What’s Emerging:
Tall As a Tree, Small as a Flower • Playnotes • This Week's Rhythm and Upcoming
Hello friends!
Our peas are climbing. Lettuce is sprouting and some new fruit has appeared in the soil. What could it be? The garden is full. Spring Nests came to a close on May 26th with paint on hands, vegetables on the table, and a robin’s nest with bright blue eggs in the tree above us. We hope you enjoy visiting those moments in the play notes below!
June is a month to celebrate Pride and we love that our children are growing up in a space where love looks like many things, where differences are cherished, where who you are and how you arrive is always welcome here.
We have a lot of good news to share, and summer Nests begin June 14. Read on!
Welcome, Ciana-Lei!
We are so glad to introduce our Summer Storytelling Fellow, Ciana-Lei Bence, who has already joined us in the garden.
Ciana-Lei is Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian) from Olaʻa, Hawaiʻi, and is currently studying astronomy and the history of science at Yale University where her research sits at the intersection of Indigenous epistemology, decolonial thought, and the ways communities have always found meaning in the stars. She was drawn to the stars as a child because they were teachers, ancestors, storytellers. She still is!
If I were oh so very tall,
I’d walk among the trees.
And stretch to reach the top most branch
As easily as can be.
If I were oh so very small,
I’d hide myself away
And creep into a buttercup
To spend a summer day.
What a beautiful Springtime we shared in Nests! These past 8-weeks have been so much fun and we closed out the season in full bloom. We made felt together, wrapping wool around rocks, dunking them in soapy water, scrubbing until something new emerged! Flowers that we strung with beads!
On our last days, we harvested from the garden, painted plant markers with hands and sponges, and spotted a nest of bright blue eggs in the tree above us. A full circle and a sweet promise of new growth!
We are so ready for summer! This season, we're returning to something essential - no themes, just children leading and caregivers listening. Singing, digging, tumbling, building, and trusting what emerges when we get out of the way and let the land and the littles show us what's possible.
☀️ Summer Programs begin June 14!
Sunday 6/14 and Tuesday 6/16 for the start of summer Nests!
Register for Summer NestsSun Gardens Summer Pop-ups begin July 3rd
Sign up for all 6 by Summer Solstice (June 21) for $50 off the series!
Register for Summer Pop-Ups
📸 New this summer: Shared Camera! This season, we're inviting caregivers to put down their phones. This is not out of shame, but out of a belief that a camera passed between hands tells a different kind of story.
A shared camera is a community lens. We want our tools to spark connection!
Each of our Summer Pop-Up days focus on children's relationships with themselves, each other, and the natural world. Hosted in partnership with community organizations, these full day drop-off experiences explore their vital role in the web of life, discovering that we are all connected, we all belong, and we can solve problems together!
Our new un/LEARNING Circle is on the horizon and we have nearly two dozen caregivers and allied adults from across the BNC and Citywide Youth Coalition community eager to join our first cohort!
For those who could not make the other dates, there is one more Unlearning Circle Call-In coming soon, please stay tuned for the date.
The un/LEARNING Circle is for anyone who wants to explore learning outside inherited scripts, who is curious about child-led frameworks, or who wants to build community with others committed to resisting adultism.
Hear the vision, connect with the guides, ask questions, and decide if this circle is for you! Join our interest list to receive the Zoom link.
If you’ve been curious about a child-led, consent-centered after-school space that’s growing with intention, we’re building it! We’re working toward a full week of programming. Each day carrying its own theme through guided exploration and self-directed learning. Think: storytelling and histories, gardening and science, music and movement, art and culture.
Kids Only! is open to children in all educational settings—public school, private school, and homeschool. Want to learn more or invest in building this circle for your kids?
Sign up for our interest list to receive updates and our original vision overview if you haven’t seen it yet. As we grow, our vision is to expand toward full-day options for families seeking alternatives to conventional schooling.
We came into spring wondering what the garden could teach us. We planted and waited, through cold nights and very warm mornings, and finally, we watched peas climb up, up, up!
This summer we’re returning to something essential: child-led, land-centered, no agenda but attention. Summer brings new collaborators, new voices, new possibilities. We are so excited to see the garden bloom! Thank you to the caregivers who asked about tending the garden. We can’t wait to harvest and share the future we’ve planted together.
With love and dirt under our fingernails,
The Brave Nature Team
Brave Nature Collaborative is a 501(c)(3) outdoor learning commons rooted in Greater New Haven, Connecticut.
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