About Squamish Nature Learners
Mission & Vision Statement
Squamish Nature Learners is a non-profit organization run by a volunteer board of directors that works in collaboration with public education programming. The central themes of Squamish Nature learners are land-based learning, decolonization, reconciliation and learning from Squamish Nation mentors, and family and community collaboration. We aim to involve bodies, emotions, and imagination in our learning.
Our pedagogy weaves together Imaginative Ecological Education, Inquiry-Based Learning, Play Based Learning, and Co-teaching with nature. SNL aims to provide a diverse, inclusive, and nurturing environment for our students. A guiding question throughout our pedagogy is ‘How do we create social, cultural, and ecological change within education and our wider community?’
Academics
Squamish Nature Learners covers the BC Curriculum through hands-on, emergent, and experiential learning. For grades K-7 main lessons in science, language arts, social studies, arts, and physical health are offered at school. Most parents follow up with tutors and/or concentrated lessons for mathematics. Lessons are offered in a multi-age learning environment.
Children are assessed by BC educators to stay on target with the BC curriculum learning outcomes. Parents are invited to collaborate with teachers 3 times per year for learning conferences to discuss their child’s learning plans and report cards.
“Children will inherit and inhabit this world of advanced capitalism and the challenges of the Anthropocene. We are interested in how they approach these precarious times with imagination and hope.”
— Sommerville & Green (Children, Place and Sustainability)
Family and Community Involvement
We recognize the importance and celebrate the value of family involvement in student learning. A close-knit community of families supports all aspects of the school, from communal hot lunches to seasonal ceremonies. Volunteerism is the backbone of the program, and many parents adopt annual roles such as grounds maintenance, administration, fundraising or grant writing. Parent involvement allows us to keep tuition affordable - but more importantly, it gives families the gift of personally participating in their children’s education. We also have community volunteers who add to the diversity of lessons and experiences for the children.
First Nations Mentorship
We highly value the passing down of Indigenous knowledge to our children. Once a week a Squamish Nation mentor spends quality time with the children sharing their history, traditions, and ceremonies. They engage in story-telling to enlighten them on the why’s of their customs, carve paddles together, and learn cedar weaving. The children participate in traditional dance and song with the very people that have been model stewards of the land they have grown to love. The experience is hands-on and eye-opening for the whole community as we work towards healing, reconciliation and decolonization. Our families develop a special respect for the mentors who generously share their time with us, an appreciation for their ancient wisdom and the privilege of having access to it, and fond memories we take with us throughout the years.