We believe…
Grow Wild Association is organized for educational, personal, and spiritual development with reliance upon our strongly held belief in and interdependence with nature.
Nature is our best and most important teacher. Children are innate learners who naturally follow their own sense of wonder and are integral parts of the natural world.
We all have an inner guidance system that we can strengthen to help us stay true to our own path.
Children learn best through exploration, play, and a full sensorial hands-on experience fostering a love for learning.
Self-direction evolves through community membership, mindfulness, discovering who you are as a learner, and uninterrupted focus.
Mixed-age groupings allow for role modeling, responsibility, community building, and multidirectional learning.
Nature immersion connects children to an understanding of their place within nature, other members of their community, and promotes emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being.
Adults best serve children through observation, natural learning opportunities/teaching moments as they arise (or as necessary), and by offering choice and multiple lenses, which sparks curiosity and allows children’s love for learning to naturally unfold.
Self-care is a necessity not a luxury. In order for children to grow into happy adults, they need integrated self-care practices in addition to mindfulness, peace making, social/emotional regulation, and proactive problem-solving.
Optimal learning occurs best through exposure to myriad pedagogy and multiculturalism. Education should be child-centric. By pulling from various educational and cultural backgrounds, we can serve the whole child, including students with various learning styles and backgrounds, so that they can develop and grow W.I.L.D.
wonder
intuition
love for learning
direction
“Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.”