Language Arts and Science Instruction Through Immersive Nature Experiences for Ages 8–12 (Grades 3–6)
Interested in registering for the Fall 2026–Spring 2027 year? Email us at info@flyingdeernaturecenter.org.
Tuesdays, Sept. 22–May 24, 9:00 am–3:00 pm in East Chatham
Tuition: $2,140; payment plan available: $300 deposit + monthly payments
Add another day outdoors, at a discount! Treetop participants get 10% off tuition for our full-year FOREST program, offered Wednesdays and/or Thursdays. Use code TREE10 at checkout.
Using the abundance of nature for inspiration, this program aims to build strong foundational skills in language arts, while fueling children’s natural curiosity about the world around them.
Treetop students will learn how to craft good questions, and how to make their voices heard. This program is for students who are interested and excited about expressing their ideas through writing.
Being in nature feeds children’s innate desire to learn. Guided with care by expert mentors, students will:
- Improve their writing skills in fiction and nonfiction
- Explore personal interests through writing
- Read and engage in discussions with peers
- Develop their capacity for independent work
- Engage in hands-on projects
- Deepen their relationship with the land
- Build vitality, happiness, deep listening, and empathy
Each week, students will explore a new writing skill, including poetry, short fiction, persuasive writing, and science communication. The class will consist of a combination of indoor focused time and outdoor nature-based activities. Students will engage in writing and reading on a daily basis, and use their skills to pursue personal passions.
In the woods, students will practice observation and deep listening, and learn how to both craft and answer questions. Learning will be supported with play and students will have the opportunity to follow their own passions. Treetop will support at-home educational programs by working with parents to understand their child’s academic skills and provide opportunities and instruction to strengthen and expand them.
“The Treetop program is designed to grow and mature with kids through the years—something that’s very hard to come by in homeschooling. It is the magic recipe our son needs at his age for success: the ability to learn kinetically and organically in nature, working with classmates to build projects they plan and execute together, combined with having a more traditional classroom experience and a consistent community and friend group. It’s everything we’ve always loved about Flying Deer—with the parts we didn’t know how badly we were missing until we had them.”
Shauna and Mark J., Treetop parents, Sharon Springs, NY
Here are some beliefs and principles that shape our Treetop approach:
We each rise into our best—release our full potential—through frequent immersion in the natural world within a skilled mentoring community. The program will spend an equal amount of time indoors and outdoors. Dressing for the weather is key! We employ many Flying Deer mentoring techniques, including the art of questioning, core routines of nature connection, flow learning, and tapping into a child’s passions. All of this is designed to help students access their inner happiness, vitality, deep listening, empathy, and much more.
Children are hardwired for learning; they possess the latent curiosity, wonder, sensory awareness, and hands-on hunger to dig into topics, projects, and places that excite them. Our goal is to provide 3rd- through 6th-grade students with academic learning wrapped in a classic Flying Deer setting, methodology, and culture. We take advantage of the beautiful abundance of nature to guide curiosity and help kids explore the art of questioning. Through writing, kids learn to express themselves, their ideas, and their passions.
We are here to learn how to live out the 3 Rs: Respect for Self, Respect for Others, and Respect for the Earth. One of our paramount purposes as human beings is to steward the earth.
- We explore our deep compassion for our planet, and practice actively caring for it, through both backyard action and global advocacy.
- We cultivate good relationships with others—express appreciation for good actions, honor one another’s innate gifts, hold each other accountable to expected standards of conduct, fix what goes wrong, and strive to improve our impact on others.
- We carefully and lovingly treat our own body, soul, and spirit the way we might tend a tree, by developing positive habits, such as rest, hydration, and blood sugar maintenance; speaking and believing uplifting messages about ourselves; and connecting with the things that bring us true and deep happiness.