Three Gatherings. One Community.

Our Gatherings

We don't call them classes, and we don't call them programs. We call them gatherings, because that's what they are. A community of children and families, coming together week after week, on the same beautiful land, in all weather, all year long.

There are no lessons, no schedules, no grades. What there is: open sky, ten acres, mud and sticks and building materials, and a group of kids who, over time, become something rare, a real community, with real relationships, and a real say in how things run.

Each gathering has its own character, shaped by the ages and energies of the kids who show up. Here's what to expect.

A Note for Families with Young Children

In Washington State, children are not required to attend school until age 8. That means if your child is 7 or younger, they are completely, legally, educationally free, and you have years ahead of you to give them something better than institutional preschool or kindergarten.

Many of the families in our Tuesday and Wednesday gatherings came to us precisely because they wanted something more nourishing, more human, and more joyful than what conventional early childhood programs offer. If that resonates with you, read on.

Tuesday Morning Gathering 

10:00 am – 1:00 pm | Ages 1–5

Tuesday mornings belong to the littlest ones. This is an intimate gathering of six children, ages one through five, moving freely across our land with the unhurried rhythm that small children need and rarely get.

There are no crafts tables, no circle time, no structured activities. What there is: a big open field to run in, trees to hide behind, mud to dig in, hills to roll down, and the company of other small humans doing exactly the same. Parents and caregivers are present throughout.

If you have a child who would typically be starting preschool, this is where many of our families begin. They come because they want their toddler to be outside. They stay because they discover what it means for their child to have a real outdoor community.

Wednesday Afternoon Gathering

12:00 pm – 3:00 pm | Ages 6–12

Wednesday afternoons are for the middle years — the diggers, the builders, the kids who want to figure out how things work. Ten children, ages six through twelve, gather on the land each week.

This is the age where our approach to self-governance really starts to take root. These kids are old enough to participate in community meetings, to negotiate, to advocate for themselves, and to feel the real weight of being heard. They are not performing those skills for a grade or a teacher. They are practicing them for keeps, with peers who will call them on it when they're not being fair.

If your child is newly homeschooling, or has recently left a conventional school and is still deschooling, Wednesday afternoons are a good place to start. The smaller group and the more contained age range give kids plenty of space to find their footing.

Friday Afternoon Gathering 

12:00 pm – 3:00 pm | Ages 2–18

Friday is our biggest, most vibrant gathering with twenty-four children ranging in age from two to eighteen, with the heart of the group in the eleven-to-fourteen range. There is an energy to Fridays that is difficult to describe and impossible to manufacture. You simply have to come and see it.

Mixed-age community is at the center of everything we believe. On Fridays, a twelve-year-old might spend an hour in deep conversation with a seventeen-year-old, then turn around and help a six-year-old how to build a fort. A teenager who struggles to connect with same-age peers at a conventional school often finds, to their surprise, that they are a natural mentor, a builder of things, a leader in the best sense of the word. These discoveries happen here because we get out of the way and let them.

Friday is our flagship gathering. If you are deciding whether the Co-op is right for your family, Friday is the place to start.

Summer 

The Co-op gathers year-round, including through the summer. In the summer months, all three weekly gatherings are open, and families are welcome to attend as many as they like. Summer at the Co-op is still outdoors, still unstructured, still self-directed — just warmer, muddier, and louder.

If you'd like to join us for summer gatherings, the process is the same as enrolling any other time of year. Reach out and we'll get you started.

Real Learning by Doing Real Things

The Co-op doesn't run a fixed curriculum. What happens on any given day emerges from the kids themselves, from their curiosity, and their ideas. Sometimes parents choose to bring and share materials and ideas. 

This list is not a course catalog. It is a sense of what has happened here, and what might.

Outdoor Play

Natural Building, Cooking, Baking, Composting, Hiking, Climbing Trees, Water & Mud Play, Kite Flying, Obstacle Course Building, Fort Building, Climbing our Straw Bale Pyramid, Running Around 

Arts & Making

Art, Sewing, Drawing, Painting, Weaving, Dress Making, Terrariums, Painting our Little House, Hands-on Physics and Engineering

Performance & Story

Creative Writing, Storytelling, Improv, Mad Libs, Singing, Skits, Imaginative Group Play

Community Building

Rules Meetings, Literary Society, Show & Tell, Philosophical Discussions, Doing Puzzles, Playing Board Games

Adventure & Exploration

Nature Hikes, Pet & Animal Visits, Plant & Insect Identification, Deer & Turkey Appreciation

Tuition 

We charge $78 per month for children ages 0–4, and $120 per month for children ages 5 and up. This covers one weekly gathering. If you wish to enroll in multiple gatherings, or if you are enrolling multiple children, we are able to offer a small discount. Simply ask when you reach out.

We are committed to being the most accessible alternative education option in Spokane. If cost is a genuine barrier for your family, please tell us. We will do everything we can to make it work.

Our Site 

We gather on ten acres in northeast Spokane, just outside city limits. The land is a mix of open field and a perimeter of old evergreens, enough space for kids to disappear into and enough shelter to feel held by. It is, in every sense, a living classroom.

On the land you'll find our Adventure Playground, built from real, large-scale materials, the kind of things kids can actually do something with. We have a strawbale pyramid that has hosted countless hours of climbing, hiding, and fort-building. There is an outdoor kitchen and a Little House with an arts and crafts studio and a small library. The space is designed to invite making, building, exploring, and being.

We are off-grid. There is no Wi-Fi, no electricity in the outdoor spaces, no screens. This is entirely intentional. We have found, over and over again, that when you remove screens and structured activities, children discover what they actually want to do. It is always more interesting than what we could have planned for them.

A Word About the Bathroom

We use a camp toilet in a dedicated toilet tent, with a hand-washing station nearby. We also encourage kids to simply find a tree when the moment calls for it.

If you have experience with camping, scouting, outdoor education, or ancestral skills gatherings, this will feel completely normal to you. If the idea is new, we find that most families adapt quickly — and so do their kids. Our families who love it most tend to be the ones who already love being outside.

We mention this upfront because it matters, and because we'd rather you know before you visit than be surprised when you arrive.

Dressing for the Weather

We gather outdoors in all weather — rain, cold, snow, and shine. Appropriate clothing is not optional; it is what makes the experience possible. We provide a detailed seasonal clothing guide to every family before their first visit.

View our Dressing for Cold Weather guide here.

Ready to see it for yourself?

Please contact hello@spokanelearningcoop.org to schedule your visit.

If you are ready to join any of our Homeschool Co-op Gatherings, register here