Youth Programs
Connect and Thrive
3 learning domains
4 programs for youth ages 7-18
About
Our four youth programs follow the same yearly structure: 21 lessons per year that pair Experiential Tracking with Narrative Tracking.
Each lesson links land routines and projects so students build skills, cooperation, and perspective across Nature, Prosocial, and Universal domains.
Schools receive full access to the teacher education program, including planning guidance, mentoring supports, and ready-to-use materials for all 21 learning units, so staff can deliver consistent experiential and narrative lessons across the year.
This model is rooted in the 'Connect and Thrive' book and is supported by the educator course that prepares teachers to use the compass, the narrative, and the routines in place.
3 Learning Domains
Nature Connection &
Earth Regeneration
Youth begin with steady routines on the land, reading place through tracking and sit spots, then apply what they learn in soil, water, habitat, and food projects. The compass for this domain organizes attention and practice so sensory awareness grows into ecological literacy and hands-on restoration, while the Experiential and Narrative Tracking Paths keep fieldwork linked to big-picture understanding. Two-Eyed Seeing guides design so local action aligns with regenerative economics and community priorities. This forms the ecological base of a 22nd-century education.
Prosocial Connection & Community Regeneration
Learners move from solo practice to teamwork and shared projects, setting roles and agreements, learning to decide together, and running mentoring circles that design local learning sites with Elders and partners. Frameworks from Ostrom, Wilson, and Manji shape cooperative structure, psychological flexibility, and principled dialogue so groups can plan, resolve conflict, and co-create visible work in place. These habits link study with action and build the civic capacity needed for durable community regeneration.
Universal Connection &
Human Regeneration
The focus widens to meaning, story, and responsibility to the unknown, bringing prosocial biology, moral courage, systems thinking, and planetary citizenship into view. Two-Eyed Seeing and related practices help learners hold uncertainty with care, connect personal purpose to shared narratives, and align ethical reflection with real stewardship. As the capstone, this domain ties land practice and community work to a larger horizon, preparing youth to navigate complexity with clear methods and shared responsibility.
4 Youth Programs
Ages 7-9
Pathfinders - Inspiration
Pathfinders invites younger learners into the journey through simple daily routines at home and on the land, supported by sit spot and playful practice. The focus is inspiration, so children notice, name, and share what they find, while the compass keeps attention on nature connection, prosocial storytelling, and first questions about the wider unknown. Programs run across seven school locations worldwide and use the book’s Experiential and Narrative Tracking Paths to link practice with purpose and with the River System of Human Time story.
At home in the natural world
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Ages 10-12
Bridge Builders - Focus
Bridgebuilders develops teamwork and shared responsibility as learners deepen skills in shelter, water, fire, and food, focus group habits, and learn to plan together in mentoring circles. The compass frames prosocial learning with clear agreements and community tasks, and the narrative path introduces regenerative stream economies so students connect daily practice with local care and simple economic choices. Sites operate in coordinated global locations, with Elders and partners guiding Two-Eyed Seeing across the three learning domains.
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Ages 13-15
Wayfinders - Transformation
Wayfinders turns skills and focus into design and reflection, so crews take on real projects, study thresholds of disconnection, and practice connected community methods. Learners work across the three domains while exploring the River System of Human Time, source-evolved capacities, and the Anthropocene, with rites of passage style challenges sized to place. The aim is transformation through coordinated land work, intercultural dialogue, and systems thinking that ties story to action.
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Ages 16-18
High School - Mastery
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The high school program consolidates mastery across Nature, Prosocial, and Universal domains, with advanced projects in restoration and regenerative design, participatory governance and storytelling, and cross-cultural inquiry and futures planning. Students read local and regional systems, plan with partners, and take on stewardship roles that prepare them for connected regenerative economies and leadership beyond school. The Seven Directions Compass and the two linked paths keep work aligned across sites and seasons.