Current Offerings
Camp Starshine 2024
I have the most fond memories of attending camps when I was young and am excited about creating my own camp for little ones. The camps will be taking place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings from 9:00a-1:00p with extended day options available (until 3p). Camp takes place mid May-August. You may send your child one, two or three days per week and you can sign up for just one week or all of them! Inquire via text or give me a call (551-804-6481) to set up a time to fill out the registration form and pay your deposit to reserve your spot. There are a total of 4 spots and right now we have two spots open.
Nature exploration, gross motor, music, art, and sensory activities will be the focus. Each day will have a daily rhythm. The children will explore the many playgrounds, nature areas, splash pad and pools, while also having guided craft, musical and sensory based experiences and time to play indoors. Tuesdays will have a homemaking and art focus, Wednesdays will have an imagination, music and sensory focus and Thursdays will have an outdoor adventure focus. Starfruit Starshine has two community garden plots the children will help establish and maintain. One will be a pollinator and tea garden and the other will be a fruit & veggie garden.
Extended Day Options (until 3p) Available
Pricing: $15 per hour with a 4 hour minimum plus extra fees paid directly to instructors for special classes and a $7 daily materials fee
Drop In Care
Drop-in care is available, for any age child, any days of the week between the hours of 9a and 7p by appointment only. The rate of care is $22 per hour. I also offer overnights. Please reach out to have an interview and fill out one of our contracts in order to become a part of our drop in program. This is perfect if you are self employed with wonky hours, your child’s regular nanny / school / daycare is unavailable for the day, you would like a date with your partner in your own home sans kids or just would like a few hours so you can accomplish a home project or take an uninterrupted nap.
Please reach out with any questions:
551-804-6481
www.instagram.com/starfruitstarshine
starfruitstarshine@gmail.com
Starfruit Starshine Woodland Learners
The Starfruit Starshine Woodland Learners 2023-2024 School Year
Fall Semester begins August 22nd and ends December 21st 2023
Spring Semester begins early January 9th 2024 and ends in late May 2024
The program is held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9a-1p with the option of a stay & learn extended day
Pricing: Starting in Fall 2023 we will be switching to a tuition model, and there will be a list of pricing per month listed here soon.
Master Classes
We are very excited to announce the addition of master classes, where we will have guests coming on certain mornings to lead the children in an in-depth study of their area of expertise. Classes are open to the community at large, which gives the children a change to be in a larger group. In the past we have had a Spanish, yoga, gymnastics class.
Wild + Free Small Group: Golden Fern Collective
On the 2nd and 4th Thursdays we do a craft / small activity with a local small group of the same children, that is closed to the public. This gives the students a chance to experience consistency within. a medium sized group and to have various adults teach a lesson.
Learning Philosophy
Children learn by being allowed to explore the world around them. They learn by discovering and practicing a skill until they achieve mastery. If you have ever watched a child they might repeat the same sequence over and over. It’s their brain’s way of integrating the new skill. Children are movement based and thrive when all the senses are engaged. Providing ample opportunity for exploration and practice will be the focus for the program. We will be spending time at the various playgrounds, splash pads, lakes and our community garden plot.
For the Fall of 2023 and Spring of 2024 Woodland Learners will be blending the student directed learning method with the Montessori method of guiding children. Art will be created, songs will be sung, instruments will be played. Sensory experiences will be had. Practical life work such as tea making, flower arranging, and cleaning up snack, will be practiced. Language and math concepts will be introduced using hands on materials. Cultures will be celebrated and science will be explored. We are so excited to watch as our students interests emerge to inform us what we should learn next alongside the structure of the Montessori method our children become more independent, self directed learners.
Our Weekly Rhythm:
Tuesdays we do field trips twice per month to 3 different parks on a rotational basis & meet with our homeschool collective on those Tuesdays which has kids in it from ages 0-9. We explore the creek / pool depending on the season and I lead everyone in an activity. The days we don’t have the collective we have yoga and we do science experiments and art projects - I have a butterfly pea flower acids and bases liquid experiment planned that I’m excited about.
Wednesdays we focus on early literacy & math concepts as well as gross and fine motor skills. We use hands on montessori materials such as the moveable alphabet and the beads cabinet for learning letter sounds and early math.
Thursdays is our homesteader day, where we visit and tend to our garden plot, we cook / bake in the kitchen and we do lots of practical life and cultural explorations. Right now in January we are building a winter apothecary- we have made our own applesauce, fire cider and plan to make bone broth, tallow chapstick and moisturizer, garlic honey and a homemade cough syrup.
Our Daily Rhythm:
Sensory / Baking / Art Time
Morning Snack
Shelf Work
Songs, Stories and Adventure Outside
Creation Time, Garden time or Sensory Exploration
Lunch
Half Day children leave
Quiet Hour
Stories & Snack
Free Play
Pack up / Clean up
Please reach out with any questions:
551-804-6481
www.instagram.com/starfruitstarshine
starfruitstarshine@gmail.com
Each Day we will spend time outdoors exploring nature. There are many opportunities for sensory exploration of textures, water play and pretend play outside.
Mueller Lake
Mueller Lake
We are walking distance to Mueller Lake Park and and can go there for the kids to engage in gross motor play as well as animal observations and the nature trails. There are turtles, ducks, and other birds to observe.
South West Greenway
We live within walking distance of the South West Greenway, which is a man made lake with two water falls, nature paths, wild flower fields, a picnic table, butterfly garden and lots of herons and other birds to observe.
Community Garden Time
We have two plots at the Patterson Garden Community Garden that the children will tend to. We will plant seeds and plants, water them, weed the garden and visit other plots. So many practical life opportunities here! This season we are growing pollinators and are talking about bees a great deal using the Harbor and Sprout Bee unit. The children also are learning about the compost system. Last spring we built our plot out of sticks and layers of dirt. This fall we will plant some fall veggies and herbs for tea and make our own snacks and drinks out of our harvest.
Playground Time
We live within walking distance of several playgrounds, that all have different types of equipment and obstacles for the kids to explore. Each week we will visit these playgrounds to allow the children to engage in sensory experiences such as a sandbox, swinging and climbing.
Pool Time
In the warmer months we can all enjoy a dip in the neighborhood pools and engage in other water based activities. I have taught swim lessons in the past and my mom was a swim instructor growing up and I can help the littles become more comfortable in the water. In the future we will be offering a master class for swimming, with Ian Mckenzie. There is a very shallow section of the pool for tiny babies to splash in as well.
Pools & Parks
Swimming and Exploring
Indoor Time
Cooking, small world play, reading, gross motor games, music and art projects will be incorporated daily to build fine motor skills and engage the mind and imagination. Shelf work, sensory experiences and practical life skills will be had.
