Earth Keepers Camps
Cultivating meaningful relationships between children and nature.
The ABC's of
Teaching Permaculture
to Children
An 8 week online course for educators, parents and environmental advocates.
8 week online course for educators, parents and environmental advocates
hosted by Ange Chakana of Earth Keepers Camps with Julie Humphris and Caitlin Moore
The ABCs of Teaching Permaculture to Children program is dedicated to creating a space to collaboratively explore ways to engage children in the practices and principles of permaculture.
This is a comprehensive, welcoming and practical online course, aimed at guiding you through the process of enriching your already existing curriculum, creating your own permaculture children’s program or bringing permaculture practices and principles into your home.
Over the eight weeks together, we will present and co-create child-friendly and age-appropriate methods and techniques to creatively engage children in the world of permaculture.
Whether you are a teacher, parent, permaculture designer - or none of the above, and just curious about connecting children to nature - we warmly welcome you.
Australia Guild:
3 October - 21 November
Tuesday Evening, 7.30-9.30 pm AEST
Europe Guild:
5 October -23 November
Thursday Evening, 7.30-9.30pm EU
Who is this course for?
The ABC's of Teaching Permaculture to Children is for all those passionate about connecting children to permaculture and nature! It is for those interested in supporting the current and future generations of children to connect to nature and their surroundings by becoming environmental stewards.
Whether you are:
a homeschool parent or a public school teacher,
a seasoned permaculture designer or a beginner,
have experience working with children or none at all,
we welcome and encourage you to join! This is a space to play, share and collaborate - we will all learn and inspire one another.
**Completion of a Permaculture Design Course is NOT a requirement to participate in this course.**
Every permaculture practice or principle will be introduced by the facilitators and they will share their ways of connecting children to the subject. There will be space for you to ask questions and bring in your own ideas or expertise - to collaboratively create ways to engage children in the wonderful world of permaculture.
"When children come into contact with nature, they reveal their strength."
-Maria Montessori
What is permaculture?
Permaculture helps us understand and connect with the patterns, beauty and resilience of nature's intelligence. It offers practical and creative ways to integrate this intelligence into reciprocal and regenerative relationships between ourselves and our surroundings.
Our intention of connecting children with permaculture is to offer them a closer look at why things work the way they do, and why things work better when they work together. Children are naturally curious and we love answering their questions through a permaculture lens. A lens that is wide with wonder, possibility and hope.
How does a five year old grasp the importance of composting? What 7 year old wouldn't want to learn that houses can actually be made of mud? How would a 6 year old grow up if she were exposed to the interconnectedness of all beings? What would happen if a 12 year old understood element design and that things work better when they work together? How do we explain the 8th permaculture principle to an 8 year old?
We want children to grasp that nothing in nature is ever isolated. Instead, we support them in seeing everything as an integrative part of a whole system that is deeply connected. We seek to help children understand their place in the world and their potential in it. We hope this awareness leads to a sense of resilience within them, which is much-needed at this time.
"The only ethical decision is to take responsibility for our own existence and that of our children."
-Bill Mollison, co-creator of permaculture
Unique Elements of Course
The ABC's of Teaching Permaculture to Children course is a unique course that we created because haven't found anything else like it. Our course offers:
Eight weeks' worth of live zoom sessions / teachings a week with three passionate and experienced permaculture teachers
full access to recordings, course materials and our private Facebook community
Gain inspiration and insight on how to connect children to permaculture
Sessions taught and facilitated by experienced and passionate permaculture teachers
Co-explore a permaculture topic / practice twice a month with other participants
Co-create teaching methods, tools and materials as well as songs, poetry, games and more
cross-pollinate with a global cohort of parents, educators, teachers, permaculture designers and practitioners and their best practices and ideas
“Look at everything as though you are seeing it for the first time, with eyes of a child, fresh with wonder.”
- Joseph Cornell
Our Intentions
Our ways of engaging the head, hearts and hands of every child we encounter and making a lasting impact...
1. Creating a New Kind of Learning Field
We believe that the best education is a holistic one. One where many different learning styles, practices and possibilities are offered to the child. We welcome and encourage people of all different backgrounds, pedagogies, schools, countries and cultures to join and co-create a multi-disciplinary learning field for children that is as rich and as vibrant as the world they live in.
"What we love, we protect." - Zoe Weil
2. Embracing Eco-Literary As A Critical Skill
We seek to support children to step into a relationship with that which sustains them, to name and understand the natural processes that surround them and ultimately, to feel empowered and capable of becoming environmental stewards. The average child can name a hundred brands, but struggles to name 10 different trees. We hold nature to be our greatest teacher and seek to share the joy in learning not just about her, but from her. We want to give children the tools to shape the world and future in a way that is beneficial to all beings.
“To teach details is to bring confusion, to teach relationships is to bring knowledge.”
- Maria Montessori
3. Storytelling as Change Making
A story is an invitation to look at the world from a different perspective, to see what fits and works for you. They allow you to engage with ideas you never knew existed. Stories are a call to action and agency; they shape one’s values and they inspire change. We know that the best stories are those that entice learning.
We also know that it is high time for a new story - one of collaboration, community and celebration. Together, we hope to create a story which re-connects humans and nature in a way that is beneficial and healing to both. We want children to understand that nothing in nature is ever isolated - instead, we support them in seeing everything as an integrative part of a whole system that is deeply connected.
"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children."
- Chief Seattle
Who are we?
Ange, Julie and Caitlin met in 2022 as students and graduates of the Permaculture Education Institute’s Permaculture Educator Program.
Ange was invited to host a monthly online Permaculture with Children series on the platform of the Permaculture Education Institute. Caitlin and Julie were regular and supportive participants! Together they decided to team up to create a more in-depth program and dedicate 8 full, intense weeks to their mission of spreading the permaculture message and connecting children to nature.
We can’t wait to have you join us on this journey!
Meet the Facilitators
About Ange
Ange took her first PDC in 2017 in Oregon and has been teaching permaculture ever since. Her passion is bringing children closer to the wonders of the natural world. Ange worked as the School Garden Coordinator at a Montessori school, creating an edible permaculture garden as her classroom and writing an accompanying permaculture Montessori curriculum for children aged 6-12. Ange is the founder and facilitator of Earth Keepers Camps, which she launched during the Permaculture Education Institute's Educator Program. The camps currently run in Austria, Hungary and Germany. Ange is bilingual in English and German - her family is German and she spent most of her life in England and the US. Now based in Austria, Ange’s joy is spreading the permaculture message through her camps and teachings, while living in an old farmhouse with her dog and tending to the land that she lives on.
Ange noticed that there are very few courses, publications or materials available that connect children to permaculture. This is how the Permaculture with Children series was born: out of a deep desire to make permaculture practices and principles as child-friendly as possible. She is thrilled that there are so many people who feel the same and are joining her on this journey of making the permaculture principles accessible, the ethics alluring and the practices fun and engaging.
Two PDCs in 2017 & 2018 in Portland, Oregon
Advanced Permaculture Design for Climate Resilience, 2018, Portland, OR
School Garden Coordinator, 2016-2020, Portland, OR
Forest Education Course, 2020, Austria
Permaculture Teacher Training Course, 2021, Hungary
Teaching during PDCs and facilitating workshops for adults, 2021
Permaculture Educator Program, 2022
Founder & Facilitator, Earth Keepers Camps
Montessori Elementary Teacher Diploma
"In some Native languages, the term for plants translates to 'those who take care of us.'"
-Robin Wall Kimmerer
About Julie
Julie Humphris is a passionate homeschooling mum who lives with her family at Blue Marble Farm on Dunghutti country, NSW, Australia. Together, they produce around 90% of their own food, conduct family farm tours and present on topics of self sufficiency and community connectedness.
Shortly after Julie and her family moved to the farm in 2018, they started a produce swap and a free skill sharing group for their local community to help build resilience and strengthen community.
She strongly believes that offering children the space to create a sacred connection to the environment around them, discover education through hands-on interactions and how all things are dependent on each other, instills in them a sense of their own belonging, an expanded view of the actions they can be involved in and the future world they want to see themselves surrounded by.
Currently enrolled in a Permaculture Design and Educator Program, Julie is also a participant in the Southern Cross University’s Regenerative Agriculture mentor program and is studying herbalism with CSHH.
Julie has been a published writer in Earth Garden magazine writing articles on her farming journey, food and upcycling, her youngest son (when only 9) also having written for the magazine about how he creates homemade cheeses.
She believes that getting kids involved from a young age and keeping that connection throughout their growing years and into adulthood is the best way to create a stronger, kinder and more caring future community for us all.
"The world will be different only if we live differently."
Humberto Maturana
About Caitlin
Cait grew up along the coast in South Africa before living, working and travelling across Asia, Europe and the USA. In her travels she was exposed to many examples of community resilience through small-scale food production - communities coming together to grow food where it was needed most: locally. Upon returning to South Africa, her curiosity and love of nature led her to complete a Natural Building course in 2017 followed by an intensive Permaculture Design Course in 2018. In the following years, Caitlin spent time volunteering with various organisations helping to implement community gardens and small natural building projects in impoverished communities and schools. These experiences ignited a spark which has just kept growing!
Now living in Australia, Cait spent the last year pursuing her passion by travelling the country with her partner, volunteering on organic farms and learning more about native plants, wildlife and how she relates to her surroundings. She continues to be fascinated by permaculture and is currently undergoing an in-depth Permaculture Design Certificate and Educator Training course. Cait’s dream is to share the gift of permaculture with young people and those impacted by mental health challenges, so that they may lead thriving, ethical and regenerative lives whilst contributing to the well-being of the planet and all of her inhabitants. Nature walks are Cait’s favourite way to unwind so if you happen to see her hugging a tree, please go say hi!
"A tree has roots in the soil yet reaches for the sky. It tells us that in order to aspire we need to be grounded and that no matter how high we go, it is from our roots that we grow sustenance."
- Wangari Maathai
Teaching Topics
This list is subject to change during the course - we want this to be as collaborative as possible and will make changes to suit the interests and needs of the participants. The list below is not in chronological order, dates will be released during the first live session.
Welcome & Introduction
What Is Permaculture
Patterns & Biomimicry
Storytelling & Culture
Ethics, Principles & Zones
Garden Design
System Design & Interconnectedness
Guilds & Food Forests
Compost & Soil Health
Participant Presentations
Animals
Natural Building
Rhythm & Program
Forest Education &
Teaching Tools
Closing Session & Next Steps
Schedule and Costs
Join our lively, informative course!
The ABC's of Teaching Permaculture to Children runs online over eight weeks with one live session per week. You will receive full access to all recordings and all materials created during the course and to our private Facebook group to collaborate and converse with other participants and further permaculture educational resources. We're all about cross-pollination and inspiration!
Every session will spotlight a specific permaculture practice or teaching; the facilitators share their best practices- and this is followed up with space for sharing and collaboration.
Regular price: 250EUR (for example: full-time employees, educators)
Reduced price: 175EUR (for example: home school parents)
Scholarship: 125EUR, with “skill trade”, reach out with your ideas.
Full ride: For every 10 regular-price enrollments, we gift one full-ride scholarship. Contact us to apply.
School / organisation: customisable programs available, contact us
“Bring a friend” offer: 10% off regular-price off for both of you
Register for our Open Day!
Tuesday June 20th, 7pm (CET)
We are holding a live Open Day on Zoom to give you the chance to meet us, learn more about the course and to ask your questions!
Testimonials
Sometimes it's nice to hear what someone else has said... and we think what they've said is pretty nice.
I found the regular Permaculture with Children sessions inspiring. Some sessions had speakers who have either created children programs involving permaculture or developed programs helping the wider community involving children. Ange who is a teacher and has been involved in developing programs for children while at a Montessori school in the U.S. She is kind and listens to all points of view and understands there are many cultures from all around the world wanting to support children develop the skills of earth care, people care and fair share. I’m looking forward to our next sessions...
Fleur Harvey, Australia
"I thoroughly enjoyed the Permaculture with Children series with Ange. She thoughtfully shared her knowledge and experience in engaging ways creating a rich meaningful learning environment. Her caring personality allowed me to feel confident among the group, thus deepening my ability to extend my own knowledge on this topic. Thank you."
Emma Prince, Australia
"I absolutely loved the Permaculture with Children series. It was incredibly inspiring to learn so much through the atmosphere of positivity, connection, interaction, and creativity brought to life by Ange, the guest speakers, and the group members. It was fun and educational and awakened my own inner child."
Chrissy Crow, Australia
"In the Permaculture with Children series, there were many instances which made me smile because I was able to truly resonate with it. While in the school garden session conducted by Ange, the storytelling to set the tone for the presentation, made me notice the attention to detail, in the school garden design as well as the presentation on it. I have taken a lot of learnings from each of these sessions. The session with Meg McGowan was mind-boggling and an eye-opener for me, at so many levels. Also, the one with Leonie Shanahan got me really inspired to move ahead."
Aishwarya Pradhan, India
I wasn't sure whether the Permaculture with Children course would be a good fit for me, however after taking the plunge, I was amazed at how interesting and varied the sessions were. Ange is clearly very passionate about the subject and does a great job of inviting inspiring guest educators as well as sharing her own expertise. The class format allows for a wonderful cross pollination of ideas and resources between members and I feel there is lots of transferable content to be learnt. Highly recommended!
Caitlin Moore, South Africa
"I really enjoyed all the sessions of this program! I appreciate the depth of knowledge shared by Ange, who introduced us to different teaching approaches that we can use to inspire our work of Permaculture education with kids. The participants were always actively engaged and also contributed to sessions with their own experiences. The series offered a wealth of knowledge that I would recommend anyone working with children to get into!"
Laura Maier, Germany
FAQ
Can I join at a later point?
Yes you can. All previous recordings will be sent to you. But we encourage you to join at the starting date of May 2nd for the full experience, but of course we understand if the timing isn't quite right. Just let us know when registering.
For what age range of children is this?
Any age! Ange has experience with teaching 3 to 14 year olds, Julie has a teenage son so we'll be sharing those experiences. But the wonderful thing about teaching permaculture is that you can really tailor it to your audience and your teaching style. Making it uniquely yours is what we love about this.
Can I miss a session?
Yes, we understand life gets in the way. Of course, we'd prefer for you to join in live but if you do miss one, recordings will be sent to you. If possible, let us know in advance.
Wait. What is this? How does it work? Explain it again as if I were five.
Three people will teach you things about permaculture. Then they’ll teach you how to teach it to children. Then together with the others taking part, we’ll come up with more ideas on how to teach it and other educators can add their own expertise (for example a biology teacher or a history professor) and how they inspire their students.
Is there homework or a final assignment?
We're not really into the term "homework" and certainly aren't going to put pressure or deadlines on you - but there will be tasks to do after a session as preparation for the next session, to do when you feel inspired to. We do have a small assignment suggestion for you to practice teaching during a live session for a maximum of ten minutes. If this makes you feel like you're in school again and creates a sense of panic in you - please let us know. We'll find a way through it together - we want to create a safe (/brave) and conducive learning space for everyone.
Will I receive a certificate?
We can offer a "certificate of participation" for all those interested but can't promise it will necessarily count as school credits or similar.
Can I receive a refund?
Yes, within 14 days. Any sessions attended will be deducted from the amount sent. Online transfer fees are to be covered by recipient.
Don't see your question?
Email us at info@earthkeeprs-camps.org or fill out the form below. (The registration form doesn't bind you to the course.)
Register Here!
We are so looking forward to you joining us on this journey! Any questions prior to registering, feel free to email us:
*Filling out this form does not bind you to the course - but neither does it secure your spot! Please follow the instructions in the email we send you.*