout youth development.
Fall 2026 Friday Program Details
Ages: 10 - 13 year olds
Fridays: 9am - 3pm
Whatcom Falls Park
First Session: Friday, September 4th
No School: Friday, November 27th
Last Session: Friday, December 18th
15 Sessions
$900 ($100 deposit due with registration)
Payable in Full or in Monthly Installments
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Please review Student Readiness Checklist before registering​​
Example Schedule
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9 - 9:30am: Arrival - running games like foxtails or freeze tag, along with a nature museum for a more relaxed start to the day
9:30am: Morning Circle. The group gathers to share gratitude, song, and get excited for a day outdoors
9:45am: Morning Game: Camouflage, Hide n Seek, Rub Rabbits Run. A game to get the group moving around and activate the mind and body
10:30am: Hike and Explore. Time to hit the trail, explore the park, and see what we can learn from the forest. We'll be on the lookout for birds, animal tracks and bugs :)
12pm: Lunch
12:45pm: Crafting with natural materials (carving, weaving, knot tying, etc)
1:30: Afternoon Challenge / Adventure
2:15pm: Play
2:45pm: Closing Circle
3pm: Pick Up
Philosophy
Mountainside Nature School's curriculum is built upon six core pillars. The six pillars are Community, Play, Crafting, Natural History, Harvesting, and Fire. These six pillars are naturally woven into the seasonal framework of each Mountainside program. They provide a broad range of activities and experiences for the students to engage with; some are naturals with Play and experience challenges with Crafting, while others are naturals with Fire but are challenged by Community. The six pillars are designed to provide a comprehensive and balanced approach to outdoor learning and nature connection.
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Mountainside also follows in the tradition of coyote mentoring, which focuses on the learning and growth of students rather than the imparting of knowledge from teachers. Students will have the chance to learn, grow, and discover new things everyday on their own time. The outdoor environment and changing seasons provide infinite opportunities for exploration of all kinds.
Community - Songs, stories, personal growth, relationship to one another
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Play - Joy for life, forest games, spontaneity, sharpening our senses, silliness, honing animal instincts
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Crafting - Wood carving, weaving, twining, shelters, bushcraft
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Natural History - Fluency with the natural world, knowing plant, animal, and fungi names, animal tracking, bird language, phenology, sit spot, nature journaling, nature museum​
Harvesting - Being in direct relationship with the land, eatings plants and berries, harvesting materials for crafts, herbal and medicinal plants
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Fire - Friction fire, tending the hearth, cooking
6 Pillars
Homeschool Curriculum
- Families frequently use Mountainside programs for science, art, and PE when filling out homeschool reporting notes for their district
- Families receive monthly emails with notes on activities that they can transfer into their homeschool reporting notes
- At Mountainside programs, students are constantly practicing the scientific method. When we find a caterpillar on the trail, we ask questions such as "What do they eat? How old are they? What will they turn into? Who might eat this critter as a snack?"
- Daily nature journaling (weather permitting) offers time and space for observation, reflection, and synthesis of real world experiences in the outdoors