Portland Homesteading: Transported After School Program
Become a Wilder
Wilder's hold a deep connection to the natural world. They feed, clothe and shelter their family while taking care of the land they live. Wilders create a world where the needs of people and the needs of what is natural peacefully coexist.
Join the Wilders Guild
We live to give back to the land. Tending and caring for it.
Harvest wild edible and medicinal plants that nourish our health. Help in urban market gardens and restore wild greenspaces. Craft clothing from repurposed fabrics or learn to tend to domestic animals such as goats, chickens and sheep. And, like Johnny Appleseed, plant wild gardens and flowers for our community to care for.
Winter Session Every Tuesday for 6 weeks.
Transportation or Pre-Care Available from 1:30pm-3pm
- For transportation or pre-care starting between 1:30pm-2pm go here
- For transportation or pre-care starting between 2pm-3:30pm go here
Drop-off & Pick-up You can drop off anytime between 3pm-3:30pm and pick-up between 5:30pm-6:30pm.
Register for Homesteading Skills
| Registration Closed Contact Us |
Ages 6-7
$115
6 weeks. Add pre-care from 2pm-3pm or 1:30pm-2pm Winter Session February 9-March 16, 2010 Tuesdays 3pm-6:30pm 5040 SE Milwaukie Avenue, Portland, Oregon Map It |
| Registration Closed Contact Us |
Ages 8-10
$115
6 weeks. Add pre-care from 2pm-3pm. Winter Session February 9-March 16, 2010 Tuesdays 3pm-6:30pm 5040 SE Milwaukie Avenue, Portland, Oregon Map It |
| Contact Us |
Ages 6-13
See Transported After School Rates
School Pick-Up February 9-March 16, 2010 Tuesdays End of Your School Day |
A Day in the Program
Each day we practice skills of caretaking and nature awareness. This personal and deep understanding of ecology helps students discover their own connection to nature. We also spend time at nearby urban farms helping tend to gardens. In the forest we wild craft plants to feed our families and make herbal medicines. While at the Scout Pit we develop the basics of many homestead skills such as cheese making, fiber arts and nurturing foods and traditions.
Whenever we introduce a skill, we refine and test it by making real crafts to take home to our families. Students work in a team to make decisions and complete group projects. These team skills are honed and put to the test while solving puzzles and riddles of ancient wisdom. Our awareness and homesteading studies lay the foundation for a student's personal Guild Project.
Safety is the foundation of this course. Along with the skills of the Wilders Guild we also guide students through House Safety Certifications. From campfire tending to sewing, parents can feel confident and proud that their kids are learning and adhering to core routines of safety and care.
Guild Project
During the course instructors help the student and parents choose a long-term craft or project that they can work on. The project could be making an artisan cheese, raising an animal, learning a medicinal plant, knitting clothing, a natural building project, putting in a garden and much more. This is a project we expect students to bring home and dedicate themselves to. It can be small enough to contain within the bounds of this course or grand enough to last many months (even incorporated into other courses). Trackers instructors provide support for families so that they can help their child accomplish this project. Parents and instructors discuss and find consensus as to what badge and what level the project may apply to.
Earning Badges
This program also enables students to earn badges in the fundemental skills of the Wilders Guild. We work with each student to help them reach new levels for the badges in this course. If they already have advanced experience or choose to focus themselves on specific crafts we encourage student directed study, offering the potential to earn badges that apply to higher levels or different skills.
Ages 6-8 Homesteading Skills includes
Students may earn badges in...
Level 1 and up Campfire Cooking and Safety
Level 1 and up Nourishing Foods & Cooking
Level 1 and up Dairy Ferments: Cheese & Yogurt Making
Level 1 and up Wild Edible Plants
Level 1 and up Herbal Medicine Studies: Healing Teas & Salves
Level 1 and up Team Leadership
Level 1 and up Sewing (hand stitch/sewing)
Level 1 and up Knitting
Level 1 and up Candle Making
Level 1 and up Natural Dyes
Level 1 and up Caretaking Ecology & Permaculture Design
Level 1 and up Sustenance Gardening
Please Note Students can also earn badges beyond the basic levels for the course. They can also earn badges for skills that may not be stated above. Because this program is created in collaboration with students we will only cover the skills listed above based on the chosen interest and direction of the team.
Students may earn the following House Safety Certifications...
Woodcarving Safety 1 with the privilege to carve during instructor led activity
Hand Sewing Safety 1 with the privilege to sew during instructor led activity
Campfire Safety 1 with the privilege to light, maintain & put out campfires during instructor led activity
Wild Plants Safety 1 with the privilege to harvest, process and eat during instructor led activity
Cooking Safety 1 with the privilege to cook during instructor led activity
Farm Animal Safety 1 with the privilege to work with livestock during instructor led activity
Please Note Individual students may work to the next level of these House Safety certifications. It is the discretion of the parents and instructors to trust them with greater responsibility that comes with new levels of safety certification.
Ages 9-13 Homesteading Skills includes
Students may earn badges in...
Level 1 and up Campfire Cooking and Safety
Level 1 and up Nourishing Foods & Cooking
Level 1, 2 and up Dairy Ferments: Cheese & Yogurt Making
Level 1, 2 and up Wild Edible Plants
Level 1, 2 and up Herbal Medicine Studies: Healing Teas & Salves
Level 1, 2 and up Team Leadership
Level 1, 2 and up Hand Sewing
Level 1 and up Machine Sewing
Level 1, 2 and up Knitting
Level 1 and up Candle Making
Level 1 and up Natural Dyes
Level 1, 2 and up Caretaking Ecology & Permaculture Design
Level 1, 2 and up Sustenance Gardening
Please Note Students can also earn badges beyond the basic levels for the course. They can also earn badges for skills that may not be stated above. Because this program is created in collaboration with students we will only cover the skills listed above based on the chosen interest and direction of the team.
Students may earn the following House Safety Certifications...
Woodcarving Safety 1 with the privilege to carve during instructor led activity
Hand Sewing Safety 1 with the privilege to sew during instructor led activity
Campfire Safety 1 with the privilege to light, maintain & put out campfires during instructor led activity
Wild Plants Safety 1 with the privilege to harvest, process and eat during instructor led activity
Cooking Safety 1 with the privilege to cook during instructor led activity
Farm Animal Safety 1 with the privilege to work with livestock during instructor led activity
Please Note Individual students may work to the next level of these House Safety certifications. It is the discretion of the parents and instructors to trust them with greater responsibility that comes with new levels of safety certification.
We help children to feel like that group of kids wandering country backyards 50 years ago: independent, tired, muddy, wet and happy from the woods and wild. We are acutely aware of full and real hazards of the out of doors after years of working in environmental education. We try to move away from the highly structured and limiting tolerances of conventional environmental education while keeping kids truly safe but not encapsulated from, or phobic of nature. We are deep patriots to the value of offering guided yet very free and transparent experiences for kids. We believe it is okay to be thirsty at times, cold at times, and wet at times. It builds empathy and care for the gifts of life. It fosters adventure and sincere accomplishment. We also believe it is critical to feel supported and cared for as they truly explore their passion and responsibility. And through a healthy life immersed in nature, they test the limits and great potential of the often untapped physical and emotional resiliency they possess.
Follow us