Wilderness Learning Cooperative

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Wilderness Learning Cooperative

Wilderness Learning Cooperative (WLC) is an alternative, holistic educational initiative. BirdSong is a Nature-based foundation phase programme. Ages 4 - 8 yrs

Vision: To create a holistic learning experience that is deeply rooted in nature, to nurture the full development and potential of each child. BirdSong Foundation Phase Nature School
Inspired by the little-known fact that trees cannot grow without birdsong, we recognise that love, human potential and mother earth cannot thrive without the joyous song of free and creative children. We recognise that the phase between 4- 8 years is a developmentally appropriate stage for mixed learning, that still nurtures the playful innocence of early childhood whilst providing hands-on experiential learning. Our main focus for foundation phase learning is social coherence, introduction to concepts and a broad range of enriching, contextual and creative learning experiences.

08/12/2025

Language arts:

Language arts this year has been full of grammar, spelling and writing skills, but also fantastical storytelling and poetry.
And we read! we read to ourselves, to each other, in groups, and to the younger learners.
Our masterful language facilitator has taught us English, Afrikaans and Spanish so that we now can play games and converse in all 3! And we are mastering our penmanship on 3 levels, moving from print, to cursive, and to our budding masters... Calligraphy!

06/12/2025

Cultural arts this Spring!

This term has been an exploration in Agriculture. We looked at the history of agriculture, and looked at current mainstream and alternative methods. We learned our permaculture design principles and designed our own homesteads.
We have begun work on designing our permaculture system at school, learning about compost systems and creating a worm farm. and of course, as a whole school we got to share in the beautiful harvests of guavas, bananas and peaches grown right here in our learning glade.
We have also been inspired by visiting working farms and food systems and had Xhosa lessons as an extra bonus. We are so blessed to be in this beautiful country!

03/12/2025

A huge thank to for our awesome introduction to sailing! we had so much fun learning the theory and practice of sailing small yachts. We learned about the importance of our direction, wind direction and speed, how to estimate wind speed in knots, and how to steer and navigate against it.

If anyone is keen to learn how to sail, GLYC at the wilderness yacht club is a wonderful opportunity for this fun and healthful sport. They have successfully trained many qualified sailors now working around the world!

28/11/2025

Natural arts:

This term has been an adventure into all things AIR. from the 4 elements, to chemistry, to physical experiments, to weather, to simple machines, to creatures of flight, to our own respiratory system... Its been full and so much fun!

We went sailing, we went fishing, we tested many hypotheses, challenged each other to strength and pressure challenges, sewed our own wind socks, and built our own mini flying machines.

25/11/2025

Over the last few months we have had the privilege of inviting community members into our learning space with our Eagle’s Wings learners. Learning from real people, about their real experiences has been fascinating and enriching. Our learners are broadening their horizons, having beautiful experiences and are able to have their questioned answered with immediate knowledge and time-honoured experience.��
This is something we aim to continue as it has proven to be such a valuable resource, and inspires us to dream big and never give up!

Thank you to all those who contributed and brought in rich and vivid stories to regale. �We have learnt about saturation diving, sound healing with various singing bowls and frequencies, what it is to be a nature guide for National Geographic, and what it takes to finish the UTMB World Series trail running competition in the Alps.

Thank you so much to the people who have come to share themselves and their stories! We are so blessed!

21/11/2025

This has been a beautiful Spring after a long and very dry winter. We are so grateful to our heartful community. We hosted an art exhibition in the forest for all our families to enjoy during our Spring celebration. It was such a beautiful day, and so much love and laughter was shared!
Happy Spring everyone! As the days draw longer and warmer, as more light enters our lives, we wish everyone in our community love and happiness for the new cycle of sun and life ahead!

“No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.” – Hal Borland.

31/10/2025

Form drawing

During our winter term applied arts, we explored all things winter, wool and weaving. We stayed cosy with soft materials and warm conversations. We built our own frame looms, learnt various types of knitting and even included our ideas of weaving into our form drawing.
We explored different Celtic knots and incorporated graph concepts, working with our x- and y-axes, together with pattern and sequences. We worked in the round (a circle) with a single form, in a square with layered form and on a base (a triangle) with 2 interwoven forms.
This was a huge challenge in the beginning, but as the children became more familiar with the idea of Celtic knots, we were able to play with more complicated forms.
The children have really expanded their minds and skills over the last few months, and it was such fun to play with a theme in so many different, creative and hands-on ways.

28/10/2025

Weaving our Winter Story

When I think of winter, I think of steaming mugs, cosy clothes and blankets, and being huddled together in a group of friends, crafting and chatting merrily together.
This past winter, I feel like the Eagle’s students came somewhere close to this. Although this winter was very dry and warmer than usual, we still chose to enjoy a variety of knitted/ yarn crafts. This included finger knitting, crochet, needle knitting and even some macrame.
The absolute highlight of the season, though, was making our own frame looms from scratch! We measured, cut and notched our wood, put it all together, sanded it down to use our yarn without a snag (and learnt some hard practical lessons along the way). We learnt all about our warp and weft, the differences, tension and how to string our warp onto our looms. And of course, we now all get to enjoy sitting and chatting while unwinding with the peaceful art of over-under rhythms as we weave pretty and functional art.
Hands-on, practical learning gives us the skills to build confidence, build community and build our own stock of resources!

What a wonderful feeling! Many of the children weave in their free time now too!

24/10/2025

It is such a blessing to connect with students from another learning space, held by wonderful people with the same passion for educating children in a more real way. �
Our students thoroughly enjoyed meeting and connecting with the students of Heartlands. We held a day of beach sports and sandcastle building competitions. From our youngest to eldest, everyone got involved in races, volleyball and creating epic sandcastle worlds. �
This is enriched learning. This is community building. This is the kind of experience that a indoor, walled classroom cannot even begin to tell the story of.
We are so blessed to be surrounded by these incredible natural spaces. Buffelsbaai offers the perfect environment for space, expansion and unlimited exploration. With expansive beaches, lagoon, ocean, rolling dunes and rocky outcrops, exploring opportunities are unlimited.
Our minds were expanded, our bodies were stretched and our hearts were full. THANK YOU!

17/10/2025

THANK YOU NSRI Wilderness!

Our Eagles had such a wonderful time at the Sea Rescue station here in Wilderness. We learnt all about their operations and incredible volunteering service. We were so inspired to meet real local heroes, who work tirelessly to keep our beaches, rivers and lakes safe. They taught us water safety, basic first aid and CPR. We learnt emergency knots, how to clearly identify rip currents and how to sit on speeding vehicles on rough surf.
Our Birdsong children learnt water safety, how to safely save someone from drowning and got to play with the radios, learn how to kit up, and learnt interesting facts all about the different rescue vehicles.

.23.wilderness you were inspiring and wonderful hosts! Thank you so much!

11/10/2025

Join us for some fun this weekend!!!

Address

Wilderness

Website

http://www.wildlearn.co.za/

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