Frequently Asked Questions
We are happy to answer your email queries
and we try to check our email every day. However to get your
questions answered even faster be sure to surf the menu of
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Farm Camp,
Homeschoolers On the
Farm, and
our Soquel After
School Care programs.
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Q: What Ages do you serve?
A:
We serve children aged 5-8 years old.
All children must be at least kindergarten ready and able to abide
by the limits/rules in our "Behavior
Agreement" consistently.
Please note that we do not
accept children younger than age 5 due to safety
considerations. (No infants and toddlers.)
Additionally, all children must
be fully potty trained and able to handle toileting
needs completely on their own (including any "potty
accidents"). Our staff are not able to assist children
with toileting, changing clothes, or "accident clean up" for
logistical and liability reasons. Thank you for your
help.
Q: Where are you located?
A: In Soquel, CA. Please
email us
for our address and directions.
Q: What does it mean that Little Garden
Patch is "licensed"?
A: For the safety of our enrolled children, LGPF is
licensed under the state of California Community Care child care
licensing program, and receives regular inspections from
visiting licensing analysts. In addition, all of our staff has
received a thorough background check.
Q: What sets Little Garden Patch apart from
other farm or nature based programs?
A: Although connecting kids with nature is a big part of our mission
at Little Garden Patch, parents and children soon discover that
there is a lot more going on here. Besides all the fun
activities and the natural beauty there are a few things that might not be so obvious at first glance:
-
"Whole child" approach.
Whereas many programs rely on a single focus (typically
sports or academic), Little Garden Patch provides
actvities and areas that appeal to many different
interests and personalities. We understand that
children must learn and develop in many different ways,
including creatively and socially.
-
Child-led activities.
Most programs keep children busy in very structured
activities, whether sports, arts, or academic. The
majority of the child's time is scripted out and
controlled for them by an adult. In contrast,
Little Garden Patch understands that children get
quite enough of that during the school year and that
Summer especially is an opportunity for children to explore their
own feelings, interests, and imagination.
At LGPF we offer a menu of joyful options and areas that
support children as they learn through doing, an
approach supported by a host of scientific studies on
"best practices" for education and child development.
-
Emergent curriculum.
Although a great deal of time, thought, and
preparation is put into the activities that we offer at
Little Garden Patch, especially during our full-day
summer programs, we know that the most profound learning
happens when the motivation to learn or to master a
skill is intrinsic to the child. Therefore we
strive to create "open ended" projects and activities
that children can adapt to their own interests and
purposes.
-
Social learning in a
community of kindness. While conventional
education has typically placed its emphasis on
memorizing facts and repeating them back (for the
purpose of testing and assessment), current research
strongly suggests that true success in life
correlates not with an individual's ability to
memorize random facts, but with an individual's ability
to use and acquire information creatively
AND to get along with and work productively with
others. Hence at Little Garden Patch our
staff members scaffold children as they learn to:
-
set healthy boundaries and
communicate needs
-
develop compassion and
respect the boundaries and needs of others
-
use language and
experimentation to gather more information
-
understand that mistakes and
failure are a natural part of life and nothing to be
ashamed of
-
learn how to learn from our
mistakes, make amends where needed, and move on in a
healthy and productive direction.
-
respect and explore their own
interests and talents
-
Developmentally
appropriate activities and limits.
Children today are often asked to do far more, far
sooner, than any generation in human history. In
fact many feel that our nation's approach to public
education has become a
Race To Nowhere with our wonderful teachers and
children caught in the middle, trying to teach/learn
material that children's bodies and brains are simply
not ready to process, utilize, or retain.
For passionate educators eager to help chidlren embark
on the adventure of understanding our marvellous
world...this is a dismal state of affairs. And yet
we feel the key to reversing this trend lies in the
growing grass roots movement of teachers and parents who
know that the best way to educate children is to begin
with understanding the different stages and
areas of development that school aged children pass
through and working with
those, rather than against them.
Part and parcel of this approach is
the awareness that not all children pass through these
stages in exactly the same way. Each child is a unique
individual, already embarked on their own adventure of
learning and growing. We welcome the opportunity to
get to know your child and nurture them on this adventure.
Q: Do you accomodate children with allergies,
special diets,
or food prohibitions?
A: As long as your child is not allergic to the plants, animals, and
materials already present on the farm then yes, we will be
happy to work around your child's allergies.
Note that you will be asked to provide
appropriate snacks/meals for your child if they require
special food -- due either to alleriges, special
diet (low carb, gluten free, or etc.) or "picky eater"
issues. When you enroll you will also need to provide
a complete list of your child's allergies, medications, and
emergency procedures and contacts and/or dangerous
foods.
All children must
bring their own lunch and we try
our best to discourage "food sharing" of lunch box
contents.
However please understand that our
primary focus must be on monitoring children engaged in
active play, animal interactions, tree climbing, and art
table and water table activities. We cannot always
focus on what your child is (or is not) eating. If
your child must be rigidly monitored at meals, then LGPF may
not be a good fit for you.
We do provide a light early morning
and afternoon
snack. If your child has food restrictions you will
need to send something for morning/afternoon snack.
For parents of children with
life-threatening allergies triggered by air or skin
contact with food particles or other substances
please understand that although we deeply sympathize with
your child's needs, LGPF is not a suitable environment to
accomodate these very special needs. This is
primarily because, in addition to our regular attendees, we
have many children who come on a sporadic drop in basis and
it is our experience that this makes controlling the
substances arriving in luch boxes, lotions, and etc.
impossible to monitor reliably.
Q: Are you certified in CPR and First Aid?
A: Linnaea, our Director and primary teacher/caregiver, is fully certified in CPR
and First Aid for infants, children, and adults and has
taken the training several times. She is deemed by
friends, former students, and colleagues to be a cool head
in a crisis. Teachers Mike, Michelle, Jon,
Gabbi, and
Maria are also fully certified in Pediatric First Aid and
CPR.
If your child has specific health
risks such as asthma, severe allergic reactions, seizures,
or other issues please notify us before registering to see
if we can adequately meet your child's needs.
Be sure to also notify us of any food
allergies.
Q: What should I do if my child is sick?
A: We are not allowed to have children in our licensed care facility
if they are experiencing vomiting, diarrhea, or a high fever
(over 101). If your child is experiencing these
symptoms or has experienced any of them within the past 24
hours, please plan to keep your child home.
Children must also stay home if they
are suspected to have chicken pox, measles, mumps, step
throat, influenza, or other moderately or severly serious
illnesses. If you are not sure if you need to keep
your child home, call us.
If your child develops any of the
above symptoms or shows signs of a moderate to severe
contagious illness we will contact you to come pick up your
child immediately.
If your child has a runny nose or
persistant cough when they arrive or while they are here we
will discuss your child's health with you to determine
whether home or care (LGPF) is the most appropriate setting.
Please note that children may
not attend LIttle Garden Patch Farm if they have lice
or nits or are suspected to have lice or nits.
Q: What are you growing on the farm?
A: Little Garden Patch is not a commercial farm nor are we
a conventional farm with acres of fields or pasture.
Rather we are a small family homestead in a
rural residential neighborhood. We have a small "classroom"
garden -- our little garden patches -- that the children
help us plant, maintain, and harvest all year round.
What we are growing changes with the season but we typically
have the usual kitchen garden staples such as beans, peas,
carrots, broccoli, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, summer and
winter squash, pumpkins and so forth.
We have a wide variety of herbs as
well as some berries which, although very small in number,
allow the children to experience the entire growth process
from flower to fruit. We also have a
small green house for sprouting seeds with the children.
Little Garden Patch Farm has a
smattering of fruit trees including apples, pears,
plums, nectarines, oranges, lemons, and some rather
disappointing cherries. We make our own
applesauce, apple butter, and plum jam annually.
And last, but certainly not least,
there are the animals who provide affectionate companionship
as well as lessons in responsiblity, compassion & respect
for other creatures, animal care, animal behavior, life
cycles, and egg & milk production -- and of course, tons of
fun!
Q: What kind of animals do you have?
A: We have chickens, ducks, and goats who provide eggs and milk for
the family. And we have two adorable
pot bellied pigs who provides us with lots of love and
occasions to giggle. Our beautiful American
Shetland pony, Mia, and our two miniature ponies-- Cookie
and Pearl -- complete the barnyard menagerie.
We also have some well loved and spoiled
cats who patrol the grounds for mice and gophers. And
we have two small but lively dogs who keep us all safe
from browsing deer, the mailman, and the UPS truck. They are a
great favorite with the children and love hanging out with
them. If your child is afraid of animals,
including dogs, LGPF may not be a good fit for them.
Check our
photo gallery
for a preview of our animals friends!
Q: Do you have a Facebook page?
A: Yes. Please
"Like" us on Facebook and recommend us to your friends.
If you have a favorite picture or story to share, please
post it.

Thanks for reading through our FAQ!
If we still have not answered your
questions,
please
drop us some email.
We would love to hear from you!
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