“After 8 hours outside in the woods my two boys come home dirty, tired, and full of energy, stories, ideas and new skills. They are healthy, strong, self assured; we are building the leaders of tomorrow.””
- home school parent
· About Youth Programs
· Home Learners Programs
· Community Programs
Earth Mentoring Project @ EcoVillage
Special Events
· 4-H Youth Development
Community-wide After School Programs
· Testimonials
About Youth Programs
Each year Primitive Pursuits offers experiential environmental education programs to hundreds of local youth, helping them to put into practice critical life skills, and to realize their direct impact as caretakers of the Earth. Our curriculum offers lessons in ecology, environmental literacy, natural history, and peer mentoring - in the context of practicing wilderness survival skills and facing group challenges. This model has proven to be an effective way to bridge the growing gap between our modern culture and the natural world that sustains us.
These programs are made possible through a partnership with Cooperative Extension Association of Tompkins County and 4-H Youth Development.
Through the exploration of ancestral living skills and nature awareness challenges, students gain experiences that increase self-confidence and life skills development while leading them towards having positive, meaningful relationships with the cycles of life around them. Activities include:
· Plant use and identification
· Learning survival basics
· Preparing wild foods
· Lodge building
· Hide tanning and crafting
· Fire by friction
· Tracking
· Ecology and wildlife observation
· Aidless navigation
· Knife use and safety
· Making cordage and natural dyes
· Water purification
· Scout and awareness games
· Teambuilding dialogue
· Studying animal behavior
· Crafting stone and bone tools
· Storytelling
· Hazard identification and protocols
Season of the Gatherers
Even as the summer sun continues to shine and the afternoon thundershowers continue to build, little creatures who live close to the land begin to look forward to the coming of Autumn and the changing of the seasons. Join us again, or for the first time, this fall as we continue to grow familiar with the natural world around us and to find our place in it. This time of year is dedicated to the harvesting and to feeling gratitude for the richness of our lives. We will find our forest shelters, gather fruits and fibers, play games, challenge our senses, and build ropes from our central fire.
· Ages 6 - 16
· Thursdays 9:00 - 1:30
· In Ithaca @ 4-H Acres on Lower Creek Rd, off Rt. 13
· Parents may join us each day from 1:00 - 1:30
· Cost: $300—$400 sliding scale*
* This is a self-determined sliding scale. Funds from this scale contribute to scholarships throughout our community for those who could otherwise not attend.
Northern Lights Program
Starting in September ‘07 we will be offering our second parent and child session to members of the Northern Lights Learning Center. For more information about this program please contact Stephanie Haskins shaskins@usadatanet.net
Earth Mentoring Project @ Eco Village
A unique program bringing together the community at EcoVillage with Earth Arts and Primitive Pursuits. For more information or to register for the fall please contact us via e-mail at info@primitivepursuits.net or call (607) 272 - 2292 ext. 261
4-H Youth Development
After School Programs
Through a partnership with 4-H Youth Development, Primitive Pursuits offers after school enrichment programs funded by Rural Youth Services and the Joint Youth Commission for school districts throughout Tompkins County. For further information please contact the youth services program manager for your district:
· Dryden - David Hall, dh67@cornell.edu
(607) 272 - 2292ext. 223
· Danby - Tom Archibald, tga4@cornell.edu
(607) 272 - 2292 ext. 222
· Enfield - Beth Bannister, bab4@cornell.edu
(607) 272 - 2292 ext. 229
· Groton - Viola Fitzgerald, violafitz13@yahoo.com
(607) 898-5803 ext. 430
· Lansing - Isabel Bazaldua, (607) 533-4271 ext. 2118 ibazaldua@mail.lansingschools.org
· Newfield - Linda Schoffel, ljs48@cornell.edu
(607) 272-2292 ext. 227
· Trumansburg - Nancy Irish, nls32@cornell.edu
(607) 387-5839
· Town of Ithaca - Monica Dykeman, mmd1027@aol.com (607) 272-2292 ext. 230
Testimonials and
Community Feedback
Here’s what some parents of our participants have expressed about their kids’ experiences at Primitive Pursuits:
“This program brings children to the laboratory of learning and gives them new windows through which they can perceive themselves, their peers, and the world around them. They are challenged to engage in their natural environment not just as a pass through from one building or vehicle to the next...but rather as the ultimate sphere of existence and one that is credibly our only true ‘container’.”
“My son...is between being a young boy with natural fears and a big boy who can move through his environment with self-assurance. Primitive Pursuits had a noticeable impact, as I have seen [him] move through the forest with more confidence. He was able to be comfortable with identifying poison ivy and also less fearful of the forest in the dark…”
“I want to thank you for voicing for our young people an appreciation and way of recognizing the deeper importance of our human connection with nature. This gives these children a new vocabulary that enables them to articulate for themselves, at other times, their feelings about their connection to nature.”
And here is some feedback from other education professionals who have employed our program:
“I’m writing to thank you for the outstanding programming you’ve provided for youth in the Newfield community over the past year. The activities… have enriched the lives of dozens of children, particularly those among our at-risk populations. In addition the indispensable life skills you have engendered, including leadership, cooperation, and self-responsibility, will continue to serve them throughout their lives.”
- youth service program manager
“Primitive Pursuits uses hands-on, experiential types of learning opportunities to instruct people of all ages… I give them my highest recommendation as a program that is an ideal alternative to traditional educational settings.”
- public school teacher
