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Kortright Centre for Conservation’s Home School Program is a dynamic educational experience best suited to children aged 4-16.

Over 4-8 weeks of immersive sessions, learners engage deeply with the natural world, exploring Kortright’s diverse ecosystems through inquiry-driven learning.

home school student learns mapping and orienteering skills at Kortright Centre

The program blends academic subjects with hands-on outdoor experiences, fostering curiosity and connection with nature.

Each session is tailored to the students’ interests, seasonal changes, and the specific features of Kortright’s landscape.

Whether investigating the buzzing activity of the apiary, navigating the rich biodiversity of the hardwood forest, or observing the seasonal changes of the wetlands, students discover science, engineering, technology, math, arts, history, and culture in a real-world context.

Educators navigate students to answers through thematic explorations, encouraging them to pose questions, conduct experiments, and engage in creative problem-solving.

Activities are designed to be both educational and exhilarating, from building shelters, learning survival skills, mastering the low ropes course, to analyzing the significance of historic artifacts.

homeschool student practice on low ropes course at Kortright Centre for Conservation
homeschool students enjoy outdoor experiences at Kortright Centre for Conservation
homeschool students learn to build a wilderness shelter during the winter at Kortright Centre for Conservation

Our approach blends academic learning and fosters essential life skills such as teamwork, resilience, and empathy while promoting environmental stewardship.

The program’s flexibility allows it to adapt to the unique rhythms of the land, seasons, and the evolving interests of its participants, ensuring a rich and personalized educational experience.

Each weekly session has a predictable routine that incudes directed investigation, independent exploration, collaborative work, and free play, scaffolding their experiences across sessions, toward learning goals.

By the end of the program, students gain a profound understanding of their natural surroundings, broaden their knowledge of topics that are of personal interest, and deepen their relationship with the land.

A mixed-age group, learners develop new skills, explore complex concepts, and deepen their understanding of familiar topics.

Older students can practice empathy and patience, while younger students engage with advanced activities and challenges, enhancing their skills and understanding.

This setup also provides a supportive environment for children that need a break from traditional education and fosters experiences of nurturing and helping others.

Programming is entirely outdoors and occurs rain or shine, with accommodations made for extreme weather.

a homeschool at Kortright Centre for Conservation searches for owl pellets among the fallen leaves

DAILY FLOW

Welcome & Introduction of the day’s theme
Group Dynamics: Teambuilding, games, and creating a plan for the day together
Hike/Walk to Location: Such as the Humber River, Hardwood Forest, Solar Field – each chosen for learning opportunities related to theme
Skill Development/Activity: Directed learning followed by independent exploration
Review & Reflection: Opportunity to explore further & deepen knowledge and record experiences
The final session typically closes with a meal, prepared and shared by the participants.

COMMON TOPICS & THEMES

Animal Tracks & Traces: Identify animals, adaptations, food sources, trapping, footprint and scat identification, and what role humans play in a healthy ecosystem.
Archaeology: A visit to our archeological site, understanding artifacts and historical and contemporary material culture.
Bees & Monarchs: The importance of pollinators, a visit to the apiary, beekeeping, Monarch migration, life cycles, and protecting at-risk species and habitats.
Farming & Agriculture: Exploring the historic, traditional, regenerative, and contemporary practices of growing, cultivating, harvesting and even processing agricultural products. Follow our food from forest & field to table across time.
Fire: Safe handling and effective technique for success. Locate supplies, build a one-match fire, open fire cooking, and extinguish safely.
Food Webs: Understanding the nutrient cycle, decomposers, ecosystems, salamander, frog, and toad search, composting and fungi.
Maple Syrup: An insider’s look at harvesting and processing maple syrup at Kortright. Science, math, and traditional knowledge come together in a delicious experiential learning opportunity.
Nature Journaling: A study of our environment across the weeks, using the scientific method, observation, and daily journaling activities; students may choose their approach and will be provided guidance and adaptive journaling activities.
Orienteering & Weather: Understanding the cardinal directions, mapping, geocaching, reading the clouds and environment for information.
Shelters & Habitats: Understanding wilderness survival and shelter building, examining environments and adapting to change. We will build shelters and learn the five skills and four priorities of survival.
Technology in Nature: Solar power, wind turbines, geothermal, kites, sustainable building, carbon footprints. Examine renewable energy sources, science, technologies, and implementation.
Water: Water cycle, watersheds, streams, dams, water velocity, hands-on learning in the Humber River with pond studies.
Wild Edibles & Useful Plants: Discover how to identify and the uses of our local flora, seasonally. Make dye, cordage, and forest tea.

BOOKING YOUR PROGRAM

Upcoming Sessions

SPRING 2025

Program Dates & Times:

Mondays April 7, 14, 21, 28, May 5, 12, 26, June 2, 2025
Wednesdays April 9, 16, 23, 30, May 7, 14, 28, June 4, 2025
1:00 to 3:30 p.m.

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FALL 2025

Program Dates & Times:

Mondays, September 15, 2025 to November 10, 2025 (except October 15)
Wednesdays, September 17, 2025 to November 12, 2025 (except October 15)
1:00 to 3:30 p.m.

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Minimum registration is required for program to run.

TRCA Cancellation Policy

Cancellation requests received by Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) more than 30 days before the start of the camp program will receive a 75% refund of the relevant program fees paid. Cancellation requests received by TRCA less than 30 days before the start of the camp program do not qualify for a refund. Rescheduling is subject to availability. There is no refund for camp days missed or children opting not to participate in activities. Cancellation requests must be received in writing by email to vservices@trca.ca. Minimum registration numbers required for camp to operate. In the event TRCA must cancel the camp due to low registration or government order, a full refund will be issued.