SUMMER JOY!

“Journeys Out Yonder provides place-based adventure programs for young children. We utilize the vast outdoor landscapes to feed children’s curiosity, advance childhood play, develop self efficacy and social connections, while building strong, capable bodies. Children who learn to love where they live learn to care for it. Our purpose is to support families who want their children to learn about nature, in nature and with nature.” 

Our summer outdoor adventure program offers young children outdoor adventures in the woods, along rivers and streams, to bike and skate parks, swimming spots, and more.

Our small group, 100% outdoor program, and mask-wearing policies accommodate our and family’s desires to limit exposure to the COVID-19 virus. 

2023 SUMMER Sessions 

Monday, Wednesday, Friday,  9am – 4pm  

Session 1: June 5 – 23 (9 days: $720/$630 sibling rate)

Session 2: July 17 – August 4 (9 days: $720/$630 sibling rate)

Session 3: Daily, August 7 – 14 (6 days: $480/$450 sibling rate)

REGISTRATION

• A maximum of 8 children will be enrolled per session.

ENROLLMENT PROCESS

Step 1: Email Mary to schedule your phone call and tour

Step 2: Complete registration paperwork

Step 3: Submit payment

Step 4: Begin your Journeys Out Yonder

REGISTRATION PROCESS

1. Siblings will receive preference for enrollment when an opening is available. 
2. New inquiries are asked to review JOY’s website to determine if this is the right program for you and your child/children.
3. New inquiries for enrollment will be considered after both a phone call and a scheduled meet-and-greet with parents and child/children is completed with Mary. 
4.  After Mary has confirmed your child/children are accepted for enrollment a registration form will be sent to you to be completed, and a required enrollment fee and deposit will be required to hold your child’s/children’s place in the specific program identified on the registration form. 
5. Once full registration is complete, Mary will share JOY’s “Family Orientation Document”. 

LOGISTICS

• Parent/guardian drops child(ren) off and picks child up at designated locations on each session’s schedule. 
• Parents/Guardians must sign their child in and out with Mary.
• Children must be sun-screened when dropped off. Sunscreen will be reapplied during the day.
• Masks are optional.
• Mary will send an email on Sunday, confirming weekly locations and necessary gear (bikes, etc.) 
• Mary will provide morning and afternoon snacks, and extra water. 
• Children will come with their own backpack with all of the following:
  • Lunch
  • Drinking water in a water bottle
  • Sun hat
  • Extra clothes (shirt, pants, socks)
  • Rain coat
  • Closed-toes shoes – please, no flip flops or dress shoes
  • Hammock and hanging straps

• Optional items in child’s backpack:
  • Umbrella
  • Books, Colored pencils, pad of paper
  • Magnifying glass 
  • Binoculars
  • Rope/twine, etc.
  • Frisbee, ball, etc.
  • Other

“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, (they need) the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with (them) the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.”
– Rachel Carson

 CURRICULUM: Outdoor Adventure Through Play

David Sobel’s Childhood and Nature Principles

1. Make forts and special places;
2. Play hunting and gathering games;
3. Shape small worlds;
4. Develop friendships with animals;
5. Construct adventures;
6. Descend into fantasies;
7. Follow paths and figure out shortcuts;

Leave No Trace 

What we bring out in our backpacks, pockets, etc. will return home with us. Of course, using trash receptacles we find in the community is completely appropriate. Wild animals do not need our help with food, and we discourage feeding them. Packing lunch and snacks in reusable containers creates less waste.

Using our Observation Skills

In order to maneuver the world, children must learn to use all of their senses – seeing, hearing, speaking, smelling, touching, intuition, feelings, etc. As children grow and mature, adults can support their need for independence by respecting their own, unique gifts of observation. 

Creature Care

While outdoors, we will encounter wildlife. We will instill a sense of respect and compassion for all living creatures, by modeling a sense of wonder and amazement at all bugs, animals, spiders, and reptiles we encounter, and teach the children to become allies with them, not adversaries. All creatures will be left in their natural habitat, where we found them. 

School Rules

1. Ask for something you need, and wait your turn. No grabbing. 
2. Walk away and create a safe space for you and others. No one gets to touch others in harmful ways. 
3. Use kind words with a caring voice. No mean words. 

Managing Risks and Avoiding Hazards

It is imperative that children learn to identify and manage moderate risks. Teachers enable and coach children throughout the entirety of the program, reminding children and parents that all children progress at their own level of comfort and by allowing them to do so we are helping children build self-efficacy.

1. Manage risks – something within their awareness and control (using their critical thinking, problem solving, physical, emotional, and social skills to learn new skills, meet new people, etc), and,
2. Avoid hazards – something they cannot see and control  (being hit by a car in the street or a falling tree toppled by the wind, or being struck by lighting. 

With this in mind, teachers will ensure children understand and practice managing both risk and hazards in outdoor play. They love a challenge, and we will support their desires to climb up and down dry ditches, trees and rocks, to wade in streams, play with sticks, throw rocks, and build forts. 

                        To discuss my program please call Mary at  970-618-1450                               

                 Or, email Mary at journeysoutyonder@gmail.com