Contact Brave Nature School

Yes, it truly takes a village to offer quality community-based care and education! Please send your resume and letter of interest to bravenatureschool@gmail.com.

We are currently accepting applications for playworkers! You can apply here.

Brave Nature School requires a Health Assessment Form to be completed by a child's pediatrician for the Gardens pre-k/k program.

At Brave Nature School we trust children. We respect the innate dignity, autonomy, and personhood of children. We believe in universal human rights including children's rights, the collective liberation of all peoples, and that all life forms and ecosystems are worthy of rights, care and deep respect. We stand with the #LandBack movement.

At Brave Nature School, we strive towards an abolitionist mindset and practice. We live this out in a variety of ways, including by integrating conflict transformation rather than a punitive disciplinary approach. An abolitionist mindset intersects with our consent based approach as we are mindful of power dynamics and avoid coercive language. When there is conflict, playworkers model and guide children through steps for transformative justice.

Our vision is that families and children have equitable access to full-time, year round consent-based learning opportunities. As we grow and with community interest, we hope to add on additional program options including those for children ages 6-11+. We value our partnership with Edgerton Park Conservancy and will continue to offer programs here, and we also are considering the option of partnering with additional parks, farms (and perhaps our very own space) in the future.

We believe there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad gear. When nature is the curriculum, just like other animals we can learn to adapt to the seasonal changes and weather patterns. Oftentimes, the coldest or wettest days are considered the most fun for children. Our Family Welcome Packet offers a gear guide to ensure children have everything they need for various conditions in Southern Connecticut. That being said, if the weather makes the journey to and from class hazardous or poses a threat to safety, we may cancel class. 

Hazardous weather conditions might look like: 
The temperature is not predicted to reach 15 °F by 10:00 a.m
More than 1” of rain is predicted.
There is prolonged lightning in the area (half the day or more)
There is a wind advisory (over 25mph winds with gusts up to 40mph)
The Air Quality Index is 150 or above at 7 a.m. 
Temperatures above 100°F

If it looks as though the day will warm up enough but start under 15, we may contact families for a late start day. If temperatures are forecast to be in the 90s°F we may have families pick up at 1:00pm instead of 3:00 pm. In the event of a weather emergency, we identified locations at our site to take cover and safely wait out a storm. Children will practice storm safety drills to ensure they are ready to move to that location quickly and safely.

People must feel safe to be able to learn. As a consent-based micro-school, health, safety and wellness come first. To ensure our play space remains safe for all, we regularly invite children and families into the conversation of what we need to be and feel safe and well together. Throughout the day, playworkers model co-assessment of risk, taking into consideration what risks are healthy and those which are not. That said, programs like ours have become sought after in large part due to the fact that children today are too sheltered from healthy risk. 
 
Existing research suggests that children today have been misserved by the well-meaning but misguided effort to remove all risk from childhood, including healthy risk. The absence of risk leaves children deeply anxious and lacking the confidence that comes from being competent in a variety of skills. When children face age-appropriate risks and challenges, they better understand their limitations and how to safely stretch them. This, in turn, actually makes them safer in the face of real hazard and danger because they know what they can and cannot safely do. Research also suggests that children are as safe or safer in natural spaces than they are on regular city and schoolyard playgrounds. 
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We approach every situation using the “risk versus hazard” framework. Risks are activities where a child could incur minor injuries and the activity is appropriate both for their age and capabilities. Risks are undertaken in the presence and assistance of a capable adult. An example of a risk may be climbing on top of a log four feet off the ground, which we require to be done with three body-parts touching at all times, and in the sight of a playworker
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Hazards are activities that are categorically too dangerous to pursue, and must be stopped immediately. An example of a hazard is walking closer to a cliff or ledge than you are tall, where the risk of falling means you could go over the edge.
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We regularly use the Risk versus Hazard language with our students to make sure they understand what we mean, what’s allowed, what requires assistance, and what is forbidden. Also, we strenuously avoid the words “Be careful,” which express alarm but are almost categorically unhelpful, particularly to children. Instead, we strive to use specific instructions to assist children in navigating risk, such as, “Remember, use three body parts when climbing; what other body part can you put on that log to stay safe?”

Unfortunately, no. Due to the Nests program's strong focus on relationship and community building, we do not allow families to switch between cohorts within a session. However, they may choose to sign up for a different cohort for the following session.