Homeschool Program 2024-2025

Come to the Arboretum

7520 Charlotte Pike, Nashville, TN, 37209

The Making of the Overall Creek Arboretum

A Homeschooling Adventure

into science, history, and stewardship.

 

A New Leaf is collaborating with Mr. Bond and the Science Guys to bring homeschooling families a unique educational experience:

  1. This program is an extraordinary opportunity to build an arboretum and learn about the history of the land as we explore it. 

  2. We will use the forest as the laboratory to tie hands on lessons of biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, and art.

  3. Children will develop their orienteering skills as we find new trails and track animal pawprints.

  4. They will learn to identify trees and birds, forage for edible plants, capture and release crustaceans, mollusks, amphibians, fish, and insects, as well as build shelters and wildlife observation blinds.

  5. As we study forest and creek ecosystems, we will measure abiotic factors and uncover relationships between organisms.

  6. Projects will emerge and lead students to create research questions and protocol.

  7. Together we will cultivate interpersonal skills to nourish a childhood of wellbeing and hope that will foster an adulthood of environmental stewardship. 

    Two semesters of 18 weeks

  • Meeting once a week on Thursdays

  • From 8:30am to 2pm

  • The first semester begins August 8th, and goes until December 19th 2024.

  • The second semester begins January 16th and ends May 22nd 2025.

  • Ages 5 to 12 years old

  • The program is $38 per day with sibling discounts

  • The format will follow a sequence of arrival and greetings followed by an assembly, our presentation on a science subject, experimentation, exploration, building, readings, history, discussion over lunch and project development.

  • Homeschool students thrive, by definition, with parent engagement. This is why we welcome you to spend the last hour of every Thursday with us. From 1 to 2 pm your children will present activities, what they have learned, and talk about their projects. Over the next few days, children can research needed information for their projects at home until we meet again. At that time they will be encouraged to present their findings during our assembly.

Curriculum Details

  • The life of seeds

  • Tree identification, morphology, age, and health

  • Animals of the middle Tennessee forest ecosystem

  • Animals of Tennessee Creeks

  • Basics of ornithology

  • Fossils, rocks, and minerals

  • Soils and erosion

  • Tree Physiology

  • Parts of plants

  • Micellar network

  • The kingdoms of life

  • Producers, consumers, decomposers

  • Owl pellet dissection

  • Edible plants

  • Animal prints

  • Invertebrate or vertebrate 

  • Biomes

Games

  • Weather Show

  • Eco Mafia

  • Weed Wonders

  • Pollination Relay Races

  • The Art of Camouflage

  • Lifecycle Tag

  • Installation art

  • Plant and Tree Scavenger Hunt

  • Who can place a dam on this creek on time?

  • Sit spots and conversations

  • Leaf hunt and rubbings

  • Roll the Dice on Collaboration

  • Fibonacci sequence