Frost & Flame is a six-week homeschool enrichment experience.
Our Early Winter Session meets Thursdays from 12:45–3:15 PM, beginning November 5 and concluding December 17 (no class Thanksgiving Week).
Students join us on the same afternoon each week for a thoughtfully designed combination of handmade maker projects, outdoor survival skills, community giving, and creative expression.
Families enroll for the complete six-week session. Students do not register for individual classes or select separate blocks.
This consistent structure allows children to:
● Build genuine friendships
● Develop trust with instructors
● Grow more confident within the community
● Explore subjects with greater depth
● Participate in projects that develop across multiple weeks
● Experience a dependable weekly rhythm
Each weekly gathering includes three interwoven threads that run across the entire session, plus a little time to gather, sing, and share what we've created together.
A typical afternoon may include:
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A creative, academic, or experiential class
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Time to connect with Headwaters students
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Community snack and recess
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Outdoor exploration
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Collaborative projects
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Giving back to others
Frost & Flame is the best of Headwaters:
Winter Maker Lab
Creating something handmade
Meaningful artistic expression
Designing gifts for others
Planning our Winter Market
Learning about microeconomics
Designated community partner for Headwaters Winter Lab is Lurie Children’s Hospital NICU
Nature and Experiential Learning
Learning fire safety & shelter concepts
Nature journaling
Studying winter ecology
Reading animal tracks
Seasonal studies
Outdoor exploration
Discovering what it takes to thrive in winter
Music & Performance
Basics of theatre performance
Working together on seasonal songs
Costume, set and prop design
Building confidence and teamwork
Short performance for families during our Winter Market on December 17
The Winter Market
Thursday, December 17 - Families welcome!
The final afternoon of Frost & Flame is our Winter Market — a special celebration where families are invited to join us and see what the children have been making, learning, and practicing throughout the session.
Students will have their own small market tables featuring handmade items they've created throughout Frost & Flame.
Families are invited to shop the children's handmade goods and support their young makers.
We'll also gather for a short seasonal song performance, giving students a chance to share the songs they've been practicing throughout the session.
It's a small market with a big purpose: children experiencing themselves as capable makers, contributors, and members of a community.
One session. One community.
Frost & Flame is not a collection of unrelated drop-in classes.
Each session is designed as a connected experience. Students return to the same community each week, learning alongside familiar peers and trusted adults. While the activities and subject areas may change throughout the afternoon, the group remains together for the full session.
This continuity is an important part of what makes Frost & Flame meaningful.
Children have time to move beyond introductions, form real relationships, develop shared traditions, and feel that they truly belong.
Tuition
Six-week session tuition: $275 (each additional sibling: $225)
Tuition covers the complete six-week Headwaters Frost & Flame session, including all weekly learning blocks, community experiences, maker materials, and performance preparation.
Because the program depends on a consistent group community, tuition is not divided by class, block, or individual week.
A Day at Frost & Flame
Every Frost & Flame session follows a familiar rhythm, giving children the consistency to settle in, build friendships, and immerse themselves in meaningful work.
Our Winter Session meets Thursdays from 12:45–3:15 PM, beginning November 5 and concluding December 17. There is no session on November 26 (Thanksgiving week).
Our Weekly Rhythm
12:45–1:05 PM: Outdoor Free Play
Child-led exploration, movement, and play in all weather. Dress for the season.
1:05–1:15 PM: Opening Circle
A community gathering featuring seasonal observations, nature connections, and an invitation into the afternoon's learning.
1:15–1:45 PM: Outdoor Survival & Winter Nature
Children explore outside to track animals, study winter ecology, practice fire and shelter concepts, forage the winter land, and build real outdoor skills in real outdoor conditions.
1:45–2:15 PM: Winter Maker Lab
Hands-on creative projects building toward the Winter Market and Winter Give — beeswax goods, natural fiber crafts, nature prints, and foraged materials transformed into gifts and useful objects made with intention.
2:15–2:45 PM: Headwaters Gives Back
The service thread of the session. Children plan, make, write, and organize their community giving — culminating at the Winter Market on December 17.
2:45–3:00 PM: Winter Songs & Performance Practice
A short, joyful music block where students learn and practice seasonal songs together. These songs will become part of our Winter Market celebration for families.
3:00–3:15 PM: Clean Up & Dismissal
Students work together to tidy their space, gather their belongings, and prepare for dismissal.
No two weeks look exactly alike, but every week follows this familiar rhythm, creating a sense of belonging while leaving plenty of room for wonder, exploration, and joyful discovery.
✺ Frequently asked questions ✺
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The Frost & Flame session runs for six consecutive weeks, on Thursdays, from 12:45pm to 3:15pm. (No class week of Thanksgiving)
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Our Early Winter session meets Thursdays from 12:45-3:15 PM, beginning November 5 and concluding December 17 (no classes Thanksgiving week).
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No. Frost & Flame is designed specifically to welcome homeschool students and families into the Headwaters community.
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No - students enroll in the complete six-week session and participate in the full weekly program.
The classes, community time, and shared experiences are intentionally designed to work together.
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Consistent attendance is strongly encouraged. The relationships, group projects, and community experience build from week to week. Of course we know life happens!
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Basic materials will generally be included. Some sessions may have an additional supply fee for specialty materials.
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The Early Winter Session is expected to occur entirely at our Aurora campus (14 North May Street, Aurora). We are still awaiting fire safety approval at our long term home, Strom Farm, in northern Kane County, and will operate in Aurora until we can make the permanent move.
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Each session will include a planned combination of learning experiences. Some subjects or projects may continue across several weeks, while others may rotate during the session.
See below for the full program description before registering.
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No. Headwaters is secular and inclusive, honoring diverse families and worldviews while nurturing gratitude, empathy, and environmental stewardship.
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Enrollment will be intentionally limited to preserve the small, personal Headwaters experience.
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Two cohorts: K–3 and grades 4–10. Students may be grouped by age or developmental level for portions of the afternoon, but also participate in large group activities.
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Yes. Connection with the Headwaters learning community is one of the defining features of Frost & Flame. The exact structure may vary depending on the activity and age group.
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Program registration fees are nonrefundable. Fees are used to cover administrative, staff, and material cost for the expected number of participants.
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Frost & Flame is being designed as a drop off student enrichment program.
We understand separation anxiety or other reasons parents may want to stay to ease transitions. We are happy to welcome you to get your child acquainted with our program. Let us know how we can support you.
Frost & Flame:
Six weeks of making, thriving, giving and sharing
Frost & Flame isn't six disconnected afternoons. It's one story.
Over six weeks, children become makers, survivalists, naturalists, givers, and performers.
Each week's experiences build on the last, allowing children to develop new skills, deepen friendships, and experience the quiet beauty of winter together.
Their journey culminates on December 17 with the Winter Market — a family gathering where children become sellers, performers, and storytellers, sharing what they've made, learned, and practiced throughout the session.
Making with Purpose
Every week, children create something beautiful and useful with their hands. Throughout the session, students may:
● Make beeswax hand salve from scratch
● Hand-dip beeswax taper candles
● Felt wool ornaments and small gifts
● Print wrapping paper using natural found materials
● Forage the winter land for centerpiece materials
● Create simple seasonal decorations
● Make useful handmade goods
● Write handwritten notes, cards and small gifts for our community partner, Lurie Children’s NICU
● Prepare selected creations for their Winter Market tables
Outdoor Survival & Winter Nature
Children explore the land in its quietest, most honest season. Throughout the session, students will:
● Study winter survival concepts: layering, warmth, shelter, and reading weather
● Learn fire safety and age-appropriate fire-starting skills
● Track animals through mud, snow, and frost
● Identify signs of winter survival across the property
● Forage what's still findable — seed heads, rosehips, evergreen, pinecones
● Build simple shelters and discuss cold-weather survival
Headwaters Gives Back
Perhaps the most important thread of Frost & Flame isn't something children can carry home.
It's the understanding that what you make with your hands has the power to warm someone else.
From the very first session, children begin building toward a gift. They name a recipient — a family in need, a neighbor, a community organization, or the land itself. They make things with that person or community in mind.
They write notes, wrap gifts in paper they printed by hand, and gather everything into a bundle that holds six weeks of work and care.
The Winter Market
The final afternoon is a celebration of everything the children have created.
Families are invited to join us on December 17 for our Frost & Flame Winter Market.
Children will set up small market tables featuring handmade goods they've created during the session. They'll have the opportunity to practice real-world skills like displaying their work, talking with customers, pricing their creations, and making sales.
Families can shop the children's wares while also enjoying a short seasonal song performance.
We'll celebrate:
● Student-made handmade goods and winter creations
● Children's individual market tables
● The pride of selling something they made themselves
● Headwaters Gives Back projects and community generosity
● A short seasonal song performance
● Six weeks of outdoor exploration, making, and friendship
