Year-Round Programs

FOREST (Friends Outdoors Relishing Earth Skills Together)
Co-ed Homeschool Program

For boys and girls ages 7-13. Tuesdays from 9 am to 3 pm.

Get Dirty at FOREST! Explore! Craft! Play! FOREST is our in-depth dose of nature connection and mentoring. FORESTers are out there every week, rain or shine, carrying the FDNC flame of fun, learning, and adventure!

Each semester, we will

Forage for wild edibles
Track animals
Make fires in all conditions
Identify bird calls and alarms
Hone our awareness through sensory games
Learn to travel lightly on the Earth
Listen to stories that inform and inspire -- and bring home our own stories of our experiences and adventures!

Supplies List
Lunch and snack
Water bottle
Backpack for easy carrying of food and water
Waterproof winter boots and gloves
Weather-appropriate clothes: layers, so you're prepared for all day outside. Please avoid cotton clothes, particularly if it is going to be a wet day. Wool and fleece layers, synthetic long underwear, etc. are great to keep kids warm all day.
Thermoses of warm soup or tea can be nice!
Journal and pen.

Spring 2013 semester begins March 5 and runs for a total of 10 Tuesdays, ending May 14 (no class Feb. 26).

Tuition: $450

Registration deadline: February 20. Please send us both a registration form and health form (links below) via snail mail. You can enclose payment with the forms, or pay via PayPal below, and then send us the forms by snail mail.

Download a registration form.

Download a 2013 health form, also required for registration.

Women in the Woods

Seasonal overnight adventures in wilderness skills, with four weekend gatherings each year. Make crafts from the gifts of the land, share stories around the campfire, learn to make fire without matches, increase your navigational skills, build shelters, and develop your knowledge of the trees and plants of this land. Learn how the earth provides for you, and feel the exhilaration and rejuvenation of meeting natural challenges with the support and fun offered by a community of wild women.

Women in the Woods resumes in Spring 2013.

School programs

Flying Deer Nature Center offers weekly and biweekly nature education programs during and after school hours, working within each school's and grade's study plans to co-create an exciting and educational cross-curricular experience. Ongoing school programs include collaborations with Mountain Road School in New Lebanon, NY; Chatham Central School District; New Lebanon Central School District; and Taconic High School in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. For more information on setting up an FDNC program at your child's school, e-mail info@flyingdeernature.center.org.

Moon Tribe: Nature- and Community-Based Rite-of-Passage Program for Adolescent Girls

Moon Tribe is a long-term coming-of-age program for girls, beginning at ages 11 to 13 and continuing over two and a half years. Now in its seventh year, Moon Tribe has been a rich, fun, and life-changing experience for many girls and women. Moon Tribe is designed to support girls as they move through early adolescence, learning about themselves and the world and discerning their identities as young women. The program weaves community and consciousness around potent issues for growing girls and nurtures each girl's innate strength in herself and in her relationships with the earth, her peers, women mentors, and the circle of mothers. Fathers and families are woven into the experience as well.

“When I started Moon Tribe, I felt like I was a different person everywhere I went; at home, at school, and with friends. I always liked the person I was at Moon Tribe best, and now I feel like that’s who I am all the time!” -- Moon Tribe graduate

SECOND YEAR MOON TRIBE: RISING MOONS

For 2012-2013 dates, see our calendar.

Download a Rising Moons registration form for Fall 2012-Summer 2013.

FIRST YEAR MOON TRIBE: NEW MOONS BEGINS FEBRUARY 2013: For dates, see our calendar. Full payment or first installment is due February 1.

Download a New Moons registration form for Spring and Summer 2013.

Download a Health Form, also required for registration.

Sacred Fire: Boys' Rite of Passage

Coming-of-age program for adolescent boys. The year includes a weekend campout in the fall, Adventure Days on Saturdays from 10 am to 4 pm, family potlucks, and a five-day Initiation Weekend in May. A slightly different schedule is planned for each of the three generations of the group, including Crayfish, Dogwoods, and Buckskins. For more information, call 518-794-6687 or e-mail Devin at dev@flyingdeernaturecenter.org.

For 2012-2013 dates, see our calendar.

Download a registration form.

Read our Financial Assistance Policy and download a Financial Assistance Application.

A tipi surrounded by bushes

Fostering respect
for the earth,
for each other, and
for ourselves!

	Participant's name and age

Participant's name

	Camper's name & date of birth

Pricing Options	Camper's name & date of birth