Hendrix Prather had a rough entry to school. When the now nine-year-old started kindergarten, he struggled to focus on his ABCs and counting, chafing against the expectation that he sit still and be quiet. First grade brought more of the same. “There was a lot of discussion with his teachers about his participation in class, keeping him engaged and staying focused,” says his mother, Lindsay Prather. “He was capable, but couldn’t focus to move forward. He was labeled a problem kid.”
Lindsay pulled him out of his public school and homeschooled him for two years. Then, when Hendrix asked to return to a classroom for fourth grade, she enrolled him at a very different kind of institution: Woodson Branch Nature School in Marshall, North Carolina where she now serves as the school’s director of education. There, he spends the morning working on reading and math in the classroom, then moves outdoors for nature-based art projects, engineering assignments involving branches and rocks, and planting projects in the school garden. Best of all, though, “Now I have an hour of forest time out in nature, and I get to…
