Seeds of Love Collective: OWLS
Open Wilderness Literacy & Science: Fall 2022 Highlights
Dear Community,
Thank you for your interest in our program!
The first 3 weeks have been inspiring and full of inquiry!
Each week I document our experiences through photos and videos. I put them together in a weekly newsletter that I send to families every Friday.
This Fall Opening Highlights community newsletter serves as an introduction to our program and a sampling of what I include in my weekly newsletter for families.
If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me: contact@seedsoflovecollective.org
With love and gratitude,
Brooke
OWLS Community
We Offer Flexible Scheduling
Flexible Daily Routines
The day is structured with the students.
At morning meetings, we have discussions to agree upon our schedule for the day. As the day goes on, we may make adjustments as a group.
We always make sure to hike, explore and do one sit spot.
Snack is always around 10-10:30 and lunch is always around noon with play time after.
We do an hour of literacy work and allot an hour to practice skills, although these may be broken up into smaller chunks of time rather than in one solid hour.
Adjustments are made based on weather, environment, and interest.
Sample Daily Schedule:
9:00-9:15 Student Check-In and Drop Off
9:15 Morning Meeting
9:30 Hike/Plant & Bird ID
10:00 Sit Spot (will increase time of sit spot throughout the year starting with 10 minutes progressing to one hour or more by Spring!)
10:10 Snack
10:30 Hike
11:00 Literacy/Science Instruction: Guided & Independent Reading and/or Writing, Journaling.
12:30 Lunch/Play
1:30 Hike/Plant & Bird ID
2:00 Outdoor Skills Instruction & Practice: For example: Knot tying, tarp shelters, carving projects, basket weaving, knitting, etc.
3:00 Final meeting of the day
3:15-3:30 Grown Ups Check In and Pick Up their student(s)
Flexible Drop Off Times
Families are able to schedule drop off at 9 or 11. If there are certain days in which an earlier drop off is preferred, you may talk with Brooke about starting earlier. She tends to be on site around 8:30.
Flexible Daily Attendance
Our learning pod by day:
The groups will be considered full when there are 8 students (between the ages of 5-11 years old) enrolled.
Daily Pods
- Tuesdays with 5 students ages 7-10
- Wednesdays with 3 students ages 9-10
- Thursdays with 5 students ages 7-10
Flexible Visit Day Promotion
You may visit us any day we are doing program for the next three weeks, October 4th-20th.
All visits are scheduled for an 11 am drop off at Camp Herms in El Cerrito.
Pick up starts at 3:15.
There are currently 2 spots open for each visit day.
Literacy & Science
Reading
We work together as collaborative learners and we get to know each other and strengthen our text reading habits through a variety of strategies and techniques:
- Variety of Texts: I curate my home library with many books that fit into the theme/experience of connecting with nature. They range in level of complexity and are appreciated by learners ages 5 and up.
- To, With, By: I like to start by reading to the children, then the children take turns reading back to me. They also read to and with each other in addition to reading on their own.
- Group Readings: We are currently reading the novel Soapstone Signs by David Pinkney illustrations by Darlene Gait. The oldest students are also reading I survived The California Wildfires, 2018 by Lauren Tarshis
- Jigsaw: I employ a method of collaborative learning by using plant signs of what is growing in our garden planters: I gave them each their own plant sign to read and then invited them to share something they learned about the plant with the group. As they shared, our group would go to the planter where their plant was located. This week we focused on the walla walla onion, lemon balm, and cabbage.
We get to know each other and strengthen our environment reading habits through observation and engagement:
- Animal Sightings
- Sit Spot
- Play
- Projects
Animal Sightings!
The Ridge
The Garden
The Garden
Sit Spots
We make sure to schedule one once a day, usually in the same place.
We choose an area where we can sit for 20 minutes to observe our surroundings. We are working on slowly increasing our sitting time. Last year, a few of us could do one hour!
We sit close enough to be able to signal/point out something near by but far enough so we are not tempted to talk to each other.
We come together afterwards to discuss what we noticed and wondered. These discussions inform our units of inquiry.
Bird Apps
This week we heard what I had been thinking of as croaking. I have heard crows make this sound and when looking up the sound we found that in the birder world the sound is called a rattle.
Play
Some days there are amazing changes at Camp Herms and we love the opportunity to explore and work with the land. Recently, Ranger Sean had cut down a lot of Eucalyptus. Quite a bit of it was processed with a chipper and there were hugs piles of wood chips and large loose pieces of bark. The kids worked together to create a sled out of bark so they could slide down one side of a wood chip hill.
Sometimes, we enjoy taking a break and playing group games that develop our skills. Here is my write up for one we played recently that I currently call "Run Through the Forest"
After lunch, the children choose what they do. Some might work alone for a bit, perhaps they start building a shelter and others get inspired to join. Sometimes they may work on projects associated with a creative and imaginative game. For example, one day a student decided, with my permission, to use his knife to carve a "bow".
Watercolor
Gardening
Sawing Eucalyptus
Projects
Things we are always working on:
- Taking care of the environment
- building community
- developing our skills
Writing
I give everyone a journal to use for note taking and drafts.
We sometimes spend time writing about our sit spot experiences and then share them.
Other times, we may take notes on the different texts we are reading so that we may share what we learned or found interesting.
Our first writing assignment was created as a collaboration between myself and a student.
- First, we put together an essay outline of things we would like to learn about one another.
- Then, we each used that outline to write personal essays.
- As children join the program, I teach them how to use the outline to write their own personal essay.
- We help each other through the process of editing and revising.
- By the end, they will each have a 3-5 paragraph personal essay that we will be published in our first class book!
OWLS Class Community Book
Below is an excerpt from the OWLS Class Community Book. It includes an introduction to our book and my section.
My name is Brooke. I am 38 years old and excited that, this summer, I started an outdoor program for children! I love living in El Cerrito because I am close to one of my favorite places to connect, grow, and learn in: Camp Herms. A couple years ago, we grew the most delicious yellow squash and chard I have ever had! I am hoping that the strawberries continue to grow to provide us with one of my favorite fruit snacks. I love the garden there and I love being outside!
Since I was a kid, I enjoyed being outside for as long as possible! As an adult my favorite outdoor activities are sit spots, gardening, and music/dance camp. I love doing sit spots because it gives me an opportunity to slow down, observe my surroundings, and learn about the nature around me. I also really enjoy gardening. It feels amazing to watch plants grow and have the chance to appreciate and harvest flowers, fresh fruits and veggies. My favorite movement based activity is working at One Generation Camp where I get to take kids on hikes, as well as, practice Capoeira, Cuban Dance, Body Percussion, West African dance, and West African drumming. I love that we get to do this completely outdoors and have discovered many cool trails in Tilden Regional Park.
Tilden Regional Park is one of my favorite Bay Area locations. Some of my favorite features are the little farm, the amazing environmental education center, and the botanical garden! I also like going to the San Pablo Dam Reservoir with friends to rent a boat and explore different places. The Berkeley Marina is also a fun place to go. I like seeing the Bay view and watching the different kites people fly. Another outdoor place I enjoy is the Brooklyn Basin, it has beautiful bay views and is full of people skating and dancing! It is such a joy to share my love of the outdoors with others!
It is my love of nature that inspired me to create my Open Wilderness Literacy & Science (OWLS) program. I cherish connecting, growing, and learning with others in nature. I find it fun to co-create books and projects with a small multi-age community. I am grateful for the opportunity to write this Class Community book and hope everyone finds joy in being a part of OWLS!
Garden Updates: Shared in our Week 3 Family Newsletter
Ladybugs: Released about 750!
Monarch Updates: We found 3 caterpillars, 4 chrysalises, and a recently eclosed butterfly!
Explored the OWLS Camp Herms Binder: it includes plant signs from Annie's Annuals & Perennials and the Calscape website.
Science Updates: Shared in our week 3 family newsletter
Bird Observations: Dark-eyed Junco, Red-shouldered or Red-tailed hawk?, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Turkeys, Scrub Jays, Steller's Jays, Robins, Hummingbirds, Goldfinch
Mammal Observations: Squirrels
Reptile Observations: Lizards
Insect Observations: Monarchs, Wasps/Yellow Jackets, Aphids, Ladybugs
Game/Play: Adapted from Fire in the Forest; I currently call it Run Through the Forest
Homework
We set up homework as an extension of skills practiced during program.
- Homework is fairly light since many of the children are involved in a variety of other academic, social, and sports programs.
- The routine of doing the homework helps students to be responsible and helps them learn how to manage their time.
- Homework is agreed upon throughout the week and included in the newsletter.
- The expectation is that students do what they can and come in ready to share their progress on Tuesday. Parents may also submit our coursework to their homeschooling programs.
Everyone's homework is to read the newsletter.
Other assignments may include:
- reading
- writing
- researching
All assignments are based on students development and interests.
Seeds Of Love Collective
Brooke is a dedicated educator with a lifelong passion for learning.