Eco-Learning
Nature Immersion + Food
Homeschool Group
In our Earth Heroes Homeschool Group, children learn the language of nature and the complex role that nature plays in every area of our lives. By learning the scientific elements of nature, your child will expand their ability to understand and explain their experience of the world around them.
Our learning community of CNGF’s teachers and families centers on shared responsibility and reciprocity with nature and each other. Together we will teach children how to become better stewards of all of life.
Details
Where
Gatherings will be held outdoors in our ELSEE garden (Environmental Laboratory for Sustainability and Ecological Education) weather permitting; otherwise, we will use our indoor classroom.
California Native Garden Foundation’s ELSEE
76 Race Street
San Jose, CA 95126
When
- Relaunch in early 2025
- Weekly on Thursday mornings (excluding holidays)
- The Homeschool Group schedule will coincide with the Ocean Grove school calendar.
Participants
- Ages 5-11
- Ten students maximum per playgroup.
- Siblings are welcome. A maximum of six siblings may attend each session.
- This is a parent/guardian participation program. In the event that a parent needs to step out, another parent can be designated.
Sampling of our Lessons
Play, Movement, Activity
- Stretching
- Dancing
- Mindfulness Game
- Stretch to Refocus
- Garden Games
- Hide and Seek
- Relay Race
- Tag
- Free Play
Garden Activity
- Life-Cycles Observations
- Harvesting
- Planting Cuttings
- Exploring – Collecting Seeds, Fallen Flowers, Fallen Leaves
- Compost / Vermicomposting
Vegetarian / Vegan Snack*
- Farm-to-table
- Kids work with teachers to harvest and prepare snacks
*Food allergies are accommodated.
Art
- Finger Painting with Herbal Paints
- Painting – Flour-based Paint
- Play Dough
- Seed Recycled Paper
- Nature Observation Books
Spoken Word
- Song
- Chant
- Story
- Indigenous Stories
Native Plant and Animal Relationship
- Oak Trees and Scrub Jays
- Linear Leaf Milkweed and Monarch Butterfly
- Elderberry and Western Meadowlark
- Pumpkin and Golden Orb Spider
Pricing
Monthly Rates: $110 to $180, depending upon number of sessions
Daily Rate: $38/day
Meet Our Homeschool Teacher
Melissa Blum
Board Chair
Melissa Blum
Board Chair
Melissa is CNGF board secretary, volunteer, and client. It all started three years ago when she first hired CNGF to transform her lawn into a drought-tolerant native garden. In the years since, she has become an avid watcher of native bees and is learning how to preserve the abundance of Blenheim apricots and Santa Rosa plums that now emerge every spring.
Building on her background as a college instructor, she has helped to write CNGF's nature immersion curriculum for young children, and loves to collaborate with the amazing team of artists, scientists, and environmentalists who, together, are creating a vision of hope and sustainability for our community and our planet.