Program
2024-25 Program Offering
Fee Structure
Admissions & Application
2024-25 Offering
We are delighted to continue serving our multi-age cohort of children (ages 7-14) this coming year.
Unschooling at Sanctuary Woods
Location: The Salt Spring Baptist Church: 520 Lower Ganges Rd, Salt Spring Island, BC V8K 2P6.
Days: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
Hours: 9:30am - 3:00pm
Our 3 day mid-week program is run out of the Salt Spring Baptist Church, a sweet haven known a century ago as Sanctuary Woods. The staff there have been incredible partners in offering us extensive indoor and outdoor space for a large variety of program activities.
Sanctuary Woods is where we gather for mid-week learning adventures in our own unique Summerhill / Sudbury Valley style. The offerings and activities that our guides are ready to bring forward are designed to tantalize…but what we really want to know is – what are the kids jazzed to learn about right now?! Maybe we will launch right into practicing our first play, maybe we will design-build and race go-karts…maybe a kid will say “LARP” and off we go into a whole other kingdom…
Right from the start the kids will know that their ideas and desires matter. We will step into a Hogwarts ‘sorting hat moment’ and begin planning their first journey. We will ‘smorgasbord’ a wide smattering of possibilities to get our juices flowing. The kids will creatively map out their own learning goals each term and we are there to help scaffold the “how.”
Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the two most intimately linked days, as our projects carry over, develop, and evolve. Both days maintain the rhythmic touchstones of morning circle, a cozy “fika” (convivial snack and tea time), break out sessions in small groups with our four guides each leading a different level of skill-building ‘curriculum’, and deep dive projects in the afternoon. Wednesdays we bring in wonderful literacy and math tutors for extra help.
Thursdays present a slightly different flavour as we expand into the upstairs of our Sanctuary and invite more community connections, special guests, workshops, performances, ‘clubs’ and allow space for our wild tangents to branch off.
Domesteading at Paradise Within
Location: Paradise Within Permaculture Farm: 255 Musgrave Rd, Salt Spring Island, BC V8K 1V5
Days: Mondays and/or Fridays
Hours: 9:30am - 3:00pm
Our Monday and Friday program is hosted by our partners at Paradise Within Permaculture Farm. We convene in a beautiful geodesic dome on 60 acres of rainforest and farm, just a few minutes from the beach.
Paradise Within is where we meet for nature immersion, storytelling, art, handworks, games, social studies, ecology, indigenous knowings, permaculture farm work, harvest and foraging, foreign language studies (Swedish and Spanish), and all the glorious ‘domesteading’ activities of cooking on the campfire and woodstove.
Beautiful nature-inspired crafts and cultural projects will be offered. The children love their wholesome, grounding, free-spirited dome days where they are the stewards and forest keepers.
Mondays will feature some continuation of our work with Transition Salt Spring and Fridays will feature a Spanish immersion element.
Calendar & Holidays
First Day of School: September 10, 2024
Winter Break (3 weeks): Saturday December 13, 2024 - Sunday January 6, 2025
Spring Break (2 weeks): Saturday March 15, 2025 - Sunday March 30, 2025
Last Day of School: June 19, 2025
Sanctuary Woods Fee Structure
This year we want to acknowledge the diversity of incomes in our ecosystem by offering 3 potential tiers of tuition for our core Tues/Wed/Thurs program. Please read through and assess which rate best reflects your overall situation and actual budgeting choices (language borrowed with gratitude from Neighborhood Farm Schools). Wildhaven receives no government funding and so we encourage you to be as honest and generous as possible as you reflect. Rates include GST and all supply fees for the year (including organic snacks). Thank you!
Rate 1
$500/month
Our family is financially comfortable - we meet our needs for food, housing, and transportation with little stress. We have regular access to extended health care benefits (dental, vision, etc.). We can afford an annual vacation or other travel. We can regularly eat out, buy new clothes, go to the movies, etc.
Rate 2
$440/month
Our family may have some stress about finances but still regularly meets our needs. We have some debt but still can afford food, housing, and transportation. We have adequate employment. We buy some new things and thrift for others. We can eat out occasionally, and take a vacation every few years without a financial burden.
Rate 3
$375/month
Our family regularly has financial stress and it can be a stretch to pay our bills for basic needs like housing and transportation. We have no or very little expendable income, and are rarely able to devote financial resources to buying new things, eating out, or travel.
Domesteading Fee Structure
Mondays and Fridays at the dome are open both to folks participating in our core Tues/Wed/Thurs Sanctuary Woods program, as well as those just wanting to sign-up for stand-alone days. Here is the fee breakdown:
Stand-Alone
Mondays
$145/month
Fridays
$175/month
Enrolled in Sanctuary Woods
Mondays
$100/month
Fridays
$120/month
Admissions
Is your child ripe for a season of Wildhaven?
If you have reviewed our approach and philosophy and feel that Wilhaven may be a good fit for your child, we’d love to speak with you.
Next Steps
If you are a returning family or a new family interested in enrolling, please fill out the form below to schedule an initial intake conversation with Gigi.
