Roots & Wings Learning Community!
ABOUT ROOTS & WINGS
The Roots & Wings Learning Community is an outdoor educational program that serves homeschool children through experiential education. The program began in 2018 and is based at Freetown Farm, our 6-acre organic farm in Columbia. Roots and Wings aims to provide children of all walks of life with a place to feel connected, to feel welcome and to feel a sense of educational freedom. The program builds flexible curriculum to ensure self-guided learning opportunities, while consistently offering environmental engagement, arts integration, social emotional learning, animal husbandry, land stewardship, STEAM & literary exploration and free play.
Why Farm-Based Education?
Farm-based education is among the most effective and promising, because of the innate ability in people to be able to connect to farms; it promotes life values by relating to the social, moral, cognitive, and emotional aspects of the human experience. Outdoor education provides hands-on learning that builds confidence, self-awareness, and individual and collective responsibility which leads to the sustainable stewardship of our world.
Program Overview
Roots and Wings (R&W) Learning Community meets Monday–Thursday during the school year. Programming is primarily outdoors, with indoor time reserved for art projects and inclement weather.
Age Groups & Schedules
Mon–Thurs, 9:30 AM–3:30 PM
- Bulbs (ages 5–7) Register for Bulbs (2026/2027)
- Sprouts (ages 8–10) Register for Sprouts (2026/2027) (Wednesday is full)
- Buds (ages 11–12) *Wednesday & Thursday Register for Buds (2026/2027)
- Blossoms (ages 13-14) *Monday & Tuesday Register for Blossoms (2026/2027)
- Blooms (ages 14–17) *Tuesdays, 12:00 PM - 3:30 PM Register for Blooms (2026/2027)
2026/2027 Contribution Structure 30-week program year (September–May)
- Annual Tuition $2,350 (Per day enrolled) *tuition adjustment for Blooms class
- Deposit $235 (10%) *deposit adjustment for Blooms class
- Monthly Payment $211.50 (10 installments) or Pay in Full $2,115 (remaining balance)
- Admin Fee $50 (Per participant)
- Accessibility Military discount, Sibling discount, & Needs-based assistance available
Enrollment Requirements
- Children must be registered homeschoolers.
- Families are responsible for completing county or umbrella reviews.
- Roots and Wings is a supplemental program, not a school.
- Participants must be 5 years old by August 20th of the program year.
R&W Community Events
The Roots & Wings community enjoys three annual events: Trek or Treat in October, Family Harvest Potluck in November, and Roots & Wings Family Night in May.
It has been said that there are two lasting bequests we can give to our children--roots and wings:
Roots in a deep sense of connection to themselves, their community, and their place in the world that leads to a deep sense of curiosity and a love of learning.
-- AND --
Wings that will help them soar into wider worlds of understanding and sense of purpose in how they bring forth their passions and talents as they grow.
Roots in a deep sense of connection to themselves, their community, and their place in the world that leads to a deep sense of curiosity and a love of learning.
-- AND --
Wings that will help them soar into wider worlds of understanding and sense of purpose in how they bring forth their passions and talents as they grow.
