"I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out… for going out, I found, was really going in." -John Muir

Mother Earth School supports the healing of humanity by transforming education with reverence for the wisdom inherent in nature. We offer year-round nature immersion education in a forest and farm environment. We are committed to hiring teachers who are pursuing training in Diversity Awareness, Permaculture Design, Waldorf Education and Traditional Living Skills. We base our curriculum on practical life work and the rhythms of the seasons; enlivening the senses and cultivating confidence, creativity, a sense of place and a relationship with the natural world. We believe that education is a healing art. Our work is rooted in gratitude and honors the wisdom of each individual. We strengthen our community through integrity in our communication and by hosting conversations and trainings toward social and personal enrichment.

Our vision is to create an educational experience for early childhood and grade school children in which all subjects are steeped in elements of the outdoors. The children will be learning life skills through building small classrooms made of cob, cooking over fire in the outdoor kitchen, growing their food for school lunches, starting fires by friction, playing outside, caring for farm animals, making musical instruments, crafting with items from nature, integrating practical arts into daily life (food preservation, wild crafting, homemade remedies, basketry, etc..), designing and maintaining grey water and rainwater catchment systems, tracking animals in the forest, building forest shelters, etc... Once the school is firmly established, our goal is to be entirely off-the-grid and the children will be sustaining themselves by creating everything they need for school. When integrating place-based survival skills with the principles of permaculture and the philosophy of Waldorf education in an outdoor immersion environment, learning becomes meaningful and relevant.

There is a service element at the heart of this program. Extra food from the gardens may be donated to the food bank, and flowers may be grown and delivered to elderly neighbors. With community at our core, the school not only includes the children and teachers, but families, friends and neighbors as well. Sharing skills and celebrating the seasons through Earth-honoring festivals are experiences that connect capable people of all ages who honor and care for the Earth.

At Mother Earth School, we recognize that there are many movements that are currently working toward creating a brighter future. We also believe that large-scale change will not happen while each impulse is carried out separately. Our stragety is to integrate the wisdom that is at the heart of the Waldorf education movement while simultaneously advocating for the ways of the land-based cultures that have been displaced by modernization. We strive to understand the regenerative designs implemented by nature and to apply them to our own systems and relationships using permaculture techniques. We are building community, modeling acceptance, encouraging awareness, instilling the value of hard work and acting from a place of joy. This new educational paradigm creates the sense of purpose that is needed at this very time in human history.

In order to realize this vision in its entirety, we are in need of more land. At Tryon Life Community Farm, we are sharing the land with so many other projects that we cannot fully bring this vision to fruition. There are 2.3 acres of land just up the road from TLC Farm that also back to Tryon Creek State Park. Although the land is slated for development, the owners are willing to sell it to us. We are currently raising funds to acquire this land. For more information, please view our Overview and Proforma.