Nature School – Homeschool
Sprouts
5 & 6 year old class
Tues. and Thurs. | 1pm to 4pm
$200 per month
Eco Explorers
7 & 8 year old class
Tuesday | 1pm to 4pm
$115 per month
Eco Explorers
9, 10 & 11 year old class
Wednesday | 1pm to 4pm
$115 per month
Eco Explorers
12, 13 & 14 year old class
Thursday | 1pm to 4pm
$115 per month
Important Information:
- Current prices are for the 2023-2024 school year.
- Students must be the specified age of the class on or before August 31, 2023.
- Classes start the Tuesday after Labor Day and usually ends the third week of May.
- There is a max of 12 students for Sprouts and 14 students for Eco Explorers with 2 teachers for all classes.
- Classes are held outside in all weather elements. Students must dress appropriately for the weather.
About Our Homeschool Program
Sprouts
This class is geared towards homeschool families looking for a program to supplement learning at home. Critical thinking, problem solving, and teamwork in an outdoor environment are the focuses of this class. Play, outdoor exploration, and nature and science concepts are implemented in the daily activities. Sprouts class follows a daily rhythm that includes:
- Unstructured hike and free play at various locations around camp
- Climbing trees and building dens
- Rope swing
- Going down our pipe slide
- Exploring Bogue Sound on low tide days
- Learning about our natural world
- Making mud creations in our mud kitchen
- Group Meeting
- Community building and sharing time
- Snack
- Teacher led activities including but not limited to
- Nature journals
- Science experiments and STEM activities
- Art exploration
- Mini lessons on animals, plants and ecosystems
- Local flora and fauna investigations
- Team Building
- Camp activities such as kayaking, technical tree climbing, archery, and giant swing
Eco Explorers
This class is geared towards homeschool families looking for a program to supplement learning at home for children ages 7-14. This class focuses on social-emotional skills, teamwork, critical thinking, and problem solving. Play, outdoor exploration, and nature and science concepts are implemented in the daily activities. Eco-Explorers class follows a daily rhythm that includes:
- Unstructured free play in the Play Den. The Play Den is home to
- the mud kitchen
- the construction zone and sandbox
- a four way teeter totter
- a hammock village
- a sensory table
- a teepee
- Group meeting
- Snack and stories
- Hikes to various areas of Camp Albemarle and may include
- climbing trees and building dens
- swinging on a tire and rope swing
- going down our pipe slide
- collecting treasures and searching for bugs
- exploring Bogue Sound on low tide days
- learning about our natural world
- Teacher led activities including but not limited to
- nature journals
- science experiments
- art exploration
- mini lessons on animals, plants and ecosystems
Enrollment Information
Click here for the registration form, here for the session offerings sheet, and here for the tentative 2023-2024 school calendar.
- Students currently enrolled in our program may register between January 30th and February 3rd.
- Siblings of currently enrolled students, alumni students, siblings of alumni students, and children of Camp Albemarle Staff may register between February 6th and February 10th until 3pm.
- The public has until February 10th at 3pm to turn in a registration form which will be entered in the registration lottery.
- Note: Current students, siblings, alumni families, and Camp Albemarle Staff families do not participate in the lottery.
- Registration forms received after February 10th will be enrolled or placed on the waitlist on a first come first serve basis.
- No e-mail registration forms will be accepted. Forms may be turned in or mailed to Nature School, 156 Albemarle Drive, Newport, NC 28570. An e-mail confirmation will be sent once we receive your registration form.
Lottery Process
- The Nature School at Camp Albemarle Lottery will take place on Monday, February 13th.
- All registration forms received from the public on or before February 10th at 3pm will be eligible for the lottery drawing. All applications received after February 10th at 3pm will be enrolled on a first come first serve basis or placed on the waitlist if the class is full, in the order, they are received.
- At least one member of the community (who is not staff, a Board member, or relative of students at Nature School) will be present at the lottery to make sure that all procedures are conducted fairly and accurately.
- Each registration form from the public will receive a number. Numbers will be pulled one at a time and the student will be placed in the desired class. If the class is full, the student will be placed on the waitlist. If a number is pulled that belongs to a student that already has a sibling enrolled in the program, his/her name will be moved to the top of the waitlist for the class.
- Parents will be notified within one week of the lottery of their child’s placement in the program. Upon notification:
- Parents of a preschool student or homeschool student will have one week to turn in the non-refundable registration and supply fee. These families will also need to schedule a tour if they have not already toured the school. This is to ensure that the family has a good understanding of our program.
- Parents of a lower grades student (K-5th) will have one month to complete an interview. The interview process is not to turn a family away, but to be sure that our approach and school is a good fit for the family. We want the family to have a solid understanding of how their child will be learning and that it will look quite different. This also gives families an opportunity to ask any questions they may have. Families will have one week from the completed interview to turn in the non-refundable registration and supply fee.
Important Notes
- This registration process is the same for all classes including Preschool, Homeschool, and Private School classes.
- Students must meet the age requirement by August 31st of the upcoming school year. Age requirements will be specified on the registration form.
Why Nature School?
- From the youngest preschooler to the oldest homeschooler, our students develop lasting and meaningful relationships with each other and their teachers
- Our students are challenged and encouraged to grow and learn at their own pace
- We teach about the importance of taking care of our earth, through learning about our natural world and the living plants and animals we share it with
- Students develop confidence and self-esteem through hands-on learning, appropriate risk-taking and leadership opportunities
- Spending time outside boosts the immune system, improves mood, increases attention spans, improves sensory skills, advances motor skills and leads to more creative play
Our homeschool classes feature:
- an emergent, child-led curriculum
- activities educating the whole-child - socially, physically, emotionally, spiritually and intellectually
- unstructured time in nature for exploring and adventuring
- an environment that encourages a child's inborn sense of wonder and curiosity to flourish
- low student to teacher ratios with teachers serving as mentors and modeling curiosity and engagement with nature