Life's Forest, Wallkill

The children who attend After school Learning at Life's Forest help design and build their own outdoor play area! including but not limited to: a sandbox, an outdoor kitchen for mud pies, swings, a natural music station, a toy car race track, oversized board games, a human sized maze and of course, a fort! The children also experience hands on learning including gardening, care of chickens, harvesting the crops, preserving and cooking the harvest, weaving and sewing projects, painting, and developing and implementing community projects. Children attending Afterschool Learning at Life's Forest have the benefit of putting to work all of the skills they are learning at school. The hands on and explorative nature of Life's Forest completely supports Common Core Curriculum as well as Next Generation Science Standards. The children come to Life's Forest, have fun, choose what they want to add to either make more fun or make daily chores easier, and then make it happen. Imagine the potential of a child that is not asked to be responsible and resourceful, but instead chooses to be! Rachel Wade (the owner and teacher) received her degree in Biology with a minor in Environmental Studies and Education from Russell Sage College. A strong advocate for self-reliance, learning through experiences and resourcefulness , she involves her students in hands-on exploration, educating the community and natural living. She has over 14 years experience in education and natural studies. Her resume includes 3 years teaching in a daycare setting, 2 years teaching for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and 9 years teaching in schools with Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES. Her professional interests focus on program development and educational, yet fun, learning techniques. Her current projects include creating a community garden, beginning a homestead and researching state curriculum to further align established programs with the current teaching standards and methods. Rachel currently lives at The Life's Forest Center with her amazing and supportive Husband Dan and her playful and silly 5 year old son Owen.