Frequently Asked Questions
Our FAQ has been updated to reflect changes in our programming due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please visit our our COVID-19 updates page for more information regarding the effect of the pandemic on our classes.
Where do you meet?
All classes meet in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.
Grand Army Plaza: Just inside the park at the tip of the longmeadow by the Endale Arch
Third street & Prospect Park West: Enter the park at the 3rd street entrance (as if you are headed to the 3rd street playground). When the path forks around the playground keep to the path on the left. Cross the bike loop and walk down the short stone path & you’ll find us at the edge of the longmeadow. (This drop off for our older kid drop off classes, ages 4-7)
9th Street & Prospect Park West: Pass the monument at the 9th street entrance. You will see our groups set up on the grass between Harmony Playground & The Bandshell.
Lincoln Road & Ocean Avenue: Enter at the Lincoln road entrance to the park, pass the playground and cross the bike lane & you’ll find us just before the tunnel begins towards the boathouse.
Vanderbilt Avenue and Prospect Park South West: Just outside of the Vanderbilt playground in Windsor Terrace.
Please contact us at enrollment@brooklynnaturedays.com if you are interested in bringing our classes to another area of the park!
Do you still meet in the rain? The snow? The cold?
Yes! We meet in all weather: rain, sun, snow, and cold. Inspired by the true nature of forest and outdoor education philosophies, our primary goal is to spend as much time outside as possible. Cancellations will only be made in the case of dangerous weather: hurricanes, blizzards, etc. Classes cancelled by Brooklyn Nature Days will result in affected families receiving a makeup day (scheduled by Brooklyn Nature Days).
What is your Inclement Weather Policy?
We are an all-weather program and plan to explore in the sun, snow, and rain, but when official weather advisories are put into place, we plan accordingly. In the event of a weather advisory, we will send an alert to families via Brightwheel by 6am the day of class. All children scheduled to attend that day will receive the option of a makeup class. These makeup days will be scheduled by Brooklyn Nature Days and alternative makeup days will not be offered. We are outdoors rain or shine; inclement weather for us means dangerous conditions only, such as severe cold, wind advisories, and thunderstorms.
What is your make-up policy?
Brooklyn Nature Days does not offer make up classes when a child is absent and class is in session. Make up classes are offered only when classes are not held due to Brooklyn Nature Days cancellation only.
What is the difference between your by-semester morning classes and your full year enrollment option?
Our full year & by-semester classes are the same group of classes. The only difference is family preference at enrollment: some opt to make a year-round commitment (September-June) while others have enrolled on a seasonal basis (Fall, Winter, Spring).
If you are enrolled in our full year option you do not have to re-enroll by semester as your class schedule is guaranteed all year, this also means you are committing to pay for classes from Sept-June, regardless of how often your child attends classes. Families that commit to our full year option receive tuition at a discounted rate. If you are enrolled seasonally (by-semester) you are committing to paying for classes for the session in which you are enrolled only, regardless of how often your child attends. By-semester enrollment in future sessions is not guaranteed so please be sure you register for the semesters in which you would like your child to attend.
What ages are your classes for?
Mixed age classes for children between ages 2-4
Run in 2 sessions (Fall, Spring)
Mixed aged classes for children between ages 4-7
Run in 2 sessions (Fall, Spring)
Our summer program is open to children between the ages of 2-9 (divided accordingly into specific age groups)
Our outdoor location, play based & place-based philosophy, and child-directed approach allows for all the children to be engaged and inspired to explore, create, and learn in nature. Our small class size and small child-to-teacher ratio allows us to meet the needs of each individual child.
What is your curriculum and daily schedule like?
Across all programs, our curriculum is inspired by Prospect Park, our natural surroundings, and the interests of the children. Our primary goals are for the children to feel safe, respected, and supported in their nature interests & exploration. We are inspired to follow the wonder and spontaneity of nature and the group's discoveries as our day unfolds together. Please see our philosophy page for more.
How do you keep the group together and safe?
The well-being and safety of the children as we explore and play is our primary focus. Our small class size and small child-to-teacher ratio allows for us to make all of the children are safe, heard, and supported during our time together. Each day when we arrive to our location, we establish physical boundaries for play, verbal cues for staying close to each other while exploring, and strategies for respecting our natural surroundings and each other. All teachers are trained in CPR and First Aid.
Do children need to be potty trained and are bathrooms available?
Children are welcome to attend in diapers (just please pack extras as well as wipes and a personal changing pad). We have a small portable potty available for the potty-trained children to use, as well as a pop-up tent for outdoor bathroom privacy.
What do the children need to bring each day?
We like to travel as a group as lightly as possible. We have wagons to carry backpacks & supplies and encourage parents to pack only what their child needs and to refrain from packing toys/personal items from home. Please see individual class guides found in the drop-down menu in the header for more details on what to pack & how to prepare your child for our classes.
Do you provide snack?
All families will need to provide their child with snack. Children who are enrolled past the 12pm pickup should bring their own lunch in addition to morning snack. Children that stay until 3pm must bring 2 snacks (morning and afternoon) and 1 packed lunch. If your child is enrolled in our 9am-12pm standard day classes, a packed lunch is not necessary.
We are a peanut & tree-nut free program. It is imperative that all meals sent with your child are peanut and tree nut free to protect those students in our classes with life threatening allergies.
If your child has any dietary restrictions, please let us know in writing.
How do you wash hands before they eat?
Before eating snack or lunch, teachers make a “handwashing line” by drawing a line in the dirt or making a line with sticks and then sing "Let's put our feet on the handwashing line" to get all the kiddos to transition to snack. Then a teacher goes down the line and first sprays soap onto each child's hands. Once they've rubbed their hands together nice and soapy, a teacher will go back down the line and spray water on each child's hands to rinse. Kids shake off their hands to dry off before sitting down to eat. Teachers also carry anti-bacterial spray for extra cleaning if necessary. As an extra precaution we use lead wipes on each child once we are all sitting on the mat.
How do you keep the kids safe in the summer heat?
During the hottest summer days, we have protocols in place to keep kids safe and having fun throughout the day:
We encourage water breaks every 30 minutes on the hottest days. Teachers will receive a message from administration on days when this is necessary.
We choose play spots that are out of the sun and offer ample shade. We set up our play boundaries so that our nature kiddos are not playing in direct sunlight.
We offer opportunities for water play on the hottest days: spray bottles, tubs of water, buckets for filling and pouring water, and also trips to the water-filling station where we can splash ourselves if we need to cool off. We also perform intermittent wellness checks, where we monitor each child to ensure they are keeping up and are playing and engaged; we pride ourselves on transparent communication and will call families immediately if a child seems lethargic or ill in any way.
On some of the hotter days we take it slow and encourage the children to engage in peaceful observation & exploratory activities like bird watching & leaf collecting.
What if my child has allergies or medical conditions?
Please make us aware of any and all allergies and medical conditions your child has in writing so we can work out a plan to best meet their needs during class. We are familiar with Allergy Action Plans and are trained to use Epi-Pens.
Do you require health forms and immunizations?
Yes, as a program licensed by the NYCDOH an up to date health form & immunizations are required for children to attend our classes. All updated health forms must be submitted to Brooklyn Nature Days at least 5 business days before your child’s first scheduled class with us.
What does my child need to wear each day?
It is the responsibility of each family to make sure their child is dressed appropriately for the weather. We provide detailed guidelines upon registration but in general, snow pants, snow boots, long underwear of wool or silk, and hats, gloves and scarves (lots of layers!) keep the kids warm in the winter. Raincoats, pants, and boots keep the kids dry in the rain. And sun hats, comfortable footwear, sunscreen, and bug spray allow us to explore in the summer. Playing and exploring outside in nature all year long is possible and quite enjoyable when children are dressed in the proper gear.
When is nap time?
Due to the nature of our program we are unable to provide a space for children to nap during their time with us in the park. If you are looking for a nature-focused preschool program with nap-time and full day options we encourage you to check out our friends at Wonderforest, our brick-and-mortar sister school🍃🤎
How can I keep track of dates class is not in session?
Please visit our calendar page for more schedule information or reach out to us on Brightwheel.
What and when if your gentle phase-in?
Our first week of classes for all children enrolled in our mixed age 2-4 year old program operates on a phase-in schedule. During phase-in we meet for a shorter portion of the day and groups are half the size and staggered. We do this in order for children to have an opportunity to get to know their teachers and classmates and to gently introduce them to our classes. Gentle phase-in happens in our mixed age 2-4 year old classes in the fall session only.
How do I enroll?
Unless specified otherwise, please submit enrollment via our website only using the sawyer widget linked at the bottom of our programming pages. You will find the program you are looking for in our menubar. If you have additional questions you may contact us at enrollment@brooklynnaturedays.com. For questions regarding our summer classes please reach out to summer@brooklynnaturedays.com.
What types of payment do you accept?
We accept both ACH bank transfers and payment via debit/credit card. Payments are non-refundable and non-transferable once submitted. Makeup classes are not available for classes missed on the part of the family due to illness or travel. Classes cancelled by Brooklyn Nature Days will be offered as a makeup class at our discretion based on availability.
I want to give a family I love the gift of outdoor nature immersion for their child. Do you offer gift certificates or gift cards? 🎁
We do! If you’d like to purchase a gift card for someone please follow the instructions on this link: https://www.hisawyer.com/brooklyn-nature-days/schedules/gift_cards
Do you offer discounts?
Those families who apply and are accepted to the full-year (Sept-June) enrollment option receive a discounted yearly tuition. Spots for this option are limited.
Do you offer financial aid?
Brooklyn Nature Days has partnered with School & Student Services to provide financial aid assistance to families that qualify. Please visit our financial aid page to learn more!
Note: Our tuition ensures fair pay for our teachers and covers the cost of our supplies, materials, and administrative fees as well as land reparations based on recommendations from The Lenape Center. It also allows us to offer financial aid & sliding scale pricing for families that need it. Tuition assistance is available and (for those applying to our full year option) eligibility is processed separately from the application process. For those applying to our full year option, your application will be reviewed based on your desire to enroll your child in a program that focuses on urban nature immersion and not on your ability to pay. If our program is cost-prohibitive, please reach out to us at enrollment@brooklynnaturedays.com
My child can no longer attend, can I sell our spot? What is your transfer policy?
Families who purchased by-semester or summer spots for their children via our Sawyer app they can no longer use may transfer those days or add on’s to another interested family. Families are solely responsible for finding another family to take their child's place, and are solely responsible for negotiating payment details and conditions with each other. We do not allow for transfers of full year (Sept-June) enrollments.
Brooklyn Nature Days is not responsible for any communication, agreements, or payments between families. Families, however, must ensure the new child is eligible for the program selected in regards to age. In order to keep to proper class ratios, changes to days and times of attendance will not be honored. (ie. If you signed up for 5 days (M-F, 9am-3pm) but circumstances have changed and now you only need 3 of those days (M W F, 9am-3pm) you can transfer Tues/Thurs, 9am-3pm to another family and no other combination of days/times.)
Once an agreement between families has been finalized, Brooklyn Nature Days must be provided with the names and contact information of the new family. Please note, each program has transfer deadlines. You can find your program’s deadline in the “Tuition, Discounts, Transfers, Payment Policies” section of your respective program details page.
How do you communicate with families regarding classes and news on nature-based learning?
For all children enrolled in classes from September-June we send families a password protected newsletter via brightwheel at the start of each week with information on the upcoming week. Additionally, all families (including summer session families) will receive a weekly wrap-up from their child’s teachers on Friday evening each week that class is in session. Families can also keep up to date by following our blog and our Brooklyn Nature Days Instagram. By signing our release form, you give us permission to post pictures of your child on social media. We never use names. If you prefer that we do not use your child's picture, please notify us in writing via email.
All daily parent/teacher communication is via our student management app, Brightwheel. Photos, messages from teachers, inclement weather updates, and all other pertinent information will be sent via Brightwheel.
What is Brightwheel?
Brightwheel is the all-in-one communication app we use to sign children in/out of our classes. All communication about your child will go through the brightwheel app. This includes any information to share about your child specific to that day. With Brightwheel, all information about your child will be organized in one place. Learn more about brightwheel here.
Is Brooklyn Nature Days awesome?
Yes! We feel that our commitment to each child’s individual needs, the skill and experience of our teachers, the freedom and child-guided way in which we explore nature in Prospect Park, and our love and passion for nature education sets us apart from other programs. We are here to keep your children safe while also having fun and immersing ourselves in nature--and we are also silly! Silliness and humor plays a large role in our child-teacher dynamic and we feel that it’s an important aspect of development to nurture senses of humor, fun, and a zest for life. We focus on respect for self, others, and our environment through an immersion in nature that both calms and excites the kiddos. We love what we do and look forward to sharing our love of nature with you and your child!
