Coast Live Oak School

Homeschool Field Class

Our Weekly Home School Classes integrate native and ancestral wilderness skills, outdoor science, nature study, art and tool making, and real life problem solving with the theme for each day. We keep the teacher/student ratio very low (2 teachers with 10 students). With a small class group we can constantly engage with students in a supportive atmosphere.

Weekly Home School Classes are offered in semesters (Fall and Spring). Enrollment is for the full semester. It is important to us that we keep the same group of students together for the full semester, and that the semester is one connected experience for each individual and for the group. Each semester is really one single class; the knowledge and experiences gained one day connect to other days in the semester. We also do long term toolmaking projects through the Fall and Spring semesters, broken into smaller parts and skills so that one day’s completed part contributes to the completion of the full project. In their first year of class every individual student makes a bow drill fire-making tool using stone tools, including making fully functional cordage by hand from plant fibers. The skills and techniques that go into making a bow drill in this way give students the skills and knowledge to make at least 50 other essential tools. The bow drill is good teacher. We then use a student's completed bow drill to make the ember for the fire at our feast at the end of each semester.

One full year of our Weekly Home School class, Fall and Spring Semester, will give your child a full and connected learning experience which we hope they will carry for the rest of their lives.

The real, hands-on activities we do in Weekly Home School Class, like preparing foods for a feast, building shelters, and making tools, are great jumping off points for further learning at home. We shape the class experience to spark your child’s curiosity about the world and about specific subjects. We strive to encourage this curiosity through direct experiences. Curiosity is the fuel for further inquiry and learning.

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At the end of each class day, we will send 2 to 4 questions to you, for your student, by email. The questions will be based on the things we did and learned in class that day. We go over these questions at the beginning of class the following week. These answers are not graded or scored, instead we give feedback and help students recall or deduce answers if they are struggling.

These questions are an excellent way for your child to talk with you about what our class day was like. They provide a great opportunity for reflection and discussion. You can help your child answer these questions and do research with them, or leave it up to them. These questions are a way for us as the teachers to see how each individual student is experiencing what we are doing in class and give us a better idea of ways we can make connections for the each of them in the future. They are a way for students to communicate their observations and recollections with their classmates. They are also a way for us to connect experiences and knowledge from previous classes to what we are doing that day.

Your child can send us emails anytime they would like to ask us follow up questions about things we have studied or where they can get more info about a certain topic.

One full year of Weekly Home School class, Fall and Spring Semesters, is the complete experience we hope every student can have. In one full year of class students will learn, observe, and interact with the rock cycle (understanding the formation of sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks and the role of erosion in the rock cycle), the water cycle, photosynthesis, the plant life cycle, insect life cycle, the role of bacteria and fungi in decomposition, and the how storm drain runoff and sewer water are managed in our local cities and natural ecosystems.

Basic Native and Ancestral Wilderness Skills and their broader academic connections

Listening and Observing… language studies, ecology, and communication skills
Knowing Plants… plant life cycles, photosynthesis, botany
Building Shelter... physics, art, history, and archaeology
Finding Water… water cycle and erosion
Finding and Making Tools… plant knowledge, art, geology and the rock cycle, geometry, physics, and problem solving
Making String and Rope… botany, art, music, physics, history, archeology, and problem solving
Hand Drill and Bow Drill tools… botany, physics, history, archaeology, and basic problem solving
Animal Tracking and Bird Language… language studies, art, physics, ecology, and biology
Cooking and Nutrition… ecology, music, nutrition, physics, and knowing where food comes from
Communication and Cooperation… language studies, conflict resolution, communication and social skills, history, and basic group problem solving
Problem Solving and Decision Making… creating strategies and plans as an individual and as a group, overcoming life challenges and understanding how to assess problems

Class Days and Times

Weekly Home School Classes take place at various beaches, nature reserves,

wilderness parks, and outdoor locations around Orange County.

Mark is currently taking a break from teaching Weekly Home School Field Classes.

Please contact Mark at mnhay2000@yahoo.com

if you have any questions.

If you are interested in teaching classes like these, please contact Mark at mnhay2000@yahoo.com. We need more dedicated nature connection teachers in this world!

Monday Class

9am-2pm

Ages 7-12

10 students