Group Programs

• Applications for Fall Group Programs were due May 15th but many date are still available.
• Applications for Spring Group Programs are due October 1st

The Group Programs are weekday and overnight farm workshops primarily attended by school children and community groups in the spring and fall. About half of the school groups attending each year are from Marin County. Large groups are divided into small teaching units with one teacher for every eight or nine students. Activities are tailored to meet each group’s needs.

The curriculum follows an experiential learning model. Through hands-on learning, teamwork and physical activity, the children develop a stronger sense of self, respect for the natural environment, and are given tools with which to make decisions and choices about healthy food and healthy living. The theme of food is used as the universal springboard to teach about an appreciation for the people who grow and raise the food, the soil in which it is grown, the animals that provide food, and the importance of composting and recycling. When children make a sensory, positive connection with the natural environment and healthy food, the experience transforms their general approach to the outdoors, nutrition, health and themselves.

Typical Group Activities

A group of second graders might learn how to harvest fresh potatoes, collect eggs from the chickens, milk a resident goat or make rhubarb crisp from the garden. A group of high school students might learn to tend the compost piles, feed the farm animals, make a cheese flavored with garden herbs and hike the trails overlooking the ocean as they engage in discussions about sustainability and making choices that protect our limited resources. A group of children from homeless families or with incarcerated parents might camp out under the stars and wake in the morning to take part in the farm’s morning chores: feeding the chickens and harvesting ripe raspberries for breakfast.

The Slide Ranch curriculum meets current education standards across the board. The curriculum is examined each year and improved upon by new teaching interns with fresh ideas.

Group Program Registration

Slide Ranch offers seasonal group programs in the spring and fall. Please complete and email, fax, or mail the registration application (download PDF file, 296 KB) to the business office. Questions about group programs can be addressed via email to groupprograms@slideranch.org.