There are quotes from Program attendees and parents scattered throughout our Program pages…here are a few more…
Thank you for creating a program that gives kids the chance to be themselves, unplug and get to know the natural world, and learn some great survival skills.
Our child has been attending Earthworks for many years. There is always plenty to learn from identifying plants and primitive fishing to self defense. The counselors are welcoming and respectful and create an atmosphere of cooperation and acceptance. There is an an overall attitude of positivity and emphasis on acknowledging campers strengths. The pace of the camp is relaxed and always engaging.
At younger ages, our child loved learning to light a fire without matches, carve with a knife and loved playing all the great field games. Given the responsibility of handling a knife and fire and being trusted to follow the safety rules felt like a right of passage and gave him a feeling of competency at a young age. The overnight stays allowed for independent and taught him to be resourceful. He can now build a shelter that will keep him dry and warm even if it pours rain.
Our child returned to Earthworks as an LIT this summer which gave him the opportunity to take a leadership role and pass on what he has learned. Even as an LIT, he is still gaining knowledge and learning many new skills. The fact that as a teenager, my child still loves to go to Earthworks is evidence of the depth of the program. There is always more to learn at Earthworks. His proficiency in wilderness and survival skills and his confidence in himself have flourished over the years at Earthworks. And these feelings of self assurance have spilled over into other areas of his life.
Thank you for your fantastic program. It has played and internal part in our child’s personal growth and education. I highly recommend Earthworks to all families.
Donna – mom of an Earthwork Programs Leader-in-Training
Some of my family and friends and I have been driving 2 hours once a month to take the Earthworks wild edibles classes, and I cant say enough about the knowledge we’ve gained from Frank over the past 5 months. Its impossible to sum up in a testimonial, but I truly feel closer to the earth and I’ll never look at plants or nature the same way again. We all plan on learning other skills from Frank and his team too. Its good fun!
Bob from Malden, a Wild Edibles Workshop participant
Q: What are the values you see in our program offerings?
A: Time to observe the world around us. To find beauty in small places. To listen to their hearts, their breath, their passion their inner light.
Mom of a Summer Camp participant
Q: What was your child’s favorite activity?
A: Carving, catching snakes and learning about snakes, swimming
Mom of a Homeschool participant
My world that was once at my feet has been transformed. What I use to just trample over without any thought at all I now tip toe and appreciate. I can’t walk by something wild and green without noticing it and wanting to know what it is and how it can be used by humans or how it is used in nature.
I would definitely recommend this to others. My kids are learning what I am already.
A Wild Edibles Workshop participant
“Not only have you brought out the best in each of the kids as individuals, but you have nurtured such a healthy community for the kids. The way they honored each other, sincerely, looking each other in the eyes and really recognizing each other was and is so beautiful. It is how all humans should interact.”
Mom of a long-time Earthwork Programs participant
I enjoyed actively practicing an emergency ‘winter skill’ outside. We were asked to build a fire with whatever we have or can find in the cold, snowy, woods and melt some snow into water in a cup so we can drink. I’ve never done this before. The pressure to do this seemingly simple task on command was such a revealing experience for me. First of all, I had so much adrenaline in me, I couldn’t think effectively. For example I rifled through my rucksack for several minutes trying to locate some matches and my Leatherman. When I tried to strike a match to light some tinder, I kept on breaking the match until I just had a tiny stub. I broke it three times! I couldn’t believe me. I kept dropping my Leatherman in the snow when trying to hold the metal cup in the fire. After I got a small fire going it soon died out because I just didn’t gathered enough kindling. I was as useless as an ashtray on a motorcycle. Doing something ‘live’ and for the first time revealed so much about me. I never would have thought I would run into ‘these’ types of issues. Frank’s class exposed this and conclusively taught me how to properly start a fire so I will be effective and more skillful next time I am confronted with a similar situation.
Marlon from Boston, an Emergency Survival & Self-Sufficiency Skills Workshop participant
“I am very glad to have found out about earthwork programs because their approach to nature as our home and to the plants and animals observed in nature as neighbors. Observations about plants and animals around us from a plentitude of acorns rolling under our feet to a gnawed off three trunk, lead us to understand their lives and in turn our own. I feel my daughter and I were welcomed by Frank in the workshops as members of the natural community and learning about this community is a birthright and a joy!”
Mom and daughter who have participated in many workshops, including Animal Tracking, Emergency Survival & Self-Sufficiency and Earth Skills.”
“…came home with a cooperative attitude, pleasant and polite, really excited about what he learned, sometimes frustrated about not getting to know the “right” answer (which I think was a good thing).”
Leader in Training Camper’s parent