Chautauqua Woods Tutorial, LLC is a nature-based Montessori tutorial on the outskirts of Ruston, Louisiana. We began as a community of families, tutors, and friends committed to an intentional, holistic learning environment rooted in the teaching of Maria Montessori. Now that we have a campus and have expanded our program to include a primary class, we have begun the first steps toward becoming an accredited school. Montessori felt education was a natural process carried out by the child, with the role of the tutor as a guide through an academic curriculum and a learning environment arranged to engage and guide the child within a community of respect—instilling in the child an awareness of our responsibility to one another and the wider world. We encourage a closeness with nature and care of the Earth—our children love being outdoors. Our days begin and end outside with free play, gardening, learning, building snail homes—exploring.