New Programs for 2024/25

Fianna Wilderness School is offering forest and farm programs for kids throughout the mid-island and on Gabriola Island. Our programs are for kids ages 4-6 and 7-12. We offer yearlong nature-based mentorship in the 8-Shields model, an approach to education that was developed by Jon Young at the Wilderness Awareness School. The 8-shields “Coyote Mentoring” approach formalizes the child-led, experiential schooling methods apparent in nature-based cultures. This approach cultivates our children’s curiosity and innate wisdom, guiding them into personal and collective learning experiences that reveal their gifts and support their development towards healthy maturity and wholeness.

Your kids will learn about responsible harvesting, medicinal and food plants, natural materials, wild crafting, navigation, tracking and stalking, bird language, ancestral heritage and local ecology. With strong core routines of gratitude, circle sharing, singing, storytelling,  mindful “sit spots”, and mentoring of each other, they will experience and incorporate a nature-connected culture, grounded in relationships of respect and reciprocity. 

We are committed to low student/staff ratios for quality mentoring of your kids. Our programs have a ratio of 1 staff for every 6/7 kids.