Dr. Dirt's School of Natural Wisdom
Soil, seeds, chickens, microbes and muddy hands. Six weeks outdoors on the land, with a microscope slide every single day.
June 7 – July 15, 2027
Monday to Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
On the land
18-1994 Wao Nani, Mountain View, Hawaiʻi 96771
8 to 12 children
With Dr. Dirt and his wife, Chérie, who brings 20 years in education.
Four or six weeks
Everyone starts on Day 1. Registration closes May 21, 2027.
Every day, real work and real wonder
- Build a real chicken coop and raise chicks.
- Plant and tend a vegetable and fruit garden.
- Make compost, bokashi and compost tea, and grow living cultures for the soil.
- Look at everything under the microscope, before and after.
- Cook from the garden and set the table together.
- Hear stories and learn to read creatively.
- Make healing salves and plant extracts with Chérie.
- Earn wooden badges they brand themselves over the fire.
- Climb, play, get dirty and learn with the whole body.
Four weeks or six
Four weeks: Build & Begin
A complete story from bare ground to a finished coop: plant cover crops and a garden, start compost and cultures, build the coop, move the chicks in, and lead the family harvest day.
Take home: field journal, handmade salve and badge log.
Six weeks: Tend & Lead
Weeks 5 and 6 are when the work pays off: the compost from Day 2 feeds the garden, children become the chicken keepers, build the run and investigate a question of their own.
Take home: journal, salve, extract, seeds, class book and badge log.
One soil truth each week
Every week has a soil truth, lived in the garden, talked about in circle and heard in a Dr. Dirt story: Roots Before Fruit, Feed the Soil, Breaking Down to Build Up, Leaving the Brooder, Many Lives, One Soil, and Harvest and Seed.
What happens to the soil, the plants and the chicks becomes a way to talk about growing up: starting strong, struggle, patience, change, teamwork and giving back.
Tuition
$3,300 a week, shared by the group, so a full class costs the least. Your weekly price is set at registration and never goes up. Food is not included.
- 12 children: $275/week
- 10 children: $330/week
- 8 children: $412.50/week
A 50% deposit holds a spot. Scholarships, grants, financial aid and barter are possible: talk it over with Dr. Dirt.