Nashville’s first Permaculture Food Forest and living classroom for nature-based education
Welcome to the Urban Ecology Homeschool Program at GROW Enrichment!
Now enrolling FOR FALL 2024!
Semester 2: August 7 – October 24 (12 weeks)
cost: $325 for ages 3-5, $450 for 6+
See specific program listings for ages and timeframes
Program Overview
Welcome to Nashville’s Food Forest! GROW’s learning space at Two Rivers Park is a Living Classroom, where homeschool students ages 3-13 and beyond have room to expand their curiosity about nature, get dirty exploring in the forest, learn about the native species of our urban landscape, and practice critical skills for sustainability and conservation. Come GROW with us!
STUDENT WILL:
Build confidence in nature through positive experiences, active learning, and collaborative outdoor play
Gain knowledge in the areas of ecology, conservation, and permaculture farming
Develop a sense of community belonging through regular parent involvement and the fostering of positive social relationships
Be inspired by nature and feel motivated to care for local public parks and greenspaces
SPROUT EXPLORERS
(Ages 3-5)
Meets Wednesdays 9:30-11:30am beginning august 7
This multi-age early childhood program was specially crafted to meet the emotional and developmental needs of our youngest learners and is primarily focused on building confidence in nature. Students will explore the natural areas of the park and forests, take discovery hikes, and self direct their own activities to a large degree. After all, as Maria Montessori acknowledged, “Play is the work of children.” We take that to heart at GROW and encourage all learners to play without purpose as often as they can!
ECO EXPLORERS
(ages 6-12)
Meets thursdays 10am-1pm
beginning august 8
The Level 2 program is where things come together and pick up momentum for our young environmentalists! More secure in their writing and communication skills, this group is able to work on deeper content understanding and practical application of permaculture within the GROW learning lab. Our focus here is on helping learners make the larger connections between the interplay of human and wildlife activity in urban settings. Citizen science projects and development of research skills take center stage. We also bring in some of our community partners to highlight real-world applications of content being studied within the course.
WILDERNESS EXPLORERS
*Wilderness Survival COurse
(Ages 13+)
Meets Thursdays, 10-1pm
*Now enrolling for 2024*
Our primary intention for this group of learners is to prepare them to explore our state and national wilderness areas with confidence and skill as they approach independence in young adulthood. This includes practicing wilderness skills such as hiking, way-finding, trail-building, emergency shelter construction, locating and purifying water, administering emergency first aid, foraging/wildcrafting and more! We’ll continue to apply permaculture knowledge through forest conservation projects, while involving students in the process of assessing and monitoring system health and care.
Junior Eco EXPLORERS
(ageS 6-8)
***this age group will be combined with thursday class for fall 2024 semester.***
This program has been designed to have a high degree of physical activity, experiential learning, and community development. Through the course of the season we’ll cover a wide range of ecological studies, across several micro-ecosystems located on the property, while building base knowledge of sustainable land management practices under the ‘permaculture’ movement model.
