Despite all the uncertainty and unprecedented challenges of the ongoing pandemic, Biocitizen remains committed to inviting students “off the screen, and into the green!”
Our After School Enrichment is an amazing opportunity for your student to get to know our local ecology, explore with their peers, and form lasting connections outside.
We are excited to offer this nature based program in one of our many fabulous outdoor classroom settings – from a local city park, to trails leading into one of the many proximal mountain ranges of Los Angeles. We’ll really get to know the natural and cultural richness of our neighborhoods through play, creativity, hiking, to sharing stories.
Although Los Angeles is the second-largest city in the United States, our special city is proximal to so many spectacular outdoor classrooms. Some of these include the Arroyo Secco, Elysian Park, San Gabriel Mountains, Verdugo Mountains, Santa Monica Mountains, the Los Angeles River Watershed, and many more!
North East LA – Echo Park, Silver Lake, Elysian Heights, Atwater Village, Los Feliz, Pasadena, Altadena, etc.
West LA – Santa Monica, Brentwood, Westwood, Pacific Palisades, Mar Vista, Playa Del Rey, etc.
San Fernando Valley – North Hollywood, Valley Village, Studio City, Toluca Lake, Encino, Sherman Oaks, etc. We recommend folks reach out to us for private pod considerations in the valley!
Daily Itinerary
Here’s what a typical day in the field could look like:
3:00 – 3:15 PM – Student Drop-off/Sign-in
3:15 – 3:30 PM – Group Circle + Intros + Plan for Day
3:30 – 4:15 PM – Hiking/Activities
4:15 – 4:30 PM – Snack Break
4:30 – 5:00 PM – Nature Journaling / Nature Craft
5:00 – 5:15 PM – Hike back to the trailhead
5: 15 – 5:30 PM – Closing Circle + Gratitude Share
5:30 – 5:45 PM – Student Pick-up/Sign out
With an abundance of hiking opportunities, natural-history exploration, sensory awareness games, nature crafts, medicinal plant explorations, indigenous history, and field journaling, your student will form a profound connection to place, all while living in one of the largest cities in the country!
Actively combatting the widespread Nature Deficit Syndrome we bring our students “Off the screen and into the green”. We know that even just a couple hours a day in outdoor spaces can have dramatically positive impacts for your student, including improvements to their mental health, self-confidence, connection to nature, and resilience!
That’s a good question! It all starts with our amazing staff and our unique educational philosophy. Through inquiry-based learning, nature-play, exploration of our biocultural history, and community building techniques, we will help your child stretch their comfort zone!
Our combination of experienced and friendly staff, spectacular outdoor classrooms, community building techniques, and long-term mentorship will provide your child with connections to nature, their peers, and themselves, which will give them the depth of experience you always wanted for them.
Yes, and here’s why!
Instead of viewing nature as a one-time visit like at an amusement park, we have a slightly different perspective. At Biocitizen, we view our outdoor classrooms, more as an onion, whose true character and inner depth is revealed the more we peel back its layers.
By returning to a particular outdoor locale, it has been our experience that kids really love the mastery that they gain. Learning to read the subtle nuances of a landscape, tracking seasonal changes, learning where birds nest, which berries are ripe, or where the bobcat sleeps are all acquirable skills. However, this depth doesn’t happen in one visit. This depth of experience grows out of the investment in time and place!
After School Enrichment Spring 2022
When: Monday-Friday, ~3:00 pm – 5:30 pm from Jan 24th – May 26th
Where: 3 Program Offerings (San Fernando Valley, North East LA, & West LA)
Enrollment: 17-week semester with multiple days/week available
Group Size: 14 students max/group
Child/Staff Ratio: 7:1 max
Wonder | Connection | Stewardship
Biocitizen LA’s After School Enrichment provides your child with the opportunity to experience the environment in playful, mindful, AND wild ways while exploring the meanings and systems that formed the places we inhabit each day.
Our Place is designed to “unplug” your child by bringing them into direct contact with “Our Place,” the natural and urban environment of the Los Angeles River Basin Biome.
Our daily explorations bring students into direct contact with LA’s myriad of wild and urban habitats and ecosystems. Our classes are active, immersive, and reflective: We hike, climb, swim, share, and always take time to simply sit and observe the world around us.
Our Philosophy:
Biocitizen LA provides experiential learning via Field Environmental Philosophy (FEP). FEP is simply the practice of inquiry-based learning while we walk! Programs are designed to increase student’s perceptual abilities; stimulate their critical thinking skills; inspire their creative imaginations, and counteract “nature deficit disorder.” Through active physical and mental engagement with “our place,” they gain a deep & lasting appreciation of LA—and of themselves.
On a treasure hunt in pursuit of natural and cultural signs and stories…an active and immersive adventure! Our students walk 1 – 3 miles per day and will get to carry all their belongings!
Although we cannot require testing, we can ask our community to do the following:
1. Get a free COVID-19 Test by the Friday before session start. (At the latest)
2. Quarantine (actually) over the weekend.
3. Check for fever or any symptoms and if any are present DO NOT send your student.
Follow these three simple steps, and you can help ensure we all have a safe and healthy summer!
Let’s all do our part to be “Covid-Cool”!