Professional Development
Wayfinders provides facilitation workshops for teachers to integrate the practices of nature connection and social emotional learning into curriculum and advisory.
Wayfinders for schools
School Programs
Wayfinders provides direct service to schools through Professional Development, School-Day Programming (Specials), Extended Day/Enrichment (After School), Field Trips, Clubs, Lunch time Enrichment, Family Circles, and Caregiver & Me.
Contact us about school programsEarly Childhood
Our Early Childhood experience provides a rich sensory connection with the natural world that serves as joyful building blocks as children grow into their relationships with the natural world.
Student Community Building
Wayfinders provides opportunities to cultivate community among new and existing students through facilitated nature connection and team building activities.
Sustainability Field Trips & Retreats
From pollinator plants to team building, Wayfinders field trips & retreats get students and teachers connected & curious about nature! Customized half, whole day or camping trips.
Our seasonally based, year-long curriculum ensures that our youth connect with nature and their community around them, and build a bond that encourages them to protect the earth throughout their lives.
The Wayfinders experience provides rich sensory connections with the natural world that serve as a joyful building block as children grow into their relationship with nature.
Ways we work with schools
Professional Development
- Transform your team’s outlook & expertise on integrating nature connection into curriculum
- Begin to instill a personal connection with the natural world, which translates into wonder and curiosity, that is contagious with students
- Learn about your school’s surrounding ecosystem
- Discover how to bring the outdoors inside your classrooms
- Build community and connection among your faculty
School Day Specials
- Wayfinders will join your community during the school day on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual, or annual basis to provide seasonal, nature connection & SEL programming
- Programs run through the grades with age-based curriculum
- Customization opportunities are available
- Support staff must be present and engaged
Extended Day
- Supplement and differentiate your program by offering Wayfinders nature connection as part of your “lunch bunch” or after school enrichment program throughout the school year
- Support staff must be present and engaged
Field Trips
- Customized experiences based on curricular interests focused on nature, SEL, and seasonally-based themes
- Trips can be as close as in the woods outside of your school or at one of our many outdoor locations
Family Circles
- Wayfinders builds community through facilitated programs for school families on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual, or annual basis to provide seasonal, nature connection & SEL programming.
- Option 1: Facilitated parent/caregiver groups happen in tandem with children’s programming so parents/caregivers can catch their breath while connecting more deeply with others in their new community, and exploring parent/caregiver & community issues. Children engage in a nature connection/SEL activity during parent/caregiver groups.
- Option 2: Facilitated parent/caregiver groups offer the option for parents/caregivers to connect alongside their children in nature. These experiences will help create the foundation for a long term family connection in and with nature.
Caregiver & Me
- Wayfinders supports building community for new parents through weekly facilitated meet-ups where new parents/guardians/caregivers bond while their babies (under 2 years old) experience sensory play in nature to build their relationship with nature.
Community Building & Faculty Training
One-on-one activities like pair shares
This game of “Shapeshifter” got teachers and administrators to hone their observation schools in preparation for supporting advisees through the Advisory Program.
Contemplative activities like "sit spot" and journaling
Sit spot provides an opportunity to find a quiet place to observe nature with all of your senses. This opportunity to clear your mind often results in a sense of peace and connection with the natural world.
Inside schools building culture
We love being outside and in nature and we also realize that a lot of time is spent inside the four walls of classrooms in schools. We join forces with teachers to bring nature into the classroom, especially when outdoor conditions don’t allow us to be outside.
Outside in City parks or on your school grounds
Nature is everywhere, even in the City, and we work with schools to find space to connect with nature. If you are fortunate enough to have access to nature on your schools grounds, we will come to you and help you learn about the local flora and fauna that live outside your door.
Wayfinders works with
Bard High School Early College (BHSEC)—Bronx
Wayfinders partners with Bard High School Early College and their new campus in the Bronx. Through this partnership we provide professional development for the faculty to support teachers who also serve as advisors.
Wayfinders provides teachers with direct experiences with social emotional learning in preparation and support for the work they are required to do to support students in underserved communities in the Bronx. We also provide direct programming for the school through community days which takes the students out of the building into the local park (Crotona Park) to build nature connection in addition to social emotional learning and community building.
Learn more about our School Programs
Wayfinders provides after-school programs, in-school programs, field trips, and professional development for schools, including Bard High School Early College - Bronx, Temple Beth Shalom Nursery School and the Shames JCC Early Childhood Center.
Wayfinders engages children, teachers, and administrators in nature-based programming that builds connection and awareness of our relationship with the natural world while building community.
Social emotional learning and joyful adventure are at the heart of nature connection. Wayfinders integrates fun-filled team building adventures into exploration of the natural world so we’re always learning together as a group, and discovering our connections to ourselves and the way we work within our communities as we play.
Students practice skill building which encourages them to get their hands dirty, open their senses, and develop resilience and grit. Along the way, they discover the incredible beauty and peace of the natural world, and find their place in the web of life.
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