Fall Nature and Gardening in Prospect Park!
We pick kids up from PS 39.
Registration is now open!
We pick kids up from PS 39.
Registration is now open!
We pick kids up from PS 39 and nearby schools! Kids walk to Prospect Park and learn about Native American crows, oak trees and their acorn weevils, honey locust trees and their locust weevils, and the important plants often mistaken for weeds - snakeroot, pokeweed, and milkweed! We explore the flora and fauna in the park, adopt and care for our beautiful local trees and identify edible weeds. They’re everywhere!!
We take beautiful nature walks- even on really cold and rainy and snowy days. When there is dangerous weather (thunderstorms, heavy ice storms) we will go to the public library and bring nature indoors! Kids will plant their own South African jades and learn about the power of plants by making our own plant-based essential oil sprays.
We have maintained a scholarship fund for almost 25% of gardening students at Brooklyn Seeds. We can only do that if you give! No explanation is needed if you can't afford the class. All you have to do is choose the scholarship option on the registration form below.
GRADES: K- 5
SCHOOL PICKUP: 2:25 - 2:45
PARK DISMISSAL: 5:00pm
WHERE: Corner of Prospect Park & Garfield Place OR GAP library. Please specify on the registration form.
REGISTRATION:
We need a minimum of 3 registered children at a school in order to pick kids up and take them to the park! Is your school not listed? Please Email [email protected].
WHEN:
15 Wednesdays in Prospect Park: $1500 (more details on registration form)
September: 11, 18, 25
October: 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
November: 6, 13, 20, 27
December: 4, 11, 18
WHO WE ARE:
We pay our staff a THRIVING wage (25% higher than a living wage), include generous scholarships and hire from the communities we work in. We strive to be economically, racially and LGBTQI diverse. When you sign your child up for our Brooklyn Seeds nature program, you are supporting a community. We focus on Native and endangered plants and wildlife, use compassionate communication teaching tools and incorporate social-emotional learning. Please also consider giving to our GoFundMe campaign so we can continue this important work.
Dismissal:
5:00pm at Prospect Park. Please choose location on the registration form- either Garfield Place or GAP library.
BAD WEATHER:
We will nature rain or shine or SNOW! Kids must be dressed for ALL weather! Rain coats, double layers, rain boots, snow boots, mittens, hats, are required. But if there is torrential rain and/or dangerous weather, we will bring nature indoors at the GAP library. All kids must wear comfortable shoes which allow them to run, hop, climb, skip and moon walk. NO SANDALS or OPEN-TOED shoes for their own safety. Also, no fancy outfits because they will absolutely destroy them when they jump into that mud or rain puddle. If kids are not dressed for bad weather, we may call you to drop off snow boots or snow pants!
EQUITY:
Equity requires effort. We cannot afford to give gardening scholarships without your help. Here’s how you can help:
Cost to pay for your child and support another family: $1800
Cost for your child AND to cover the full cost for another child to attend free: $3000
Scholarship $0-$1500 cost per child for families who need extra support. No explanation needed.
In last year's program, more than 25% of our gardeners paid nothing. Thank you to the incredibly generous families who made this possible.
SCHOOL CLOSURES!
We do NOT have classes when public schools are closed. This includes school holidays, snow days, half days, etc...
NO HANGRY KIDS and NO PLASTICS
Please pack a full metal water bottle and 2 -10 snacks because your adorables sometimes eat their snacks during lunch, EVERY single one of them, or trade them or lose them. But they often disappear to the same place where socks and mittens go. If possible, please do not pack plastic water bottles. If you need a metal water bottle, we will get one for your child if you tell us in advance. Plastic takes HUNDREDS of years to decompose, causing irreparable harm to our planet, to many animals, to people's health, and to the future of all of our children and grandchildren. We often talk about the many harms of plastic in our nature classes and you can see the pain in kids' faces as we talk about the plastics as they stare at single use plastics sitting in their lunch bags. Kids take this very very seriously. So do we. Please find an alternative to single-use plastics so we're not also filling the park with these harmful plastics that can never ever be reused. Also, if you'd like the full guilt trip, and want to not sleep for a few nights, watch "The Story of Plastic." You will never see plastic the same way again. And hopefully it will have the same effect on you that it had on us.
HAPPY KIDS WHO AREN'T BOSSED AROUND GROW UP TO CHANGE THE WORLD (Our philosophy. A bit judgy, but must read.)
We practice compassionate communication and incorporate social-emotional learning into fun nature classes. We find fun and gentle ways to communicate to kids about nature while giving them time and space to express their needs, whether it’s frustration about something that happened during the school day or sharing a meaningful experience with the group. We also give them choices. We encourage kids to question authority, to question the powerful (grownups), to question decision-makers, to question conventional wisdom and to never accept intimidation or "because I said so" as good answers. The only time we don't give kids a choice is when it comes to safety rules, like crossing the street, etc... But asking questions and questioning authority is a SUPERPOWER. Kids who don't question authority and think intimidation is an acceptable teaching tool grow up to accept injustice or think it's normal, at least for a while. They quietly accept the status quo because that's what everyone around them does. This fear of judgment and possible rejection by friends, family, coworkers and community can be paralyzing, can stop even the toughest and most compassionate adult from speaking up about injustice. So standing up against the war on Gaza and demanding a ceasefire becomes scary for some adults- because the experts say the bombing should continue.
Kids who are taught to question authority grow up to be adults who question conventional wisdom- adults who speak up when plants, animals, people and neighborhoods are destroyed for profit or gentrification or highways or greed or the expansion of a hospital or university or a state or whatever. As long as they do no harm to themselves or others, these questions are a sign of a healthy child. It's not easy because it means we're always explaining, but it allows them to accept what we say or explore or research different options. If this philosophy does not sit well with you, maybe give our program a try? You will thank us in 5 or 10 or 20 or 30 years when your kids become compassionate, non-violent social justice leaders who actively pull to bend that long arc of the moral universe toward justice. It does not bend by itself.
We take beautiful nature walks- even on really cold and rainy and snowy days. When there is dangerous weather (thunderstorms, heavy ice storms) we will go to the public library and bring nature indoors! Kids will plant their own South African jades and learn about the power of plants by making our own plant-based essential oil sprays.
We have maintained a scholarship fund for almost 25% of gardening students at Brooklyn Seeds. We can only do that if you give! No explanation is needed if you can't afford the class. All you have to do is choose the scholarship option on the registration form below.
GRADES: K- 5
SCHOOL PICKUP: 2:25 - 2:45
PARK DISMISSAL: 5:00pm
WHERE: Corner of Prospect Park & Garfield Place OR GAP library. Please specify on the registration form.
REGISTRATION:
We need a minimum of 3 registered children at a school in order to pick kids up and take them to the park! Is your school not listed? Please Email [email protected].
WHEN:
15 Wednesdays in Prospect Park: $1500 (more details on registration form)
September: 11, 18, 25
October: 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
November: 6, 13, 20, 27
December: 4, 11, 18
WHO WE ARE:
We pay our staff a THRIVING wage (25% higher than a living wage), include generous scholarships and hire from the communities we work in. We strive to be economically, racially and LGBTQI diverse. When you sign your child up for our Brooklyn Seeds nature program, you are supporting a community. We focus on Native and endangered plants and wildlife, use compassionate communication teaching tools and incorporate social-emotional learning. Please also consider giving to our GoFundMe campaign so we can continue this important work.
Dismissal:
5:00pm at Prospect Park. Please choose location on the registration form- either Garfield Place or GAP library.
BAD WEATHER:
We will nature rain or shine or SNOW! Kids must be dressed for ALL weather! Rain coats, double layers, rain boots, snow boots, mittens, hats, are required. But if there is torrential rain and/or dangerous weather, we will bring nature indoors at the GAP library. All kids must wear comfortable shoes which allow them to run, hop, climb, skip and moon walk. NO SANDALS or OPEN-TOED shoes for their own safety. Also, no fancy outfits because they will absolutely destroy them when they jump into that mud or rain puddle. If kids are not dressed for bad weather, we may call you to drop off snow boots or snow pants!
EQUITY:
Equity requires effort. We cannot afford to give gardening scholarships without your help. Here’s how you can help:
Cost to pay for your child and support another family: $1800
Cost for your child AND to cover the full cost for another child to attend free: $3000
Scholarship $0-$1500 cost per child for families who need extra support. No explanation needed.
In last year's program, more than 25% of our gardeners paid nothing. Thank you to the incredibly generous families who made this possible.
SCHOOL CLOSURES!
We do NOT have classes when public schools are closed. This includes school holidays, snow days, half days, etc...
NO HANGRY KIDS and NO PLASTICS
Please pack a full metal water bottle and 2 -10 snacks because your adorables sometimes eat their snacks during lunch, EVERY single one of them, or trade them or lose them. But they often disappear to the same place where socks and mittens go. If possible, please do not pack plastic water bottles. If you need a metal water bottle, we will get one for your child if you tell us in advance. Plastic takes HUNDREDS of years to decompose, causing irreparable harm to our planet, to many animals, to people's health, and to the future of all of our children and grandchildren. We often talk about the many harms of plastic in our nature classes and you can see the pain in kids' faces as we talk about the plastics as they stare at single use plastics sitting in their lunch bags. Kids take this very very seriously. So do we. Please find an alternative to single-use plastics so we're not also filling the park with these harmful plastics that can never ever be reused. Also, if you'd like the full guilt trip, and want to not sleep for a few nights, watch "The Story of Plastic." You will never see plastic the same way again. And hopefully it will have the same effect on you that it had on us.
HAPPY KIDS WHO AREN'T BOSSED AROUND GROW UP TO CHANGE THE WORLD (Our philosophy. A bit judgy, but must read.)
We practice compassionate communication and incorporate social-emotional learning into fun nature classes. We find fun and gentle ways to communicate to kids about nature while giving them time and space to express their needs, whether it’s frustration about something that happened during the school day or sharing a meaningful experience with the group. We also give them choices. We encourage kids to question authority, to question the powerful (grownups), to question decision-makers, to question conventional wisdom and to never accept intimidation or "because I said so" as good answers. The only time we don't give kids a choice is when it comes to safety rules, like crossing the street, etc... But asking questions and questioning authority is a SUPERPOWER. Kids who don't question authority and think intimidation is an acceptable teaching tool grow up to accept injustice or think it's normal, at least for a while. They quietly accept the status quo because that's what everyone around them does. This fear of judgment and possible rejection by friends, family, coworkers and community can be paralyzing, can stop even the toughest and most compassionate adult from speaking up about injustice. So standing up against the war on Gaza and demanding a ceasefire becomes scary for some adults- because the experts say the bombing should continue.
Kids who are taught to question authority grow up to be adults who question conventional wisdom- adults who speak up when plants, animals, people and neighborhoods are destroyed for profit or gentrification or highways or greed or the expansion of a hospital or university or a state or whatever. As long as they do no harm to themselves or others, these questions are a sign of a healthy child. It's not easy because it means we're always explaining, but it allows them to accept what we say or explore or research different options. If this philosophy does not sit well with you, maybe give our program a try? You will thank us in 5 or 10 or 20 or 30 years when your kids become compassionate, non-violent social justice leaders who actively pull to bend that long arc of the moral universe toward justice. It does not bend by itself.
PAYMENT OPTIONS:
See payment options below: Venmo or Zelle or Check or Credit Card
Venmo -- www.venmo.com/Brooklyn_Seeds
Zelle -- Zelle Brooklyn Seeds using mobile phone number 646-302-3149. https://www.zellepay.com/
Check -- Check made out to Brooklyn Seeds.
Mail to Brooklyn Seeds. 127 Avenue C. #2, Brooklyn, NY 11218.
Credit Card -- Click for all the Credit Card payment options for After School
When making payments on all platforms, please note your child's first and last name, school and season-Spring 2023.
Would you like to support other economically struggling families? Please give what you can and we will apply it to scholarships. Over 25% of our kids receive scholarships, so any additional amount will help!
If you have any problems, please email [email protected] or text 646-302-3149. Please always text first.
Brooklynseeds.net
[email protected]
646-302-3149
