Wilderplay is an emergent curriculum that facilitates learning through engagement, experiences, and exploration across the natural cycle of the year, season, study, and day.  Wilderplay teachers facilitate relationship-based development by assisting, supporting, and observing children as they learn and grow.

Our daily cycle includes a predictable but flexible routine built to promote psychological safety and meet physical and emotional needs.  Our studies carry us through the cycle of learning as skills across all developmental domains emerge, develop, and while we achieve the objectives of each study.  The cycle of each season presents us with rich and novel learning environments in woods, meadows, and wetlands.  As we cycle through the year, we build lasting relationships with our teachers and peers while forming strong connections to nature.

We value balance at Wilderplay.  Our curriculum is meant to provide a nature-immersive experience as a counter-balance to the mainstream school experience to come.  Throughout each study and each day we provide a balance of teacher-lead and child-lead experiences, individual and group activities, directed learning and open-ended play-based learning, and structured time vs. unstructured time.  Our lesson plans are designed intentionally in order to provide this balance.