This article first appeared in the Primitive Pursuits introductory guide “Not Your Typical Classroom.” Booklet was prepared by Melissa Mueller in November 2009. Contributors included Heidi Bardy, Beth Bannister, Tim Drake, Dave Hall, and Jed Jordan.
In 2007-08, Primitive Pursuits got outside every week with the Urban Forest Adventures (UFA) Program. This after school program, generously funded by the More Kids in the Woods grant from the USDA Forest Service, provided five sessions of free Primitive Pursuits programs to underserved youth in the greater Ithaca Area.
Black bears are one of only 2 modern bear species that are not considered to be under threat or extinction by the IUCN.
Some people say outdoor preschool is a no-brainer. “Children cannot bounce off the walls if we take away the walls,” says Erin Kenny, founder of Cedarsong Forest Kindergarten on Vashon Island, Washington. Ithaca Forest Preschool, begun in 2013, took away the walls and added a very special culture.
At the fire, campers shared their favorite memory of the week. No one was shy, and everyone easily was able to share an original thing that was special to them, from fire making to bow making and some funny inside jokes that got everyone laughing.
Sean traces his love of the outdoors to a series of moments in his childhood starting with a day when he and his friends spotted a pair of hawks circling above a hill in the southern end of Syracuse.