Bravely Return to the Earth


Breathe



Mission and Vision



Our Intentions



Breathe is a place based program in Trumansburg and Watkins Glen, New York for preschool families and homeschooling families who wish to embody community, awareness, health and education in their daily lives. We are teaching academic subjects through an interdisciplinary curriculum adapted by teachers who live on the land, using the nature around us to inspire applicable learning experiences for our students. We also focus on self reliance skills through farm to table nutrition, animal care taking and primitive technology, while creating a baseline of mindfulness activated by daily practices including yoga, meditation and body awareness. Our intention is to create intelligent peacekeepers in the next generation and feel it is crucial to encourage children to question incoming information as well as recognize and honor their gifts, passions and truths.

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Community



We believe growing strong community is essential to living closer to the Earth, and have created a curriculum founded in community involvement. Each day, the homeschoolers participate in a shared work experience, either caring for the companion animals, helping to prepare their lunch or conquering cleanup afterward. This added responsibility helps children take ownership for their learning environment and the care of those around them. Every morning we also offer an opportunity for someone from the larger community to come out and teach a passion or skill to the children as a way to continue strengthening community. We call these generous folks morning mentors, and are excited to see all the connections that are made with this aspect of the program.



Love of Diversity



We believe all life is precious and biodiversity is vital to this life on our planet. Through acknowledgment of this, we hope to foster an indiscriminate love for diversity that can be found in all aspects of the natural world, including our own humanity. Exposure to diverse areas of thought and cross cultural human perspectives through natural science, history, crafts, nutrition, music and mindfulness will serve as our gateway into encouraging acceptance, understanding, compassion, empathy and gratitude for life. An aspect of our program that highlights this is our companion animals, that the children care for on a daily rotating basis. Forming genuine connection to non-human beings comes naturally to most children, and at Breathe, there is intentional space for these connections to happen.



Accessibility



Our long term (ten year) goal is to have at least half of our pupils attending our programs for no cost to their family. We hope to achieve this through grants, fundraising and scholarships that can be obtained by help from the community at large. We also aim to reduce the cost of this program by sourcing our needs locally and sustainably and living within our means.

We also have a vision and desire to make holistic place based education accessible to communities across the United States. By creating and offering a model we feel could be replicated in a community with a few key ingredients: children, land and a few community members who are willing to step into mentorship roles, then this vision will come to fruition.



Parent/Nurterer Participation



At Breathe we believe teachers and parents should maintain an active and open line of communication throughout their children's time with us. This creates a cohesive support system for the child and enables growth whether at school or at home. By maintaining close communication with parents we can gain important insights into individualized learning preferences and prepare the teacher to adjust lesson plans accordingly.

Another core mission is to make nature connection accessible to families outside of program by providing a bundle of tools to the parents on orientation day. These materials are intended to help the parents stay connected to their child's education and give them the opportunity to learn with their child, and from their child! We call this aspect of our program parent continued education.



Equal Exchange



We value the opportunity to use alternative forms of exchange when available and appropriate. We encourage a bartering community and accept as many goods and services in lieu of monetary payment as possible. We are passionate about modeling this to the children and their families and understand this is a necessity in creating a resilient community.



Feeling Generous?



We Can really use your support


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Email: bravelyreturntotheearth@gmail.com



Trumansburg, NY 14886



Breathe- Learning in Connection