NATURAL LEADERS
​ADVENTURE | INDEPENDENCE | COURAGE
  • HOME
  • PROGRAMS
    • Homeschool Programs >
      • Program Description
      • View Offerings & Register
      • Mock Day - '23-'24 Homeschool Program
      • Homeschool Trial Day Program
      • Calendar
    • Summer Day Programs >
      • Summer Registration
    • Advanced Programs >
      • Summer Overnight
  • REGISTER
    • Homeschool Registration (2022-23)
    • Summer Registration
    • Under-7 Waitlist >
      • Under-7 Pilot Program
    • Registration Policies
  • ABOUT
    • OUR TEAM
    • CONTACT
    • TESTIMONIALS
    • JOIN THE TEAM!
    • Privacy
  • LEARN!
    • Adventure Reports
    • Animals
    • Basketry
    • Bow Drill
    • Clay
    • Cooking
    • Coordinator
    • Cordage
    • Dyeing
    • Fire
    • Firing Pots
    • Games
    • Gear List
    • Knife Choice
    • Navigation
    • Pandemic
    • Photography
    • Plants
    • Presenting
    • Safety
    • Spoons & Spatulas
    • Storytelling
    • Survival Shelter
    • Group Shelter
    • Tarps
    • Ticks
    • Tinder
  • BLOG
  • Homeschool Parent Portal
    • Summer Parent Portal

The Fox Twins Sense a Slight Disturbance in the Forrest

1/31/2019

0 Comments

 
Adventure Report for 1/17, Bowie Natural Leaders
By RA
​It was a cold, snowy day as the children in Mr. Nick’s class gathered in the parking lot. We have some new children participating in the winter session class. They started introducing themselves, unaware of two sets of eyes watching them from behind some bushes.
"I can’t see! Get out of the way!" A unknown voice hollered.
"Just hold on. I want to see what they’re doing!" Another voice bellowed.
"So do I!" The creature started climbing over the other.
"Get off of me!" The creature below shook wildly, causing the other to fall.
"Let’s try not to get seen, okay?! They already saw you running once! They  could have captured you!”
The animal that had fallen was in the sunlight. She had red, dirty fur from rolling
around.
"Whatever, Flare. I bet they like foxes,” she said.
"Uh oh! Hurry up, Flame! they’re coming this way!"

       The group was completely unaware of these two foxes. They continued on their journey, chattering like squirrels.
       "Why must they talk so much?" Flare questioned as she peeked her head out from some bushes.
       "I think they’re friends. Too bad we can’t be friends because we are twins." Flame replied, rolling around.
Not long after the kids started playing a game called wolves and white tails, also known as wolves and caribou, they threw socks at each other. The foxes thought this was odd.
       "They don’t look like wolves to me! They look like puny little kids." Flare snorted. "Let’s get going before we get seen!" She got up carefully then began running in a random direction.
       "Wait for me!" Flame hollered, running after her twin sister.
They ran around the woods, destroying random snowmen that the kids had made. After a while, they rested by a log that crossed the river to the other side.  This was the only way across the river.
       Suddenly, Flame rose her head. "Do you hear that? Silly squirrels are causing a ruckus!"
       "Those aren’t squirrels! Those are humans!" Both of the foxes bolted up as they heard footsteps.
       Flame ran across the log, Flare running in her footsteps. They ran up the hill and darted in different directions.
       "Flame! This way! Follow my footsteps!" Flare shouted.
       "But this way is more safe!" Flame argued.
       "No it isn’t!" Flare argued back.
       "Fine." Flame followed her sister.
 
       "See, these are fox tracks," a tall human, who probably wasn't a kid, pointed to the log.
       A not so large group of kids gathered around the log. “Wow!”
      The foxes continued their journey. Both the foxes made it to a broken car site. They went inside and messed around for nearly half an hour. Suddenly, the silly squirrels started chattering again.
       "Do you hear that?" Flare jumped out of the car. "I think they’re coming back!"
       "They couldn’t be! They had lots of trouble not being able to cross the log, remember? They climbed the sides which probably took them awhile."
       "Well, I think awhile is over. I hear footsteps!" Flare bolted behind a large tree.                                      
The children started appearing, and Flame bolted after her twin sister. The group sat down in a drainage. They dropped sticks into a pile and started sorting them.
       "I’m doing the really thin sticks."
       "I’ll do the thick ones, then."
       After sorting the sticks, some of kids wandered off and others started assembling them into a fire. After a while, there was hollering and screaming. Flame peeked out from the tree and saw the children throwing snowballs.
       Wait a second, Flame thought. I think they've multiplied! There’s so many more!
       The kids finally settled down, gathering around a fire that had just been lit. They started eating, warming food on the fire, and again, chattering like squirrels! Some stood up beside the drainage and started talking while others would listen. Something about a moose and a leprechaun, angry trees and a squirrel eating something called popcorn.
Maybe that’s why they talk so much, because of whatever popcorn is! Flame thought. But how do humans hear trees? I can’t hear trees, but maybe squirrels do! They must be squirrels! Flame was so deep in thought she hadn’t even noticed that one of them was talking about knife safety.
     "C’mon Flame, they’ll spot you!" Flare whispered, running behind another tree.
     They hopped across a little stream and ran into the woods. The small group had followed them again, so they stayed behind a tree for a long time. The humans looked around, heading for the log right by the foxes. They started collecting sticks, and eventually, rolling giant snowballs. They built a shelter, squishing themselves inside. Finally, they started headed back.
      Flame noticed that Flare had fallen asleep in the shelter. I’ll follow them by myself, then, she thought.
       Flame followed the group. All the kids gathered up and started hitting each other with snowballs. Whoever got hit had to touch a tree.
       These ‘kids’ are unusual, Flame thought. Hitting each other with snowballs? Maybe they have declared war. Squirrel war.
The kids started heading back and Flame followed. The kids stopped by the side of a road, saying their names again and what part of the day they enjoyed. Finally, they all separated, said goodbye to each other,and got into their odd rectangular thing which rolled on the ground. Flame headed back to Flare to tell her about these chattering squirrels disguised as humans.
Picture
Photos by JS (above and below). Above: students experience the challenge of shelter craft with snow on the ground.
Picture
Epic snowball fight game!
Picture
Heading back, fording the stream.
Photo by Nick 
0 Comments

A Bowie NL Adventure Report

1/28/2019

0 Comments

 
If you've been following our student Adventure Reports, you'll love this one!

By NB


*even more flamboyant British accent*

​Elloelloello mate! Today I shall tell you a tale. A grand tale. A splendiffurous tale. A chewy tale like a luscious gooey chocolate fudgey caramel. Today started with a jolly little game called Red Rover.

“Didjery doo!” cried Mr Nick. “Let us all pay our attention to Nora.”

“Oh, jolly days! Ok!” cried the little kiddies. So Norah taught us all how to play Red Rover, in which two teams made a chain with their hands and each person called someone over to break the chain by rambunctiously ramming into their hands.

“In all my days!” gasped Ani. “Look at those jays! Let us not enter their gaze!” she rhymed.

Then we frolicy dodily dod into the forest, led by Rebecca.
“Wheeee!” we all cried as we ran through the forest. Five seconds later our cheers had changed into depressing moans.

“Oh, this is absolutely tragic!” we wept as we tore at our hair, exhausted. Jena commanded us to go on to the gravel pits, a desert that was far, far into the distance. At last, we managed to scoot our bums across the log that was dangling precariously over an endless gap that fell into the void. There were little rocks that could severely hurt us.

Jena said in a thick pirate voice, “Mates, we must be gitten along now mate! Catcatcatcat! ThunderClan catcatcat. ShadowClan catcatcat!” Nora responded Scottishly with,

“Aye, we must be gitten along now, aye! Catcatcat, ShadowClan catcatcat, Yellowfang catcatcat.”

So we scooched alone. And finally, after thirty years of travel, we at long last arrived at… *dramatic music* the gravel pits! It was very gravely and plainey, filled with long grass and a burnt down house! We scralloped over, pouring down the hill like honey oozing down a jar. Or melted ice cream. Or melted chocolate. Or melted gummy bears. Which is a little yucky, but STILL! Yay!


Picture
So we all ran down to a little ditch. Lily And Kate, the powerful little firemakers, went pow pow zing pow pow, and there was fire.

“My goodness!” we cried joyously. “That’s amazing!”

“Indubitably.” replied Kate proudly.

“And I brought some cakey bits.” announced Asia.

“Oh, scrumdidlyumtious!” cried everyone. There was chocolate! Hot dogs! Chips! Marsy mellows! Cookies! Cakey bits! Roasted nuts! Yummies! We fall upon the food, gladly stuffing our faces until they didn’t look remotely like faces anymore.

Meanwhile, Allan created another fire.

Khaliyah rose to tell us a story about a very peachy child, which made us light up in glee. Then we ate our jolly foods, and ran to play doubleball. Our sticks we had cherished for months as we fought our way through the forest, and were carved with care. We were ready.

“Gasp!” we all gasped in sync as a fox scrubbled its way through the forest under our very noses! A few moments later there was a new shout.

“Aye, lookat ze jaw on ze ground, aye! (catcatcat StarClan catcatcat french bulldog for some reason catcatcatcatcat)” said Norah.

“Oyo mate!” said Mr Rhys. “Well looki there, tis a fox jaw!” he inhaled with wonder.

“Indubitably.” said Kate.

Finally, after a long trek, we all circled, and spoke of circles, and spheres, and other round things like balls!

“I liked the class,” began Ani. “We trekked across grass, and never shattered like glass.”

We snapped our fingers.

Mr Nick raised his hands. “Didjery doo. There might not be time.”

“For what?” we cried, aghast.

“For doubleball, the game of the past, the game that we always have played.” Mr Nick said.

“Oh no, oh why? Oh horrors, oh my!” wept Ani. We all argued profusely, claiming that we always had played doubleball.

“Fine, if we have the time. Didjery doo!”

Finally we set off to play a short but glorious game. We charged and we flied, and we went as fast as our wee scrappy feets could go. We then played one of the most unfair games of doubleball.

There was the tall team, and the short team. It was ‘Coons versus Bees, the Coons being the short team and the Bees being the tall.

We tried and we tried, but it ended in a tie.

We all went, “Whyyyyy!!!”

Ani wrote that down, fascinated by the rhyme. “Indubitably!” shouted Kate, throwing her stick to the ground. In the end we remained jolly, and froliced back to our little houses, lit with bombastic happiness.

“‘Till the next session!” Mr Nick called out.

“Didjery doo!” we cheered in reply.
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Happy New Year!

1/14/2019

0 Comments

 

We wish you an adventurous New Year!
And we've got your resolutions covered:
  • Get your kids unplugged and loving the outdoors (any program). 
  • Teaching your child public speaking, time management, leadership (NL Homeschool program).
  • Lose weight - with our new Wilderness Survival Immersion experience!
Picture
NOW OPEN: Summer day program registration!

We are excited to offer 6 great weeks of amazing adventure at 4 convenient locations:
  • Springfield 
  • Gaithersburg
  • Great Falls
  • Lorton 
New and returning students will have a blast at our Ultimate Explorer day program.  

Enrollment is limited and registration is open, so reserve your spot
today!

 ​
Picture
NOW OPEN: The Natural Leaders Homeschool Program - Winter 2019!

Enroll, or re-enroll your homeschooler today in our transformative program that will:
  • Level up your child's social and leadership skills.
  • Develop character, confidence and responsibility.
  • Instill lifelong confidence and love of nature.
  • Teach real "hardcore survival skills."
Reserve your child's spot here.
Picture
NOW OPEN: Wilderness Survival Immersion!

Our first ever program of its kind - an opportunity for a small group of older, more advanced students who are ready to put their skills to the test under the guidance of exceptional, highly skilled mentors.

Learn more here.
 
Copyright © 2019 Natural Leaders, All rights reserved. 
0 Comments

    Natural Leaders 
    ​Blog

    Mentors, facilitators and students blog here.

    Archives

    June 2021
    February 2020
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Wilderness First Responder Badge from NOLS Wilderness Medicine
Natural Leaders
Contact
Terms & Conditions
© COPYRIGHT 2015. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.