It has been beautiful to witness the ease, joy and wonder the children exhibit when they are held in beautiful natural surroundings all day. Conflict mediations between the children are brief! Nature holds their attention and gives them an ease and flow to their imaginative play and explorations- it is truly a blessing to witness.

Without a doubt, it has been a magical experience to rest in hammocks at the ‘Mystic Grove’...to dig ceaselessly for worms..and feed the varied water birds along the Canal + Reservoir. We are so excited to discover the magical places that Prospect Park has yet to reveal to us...

A Mixed-Age Curriculum

We use nature as our curriculum, adapting the fascinating aspects of the natural world and its processes to engage ages 2.8-5.5 years . Each day we visit the park, we create a unique campsite with hammocks and slacklines. Teaser: our fall theme is “The Sky: Flight & Gravity.”

Health & Safety Overview

Covid Update:

All staff are vaccinated. All teachers and students will wear masks all day (required).

We will use protective gloves when helping the children with the bathroom/first aid necessities.
*More explanation around hygiene is included in the ‘COVID-19 Shared Commitments & Commitments’ doc. Upon enrolling you will be required to sign this document.

Holding school during the ever present COVID-19 pandemic was largely a success due to an amazing group of intrepid families. It was imperative to create a safe yet wonder-filled experience for young children. Except for the winter months, when we were closed, we were almost solely in the Nethermead except for a few inclement weather days when we spent the day at Honeytree Homebase or at our own homes.

For this next school year we are building upon our past experiences with an amended modality that will still take into consideration and be necessarily responsive to the presence of COVID, but will also allow us to be open during the winter months to better support the natural school rhythm our families are used to.

We will keep our Honeytree Homebase well ventilated.

Allergies:

Should our New HTF -pod 2022-2023 have children with allergies, we will adhere to a strict allergy protocol to provide safety for all of our students! You will be notified of this protocol by the HTF staff.

Transportation

Families will need to pool their resources, i.e. carpooling or using a vehicle-hire to ensure safe transport for their children to the Park. However, HTF will work with you to arrange safe and easeful transport as is needed for your family.

Our Daily Rhythm

8:45am-9am
Drop off at a park OR at our Honeytree home in Bed-Stuy

When we arrive at Prospect Park, the children have agency in setting up the campsite and hanging their hammocks, as well as setting the play-boundaries.

9am-10am
Free play/age appropriate nature activities such as exploring, finding sticks to make fishing poles and feeding the turtles, age appropriate art crafting 

10am
Snack

10:30am
Bathroom clean up

10:30am-11am
Story time or circle time/games

11am-12/noon
Free play, explorations, art crafting 

12/noon-1pm
Lunch, bathroom, campsite clean up
*Each child will bring their own snack(s) and lunch

1pm-2pm
Nap/rest in hammock
*Each child will buy a hammock $30
(We are so excited to have lil’owlets+lil’egalets resting in their own hammock-nests !)

2pm-3pm
Snack, bathroom, story time and  free-play

3pm (sharp)
Dismissal

Examples of Seasonal Themes: 

September: The Sky > Flight & Gravity
October: The Earth > Harvest & Migration
November: The Human Being > Social Justice

Necessary Gear & What To Pack Each Day

*It is critical that your child(ren) be well dressed and fully equipped for a full day outdoors in all weather conditions. **If your child is not properly geared they will NOT be able to join us for the day. This gear is essential for their safety and well being. ***We will give a gear consultation to all enrolled families.

Essentials (and bring on first day):

• Hammock (required)

• Back pack

• Lunch (box or lunch tins) & Snack (you will be notified in a timely manner of any allergies in our group)

• Water Bottle (filled) *water is not readily available in all seasons at the Park/Forest

• Packet of underwear/change of clothes

Outdoor Essential Gear to buy/procure:

• Long underwear/cotton or wool tights

• thick tights (for boys & girls)

• comfortable fitting pants

• thick & thin long socks

• Rain coat/parka with hood, or separate hat

• Rain pants or all in one suit (mandatory/all seasons)

• Rain boots (mandatory/all seasons)

• Vest

• Mittens or gloves/thick & thin (that fit properly/mandatory)

• Balaclava 

• Scarf/thick & thin

• * Winter jacket/coat/parka/winter snow suit

• * Winter boots

• * Snow pants/snow suit

• Fleece/extra sweater/or jacket

• Hat that covers ears

• Change of clothes/seasonal

• Include several pairs of underwear

Some retail suggestions:

• Polarn O Pyret They offer a 20% discount on outdoor clothing to families in forest school programs, tell them our name: Honeytree Forest/in/Bed-Stuy Brooklyn

• Lana Care - for high quality wool linens

• Cotton Organics

• Land’s End