Chavitos Nature School
Nature Immersed, Spanish Integrated
" I feel like I can not say this enough, but thank you for everything you do! While reading the newsletter I started to cry. Our family is so happy that we found Chavitos for A - and one day our little ones. There is no other place that takes the time like this, and cares so deeply. We are so grateful to be a part of the Chavitos Family. "​
Tiarra- Mother of a Kindergartner
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K-8 Program
Our K-8 program is organized like a co-op. A homeschool co-op is a group of families who learn together and work cooperatively to achieve common goals. Co-ops can be organized around academics, social time, the arts, activities, crafts, service work, special projects—or some combination of these.
How does Chavitos K-8 Co-op work?
The basics:
The basics:
Our K-8 co-op is located in Puyallup Washington.
There are four sessions, each are three months long.
Fall session: September-November
Winter session: December-February
Spring session: March-May
Summer session: June-August
Morning electives block 9-12: Science, Art/Nature, Marimba, Cooking, Farm Chores/Nature Play, Spanish
(Lunch/Movement 12 - 12:30) Some classes are whole group and others are broken into smaller grade levels. For example we have a higher science class grades 4-8 twice a week.
Afternoon academics block 12:30 - 3pm: Math, English Language Arts (ELA). These are broken into K-3 and 4-8 grade classes.
(including movement, cleanup and closing circle)
This is a drop-off program. Unless teaching a class, volunteering time in the garden, or in an otherwise scheduled volunteer position, parents will drop off their children. Our co-op is academic focused, influenced largely by place-based learning. Because teaching in this niche genre requires a specific skill set, we don't rely on parents as our main teachers, and parents do not stay on site. There are still plenty of ways we rely on parent collaboration to build an education platform for children to thrive!
We have three different options for our K-8 Program
Weekly Rhythm
Weekly Rhythm
Elective Block
Elective Block
Monday-Friday 9:00-12:00
You can enroll your child for as many or as few days as your family needs.
It is $33/day.
We prioritize students who attend the whole 3 class block 9-12.
Example class offerings:
Spanish, art, social justice, marimba, cooking, science , gardening, field games, and farm chores. Classes are multi-age, and sometimes broken into groups. For example on Monday there is a whole school art class and on Tuesday older kids take marimba while younger kids do nature art.
Classes are limited to 20 students with a student teacher ratio of 2:10.
The current rhythm is listed below.
Academic block
Academic block
Monday-Friday 12:00-3:00
Students under 8 attend all 5 days (lessons are sequential)
Students 8+ may attend 2-3 days/wk or max of 24 hrs/week
Rates vary. Please see rates page.
Class offerings:
Literacy and Math each class is 1 hour long. This is taught as multi-aged classes. Grades K-3 in one class. Grades 4-8 in the other.
There will be whole a group lesson, and small group lessons depending on the developmental/academic needs of the students and the standards they are ready for.
Spanish is sprinkled into songs, numbers and concepts, but English is the main language for these lessons.
Full Day
Full Day
Monday-Friday 9:00-3:00
Students under 8 take both elective and academic block offerings everyday 9-3pm. (This option is only suitable for students under the age of 8 per WA state law.)
Rates vary. Please see rates page.
Class offerings:
Both Elective and Academic blocks.
Students 8+ If you are interested in a full day option we can support students a maximum of three full days/week: Tues/Wed/Thurs
OR... You may piece together a combination of elective and academic classes under 24 hours/week. See homeschool tab for more info.
​Current Daily Chavitos K-8 Rhythm for 2023-2024
Farm Chores, Spanish, Social Justice, Cooking, Field games and Gardening are taught whole school K-8. Science is taught as a whole group three times a week on M/W/F and twice a week those concepts are expanded and elaborated in a higher level science class for grades 4-8.
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Academics are broken into two groups of K-3 and 4-8. All academics are differentiated through 1-1 conferences, whole group and small group lessons. Each child's academics is highly differentiated depending on their needs, interests and what they are ready for. We use Montessori principles to do guided reading and math.
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Yellow= Elective block Blue= Academic block
If you are choosing to enroll your age 8+ child to supplement homeschooling, please be sure you are both aware of and compliant with WA state homeschooling regulations. Find more info here.
We know it can feel like a puzzle. If you are curious how this would work with your homeschooling please email us.
We’ve found there to be a lot of different options within these requirements so please reach out to problem solve together.