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Now offering an exciting array of programs five days a week!
 Tracks & Tales Nature School offers children a strong foundation in outdoor exploration, creative expression, academics & personal growth by using games, songs, movement, stories, art projects, nature skills, and the natural bounty of a pristine northwest forest. We are located 35 minutes from Seattle just east of Duvall, Washington.
Open, rolling enrollment for the 2011-12 year. Four hours per day, up to 5 days per week.
In the past decade, more and more people have been turning to "nature education." Books such as Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv, Sharing Nature with Children by Joseph Cornell, and Coyote’s Guide to Connecting Kids with Nature by Jon Young and Ellen Haas, help show the profound impact nature can have on children, bringing them a sense of peace, self-confidence and joy. Take a look at these excellent videos explaining why our education system needs changing.
Come relax at our monthly Coyote Parties! Open to the entire community, families, children, adults, everyone! See our calendar for exact details!
Tracks and Tales Nature School cultivates not only the connection between children and nature, but also the connections between children and their families, between families and nature, and between families and community. Community thanks-giving dinners, family-friendly gatherings, and special storytelling evenings further celebrate and strengthen our community.
Read "In Appreciation" -- the Tracks & Tales book!
 Current Programs:
Children can sign up for one to five days weekly, or come just once or twice a month. Classes are largely conducted outdoors, and children should dress appropriately for the weather and bring a change of clothes. Children should also bring lunch and/or several snacks and water. They will likely eat more than you expect. Family days (where parents and siblings can come) are available on special weekend days each month.
- Monday - Thursday from 11am - 3pm: Nature School
- Monday & Wednesday: Nature-inspired Art Day, featuring music, dance, yoga, acting, clay, painting, storytelling, and more.
- Tuesday & Thursday: Nature-based Integrated Academics Day featuring:
- writing and reading each child's "Story of the Day"
- surveying and mapping a creek, complete with flora and fauna
- tracking and charting the changing presence of various wildlife
- harvesting and preparing recipes with both wild foods and Country Knoll's child-gardened organic foods
- Friday from 1 - 5pm: Ranger Camp Day
- Friday: Ranger Camp, Indian Sign Language & Spanish Exploration Day, featuring Nature Skills: tracking, scouting, archery, firemaking, primitive shelters, plant identification, and more, with an option for doing it en español.
- Monthly from 3:30 - 7:30pm: Coyote Party (Family day) on Saturdays/Sundays. FREE and open to everyone! See calendar for exact dates.
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Sample Daily Schedule (Monday - Thursday, subject to change):
11am: Children arrive. Running and awareness games such as Fire in the Forest, Limb Tag, Otter Steals Fish
11:30 - 11:45am: Snack & storytime.
11:45 - 1pm: Focus Activity. This varies by day: Monday & Wednesday may have music, movement, or art, Tuesday & Thursday may have science projects or journaling.
1 - 1:20pm Lunch and Story Circle.
1:20 - 2:50pm: Nature Time. We have a salmon-bearing creek and many acres of mature Northwest forest to explore and play in.
2:50 - 3pm Closing Circle and children depart.
 All programs feature:
- Nature-based games
- Exploring of woods & streams
- Child's passions
- Activities custom taylored to your child
- Coyote Mentoring / Art of Questioning
- Instructors trained at Wilderness Awareness School
| Program goals:
- Self-confidence
- Awareness
- Independence
- Intuition
- Empathy
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View our google calendar showing all class days.
Location
Our program is based in the beautiful forests available just minutes from the heart of Duvall, Washington. Acres of pristine, mature forests and streams provide infinite natural exploration. Contact us for our exact address.
Instructors & Assistants
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 Jennifer Tkaczyk-Ikeda has been a passionate outdoor educator for nearly 20 years, and has been employing Wilderness Awareness School’s Coyote Mentoring techniques for over a decade. Her methodology is based in experiential learning, child’s passion, a strong foundation in ecology and wilderness skills, as well as an extensive understanding of learning and developmental processes, while fostering passion in youth.
Jen has earned her Master in Teaching graduate degree and her undergrad degree in Wildlife Science (with a Statistics Minor). In addition to playing and teaching with Tracks and Tales, she is also currently teaching at Vashon Wilderness Program as well as instructing and directing summer camps for Wilderness Awareness School. She has taught toddlers to adults and every age in between in a wide variety of subject matter and situations. Her in-depth understanding of public school curriculum and scholastic standards allows her to bridge ideologies and bring together the best of wilderness education, academia, the study of learning and development, unschooling, free exploration, adventure, and passionate play. Jen is our program director and leads our Tuesday & Thursday programs.
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 Matthew McKinney is an avid tracker, storyteller, and artist. Having graduated the Wildenress Awareness School's two year Anake Leadership Program in 2011, Matt is now settling back into his roots as a creative writer, musician, poet, woodcarver, actor, painter, and sculptor. He has learned and practiced Coyote Mentoring, and is excited to teach art and music as integral with internal and external tracking and survival/thrival skills, guiding children into lifelong connection with their own imaginations while fostering a deep sense of belonging in the natural world. Matthew is immeasurably grateful for all the blessings he has received since moving to the Snoqualmie Valley and is committed to building community. Matt leads our Monday & Wednesday programs.
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 Owl (a.k.a. Julie Wright) loves to spend time with children in Nature. She was born in Denver, raised in Vermont,
Schooled outside of Boston and moved to the Seattle area in 2004. She has worked at the WAS summer camps since 2008 and also instructed at TerraForma Education. She completed the tracking intensive at the
Wilderness Awareness School (WAS) twice, and also studied at Tracker School and graducated from the Anake program at WAS. She has a Master's degree in Biological Oceanography. She loves to sing harmonies and do vocal jamming, and also enjoys yoga, primitive skills and village building. She is part of the revolution to reconnect people to each other, the Earth and themselves. Owl teaches our Monday program.
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 Michael Clark spent 8 years with Wilderness Awareness School, completing their Youth School, graduating from their Community School and volunteering in their summer camps. He has a calm, respectful, playful way with children, and enjoys studying human behavior, human relations, and body language. He has worked with numerous talented mentors who have helped him gain an intuitive understanding of Coyote Mentoring techniques and shown him the positive impact mentoring can have on children and adults. Michael spent his childhood in the woods with his three siblings, exploring, catching frogs, practicing primitive skills and generally following his passion for the outdoors. He treasures a child's wonder for the outdoors and is excited to share this with children at Tracks & Tales, using a mentor-focussed, experiential-learning approach. Michael is teaching our Ranger Camp program.
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 Maya Wallach, parent, volunteer, and registrar, helped start Tracks & Tales Nature School after seeing how students of all ages blossom in the amazing outdoor programs at the Wilderness Awareness School. Maya spent much of her childhood on the Pacific's rocky beaches, and splashing in the clear blue lakes of the high Sierras. After several careers in New York (social work, arts administrator), Paris (dance writer & photographer) and Bangalore (computer programmer), living on a creek in the forest feels like coming home at last.
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Community
We are grateful to be located in the heart of a community that is so full of natural beauty and inspiring people. We also want to acknowledge the greater community that nourishes our programs. Click here for a list of links.
We recommend the Wilderness Awareness School's research page for more information about why nature-based learning is so important.
Registration and Payment Options
Our programs are tailored to focus on each child's and each group's abilities and interests.
Click here to see our 2011-12 program prices and payment options.
Registration is a two step process:
1. Click here to download our registration form (as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file). Please bring or mail this to us even if you sign up online as it includes signatures.
2. Click here to pay online using your credit card. You can also make out a check to "Tracks and Tales Nature School" and mail or hand it to us.
Don't see the program you're looking for? Use the form, below, to write us and tell us what you'd like to see! We love creating new programs!
Contact
Please fill out the form below to arrange a visit, RSVP, sign up, or inquire further.
Want to post our flier? We have a flier available for printing! Thanks for spreading the word!
Tracks & Tales is part of the Natural Learning Center.
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Click on the image below to view, print and share our flier!
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Tracks & Tales Nature School offers children a strong foundation in outdoor exploration, creative expression, academics & personal growth by using games, songs, movement, stories, art projects, nature skills, and the natural bounty of a pristine northwest forest. We are located 35 minutes from Seattle just east of Duvall, Washington.
All programs feature:
