Earth Dance

A Summer Day Camp for Children
with Special Needs

A Place for All Children to Learn,
Connect & Grow

Program dates for 2011:

June 27 - July 1st
Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 10am - 2pm
Age 7 - 11, Cost: $150

All of our children have a place here on this bountiful earth. Earth Dance is a unique camp which offers an opportunity for children with special needs, to connect with nature and those around them.  This camp houses the entire core learning experiences that have always been at the heart of Living Earth School.  The children will be offered hands on learning experiences in a small group setting, to connect and discover the world around them. 

Your child will be given a chance to take part in games, adventures and challenges, that will allow them to learn and grow in the rhythms of nature.  They will learn to move quietly through the forest like an animal and open their awareness and senses, to what is happening around them.  They will create and build things, that are gathered from the earth with their own two hands.  Your child will take pride in making a debris shelter that will keep a person alive and warm if ever lost in the woods.   All of these experiences can provide a gateway for your child to find their own way of connecting and give them a true sense of belonging to this world.  The instructors are here to integrate and modify these activities to meet the individual needs of each child.  This will always be provided in a safe, fun and nurturing way.

Earth Dance is a holistic approach in teaching.  Our activities intentionally promote opportunities for growth in the child's fine motor, gross motor, cognitive and social skills.  If your child is capable of walking on uneven terrain, wade in a stream and sit safely by a campfire, then they may truly find this camp to be the highlight of their summer.  This is where therapy can be offered in a natural way, grounding us to the earth.  Nature has a special way of crossing boundaries and speaking to us all.

Living Earth School is honored to have such wonderful teachers running this camp.  Robyn Ebelherr, is a certified Special Education Teacher with  10 years of teaching children with different abilities in public,  & private schools.  She is a mother of three children and attributes much of her teaching experiences, through walking this earth with her 9 year old daughter, who has Down syndrome.   She has a passion for giving opportunities for all children to be included in the joys this world has to offer.

Jennifer Borishansky is the director of The Community Homeschool Enrichment Center in Charlotteville, VA.  She is mother of two boys, including a  7 year-old with autism and cerebellar hypoplasia.  She considers having a special child, to be one of the greatest blessings of her life and takes each step of this sweet journey with a heart full of gratitude.