It takes a village
to raise a child.
Here at Homeschool Garden, we get that,
and we’re here to provide the community, support,
and resources you need.
Homeschool Garden a Mixed Age Outdoor Nursery School and Kindergarten Co-op for Children 6 months - 6 years
We have a ratio of 4:1 with one lead teacher and two assistant teachers. We’re committed to nurturing your child’s growth and individuality, while also meeting your unique needs. We offer Nursery School through Kindergarten to accommodate your child’s development at every age, with full-time, part-time, and an after-school program. Our regular school year program runs from August to June.
Our Parenting Classes for parents and children,
are open for enrollment all year long.
Get Grounded. Join Our Mailing List.
Homeschool Garden Enrollment Options and Fees
We offer morning and full day programs with
3-day,
4-day,
and 5-day options:
Mornings: 8:15 am-12:00 pm
Full day: 8:15 am- 3:00 pm
Morning Program
3-day $1038/mo
4-day $1304/mo
5-day $1568/mo
Full Day Program
3-day $1188/mo
4-day $1454/mo
5-day $1718/mo
Fee Schedule:
Monthly tuition payments are due in advance on the 1st of each preceding month
Non- Refundable Yearly Materials and Equipment Fees: $1000
Due upon acceptance or June 1st if continuing.
Second Child Discount for siblings is 20% off full tuition.
HOW TO APPLY
If you’re interested in checking us out and applying for admission, here’s what’s next --
- Book a tour. In order to apply for admission, we require that you first come to our facility and check us out in person. Schedule a time for both parents to visit the playgarden with your child. Tours are for child applicants as well. Tours are held on Sundays in March. Be sure to subscribe to the newsletter and follow HsG on Social Media to receive updates when enrollment season begins again.
- Submit your application. If you decide we’re a great fit for your needs, you can fill out an application online. Please take your time and be thorough with your application. This is a chance for us to get to know your child and your family. If your child is old enough to attend the current school year, you are welcome to submit an application to be held in the case a spot opens up.
- Homevisit where we will meet with you at your home. After we receive your application, we’ll contact you to set up a time that works. Parents are emailed the most updated version of our handbook to be read before their scheduled visit. We will answer any lingering questions you may have to help us together determine if Homeschool Garden is able to accommodate your family’s needs.
- Register and pay your deposit. If your child is accepted into Homeschool Garden, we can get you registered for the upcoming school year. We’ll require a $1000 nonrefundable deposit to hold your child’s space, which will be billed via invoice and can be paid with Paypal or any major credit card.
- Watch your child grow at Homeschool Garden!
25/26Â SCHOOL YEAR ENROLLMENT TIMELINE
TOURS
In-person tours will be held on Sundays in March. This is the time to schedule a visit to get to know our teachers and see the Homeschool Garden before you submit your application.
March 16th and 23rd from 9:30 - 11:00 am
APPLICATION DEADLINE: April 2nd
ENROLLMENT FOR 25/26Â FINALIZED: May 1
Thank you for your interest in Homeschool Garden,
We look forward to meeting you!
Anahi, although trained as a medical assistant, specializes in singing and art, and speaks both Spanish and English. She started as one of our substitutes over 3 years ago, and is now part of our full-time Homeschool Garden family. Anahi loves seeing the children connect and play with nature. She is passionate about dance, music, and art. At Homeschool Garden, you’ll typically find her singing lullabies with the youngest children during restime.
Erica is the founder and director of Homeschool Garden, and the head instructor and parenting coach behind Optimistic Parenting. With over 30 years of experience in early childhood development and the RIE method, Erica uses both her professional and personal experience to help families flourish. Through her school, classes, workshops, and speaking engagements all over the country, Erica is helping families create nurturing, intentional environments that allow children to be fully seen and heard so they can grow into healthy, happy, and confident adults.
Erica has been working with children and parents for over 3 decades, is trained in the Waldorf method, is certified through RIE and the state of California. She’s shared her expertise as a speaker at both state conferences for the Association of the Education of Young Children, and various national events. In short: Erica is committed to helping you build a strong foundation for your child’s development.
Dorian is one of our substitutes, and speaks both Spanish and English. Dorian hails from Nashville, Tennessee, specializes in gardening and yoga. She moved to Los Angeles to continue studying yoga and gain a better understanding of the mind-body-soul connection. When Dorian’s not helping the children of Homeschool Garden learn how to nurture plants or move and stretch their bodies, you can find her assisting others as they birth, as a doula. She’s also working toward finishing her license to become a midwife.
Each and every one of our staff is First Aid and CPR certified
Imagine your child…
- sleeping through the night,
- eating a variety of foods you prepare,
- playing with other children without you hovering, and
- following routines without the struggle…
Imagine that being a parent felt easefull.
While you might be thinking “that’s impossible!” We’re here to tell you that it isn’t. You may have read all the books, taken your friend’s advice, googled for hours, and you’re at your wit’s end. You don’t want to be the parent that relies on bribery or yelling to get your child to behave.
We’re here to tell you: there are better options.
Erica shares:
Actually, I’m living proof that you can create an easeful relationship with your child, from day 1.
I’m Erica Orosco Cruz, and I’m the founder and director of Homeschool Garden and the educator and coach behind Optimistic Parenting, and I see what you’re going through.
Parents come all the time with the same struggles - their child simply won’t behave, perhaps refusing to put on clothes, eat healthy food, or go to bed at night.
You may feel like your child is running the show and you’ve dug yourself into a big pit. We see this time and time again, and we know how stressful and upsetting it can be and we’re here to help, because we know from firsthand experience:
Being a parent doesn’t have to be this way.
Having been trained in the RIE method as I became a parent myself, I count myself as being extremely fortunate. With RIE as my foundation from infancy, it has allowed me to have tools as some of the parenting struggles come up. My children and I share a respect for one another that I know is special, and also totally possible for all parents.
I created Optimistic Parenting almost 24 years ago, when I realized that other parents like me could benefit from the community and support that I had discovered with the RIE (pronounced “rye”) method very early on. When you learn how to interact and communicate with your child in a truly respectful way, everything shifts.
This is why we offer weekly Parenting Classes in the Los Angeles area, and monthly workshops to help learn the methods that we apply at Homeschool Garden.
Optimistic Parenting is here to give you the tools to help make parenting more easeful. This work is the best thing you can do for both your own peace of mind and for your child’s development and future.
Parents, you don’t need to waffle anymore.
It’s time to get YOU grounded.
Optimistic Parenting Certified classes are designed to allow parents and children to come together. While the children play and interact with one another, the parent and the facilitator will observe and reflect. The facilitator will model when and how to intervene. Every class provides both question & answer and discussion time for the parents, where parents can bring up concerns or questions around both home and school environments. The purpose of these classes is to help parents see with new eyes, and learn about their children (and themselves) in a profound yet simple way.
Classes are grouped together according to age and development.
Topics for class discussion typically include -
- What to expect for your child’s development at each age.
- How to read your child’s cues and signals, and the key to nonverbal communication.
- Encouraging social, physical, and intellectual development.
- Discipline and how to use it.
- Ways to integrate RIE principles into everyday life.
...Plus anything else you’re curious about or struggling with.
Have you been searching and searching for a program that really gets your family?
We get that you simply want to know that you’re doing everything possible as a parent to ensure your child becomes the person they were born to be, authentic, confident, secure, and with the self-awareness and communication skills they need to truly flourish.
Homeschool Garden strives to grow a community where children and parents feel supported and thrive
With over 30 years of experience, our teachers have trained extensively. We’re proud to have recruited and staffed the most experienced and qualified specialists around. Now, Homeschool Garden is here to meet children where they are, and provide an enriching, organic, and wholesome experience in their early years.
If you would like to review our schedule of parenting classes, or get more information on how to work with Erica one-on-one, you can review all of those details here.
CLASS SCHEDULE
| Day/Time | Age Group | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Sundays, 1 - 2:30pm | Non-mobile infants | Homeschool Garden |
| Sundays, 3 - 4:30pm | Crawlers & New Walkers | Homeschool Garden |
| Sundays, 9:30 - 11:00 am | 2 to 8 year olds | Homeschool Garden |
Session Package (1 month)
Per Family $200Â
For $200 a month you can join our Sunday classes and meet 3x a month for a weekly tune up and learn. Also includes our monthly Parent Workshop, access to the Homeschool Garden lending library, community dinners, instructional PDFs
Online Session (1 month)
Includes -
Investment $200
- 4 Online Classes via kajabi where we go through the methods of HsG
- Instructional PDFs to walk you through the RIE philosophy on your own time.
Let the Summer be a joyful time where your child will explore the wonder of this season through songs, stories, crafts, gardening, wholesome food, friends, and more. Our SUMMER CAMP program is available for the month of July and runs Tuesdays through Fridays in July from 9am to 3pm, with an aftercare option till 5 pm. Enrollment for Summer Camp is available on a week-to-week basis, so you can get the support you need and still take that summer vacation.Â
Weeks of :
July 1 Â - The Wonder of Animals
July 8 - The Wonder of Cooking
July 15Â - The Wonder of Water Play
July 22Â - The Wonder of Water Play
Priority Registration is given for currently enrolled families in our school year program. Next priority is given to alumni and siblings of currently enrolled children, lastly open to new friends of HsG.
If you are a new friend of HsG and are interested in summer camp, please complete the contact form.
April 1: Non-refundable tuition deposit equal to 50% of total summer tuition is due to hold your child’s place
May 2: Remainder of tuition is due.
TUITION
CURRENTLY ENROLLED STUDENTS $350/week
NON-HsG STUDENTS $400
10% discount for siblings. Deposits are non-refundable and will be applied towards the summer session tuition payment.
Optimistic Parenting offers Parent Workshops every first Saturday of the month online from
3 to 4:30 pm.
Our next workshop is in April
12 Contributions of Human Growth
Investment: $200 for 6 months of Parent Workshops
Free for All Homeschool Garden Families
Other Locations
We also offer rotating workshops in Orange County, Hollywood Hills, Beverly Hills, Glendale, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Sacramento. If you’d like to get on the list to learn when these workshops are announced, you can sign up right here.
If you’d like to book Erica for a private workshop, you may contact us right here.
REGISTER NOW!
SPLENDID SLEEP
Learn how to get your child to stay on a naptime routine, sleep through the night, and avoid the sleep-deprived crankies.
NURTURING NUTRITION
Devise a nutrition plan that you, your partner, and your child will love.
RIE with OLDER CHILDREN
Discover how we apply the RIE method at HsG of observing and intervening with children over the age of 5.
RIE with TWO or MORE
Learn how to apply this incredible philosophy when your attention has to be divided between two or more children.
ACTIVATING AUTHENTICITY
Cultivate techniques to help you be more fully yourself, so you can encourage the same from your child.
CULTIVATING SELF-CARE
Foster an environment where your child learns the art of self-care, naturally.
ENRICHING ENVIRONMENTS
Create space in your home for your child to truly blossom, and learn what to look for in an ideal school.
SENSITIVE OBSERVATION
Discover how to see with “new eyes,” and observe how your child is developing with curiosity, but never judgment.
RHYTHM ROUTINES & RESPECT
Learn what an ideal rhythm routine looks like for your child, and how you can respect their needs and individuality while still maintaining firm boundaries as a parent.
OPTIMISTIC PARENTING 101
Open yourself up to optimism and gain a new point of view on the possibilities that parenting offers.
POWER OF PLAY
Learn precisely why play is so important to your child, and how to build it into their lifestyle in a healthy, supportive way.
DEVELOPING DISCIPLINE
Uncover what healthy discipline really looks like, and how to apply it to your relationship with your child without wounding or doing harm.
CONSULTING/COACHING
In addition to classes and workshops, HsG also offers private consulting for parents who are looking to dive a little deeper, and get more personalized feedback and support.
If this sounds like something you would like to join us in we have started our 6 month membership program
Get Grounded
6 month 1:1 Parent Coaching
Bi-Weekly 1:1 Sessions with Erica
Monthly Parent Workshops with Q & A
Weekly Inspired Homework
Resources of Tips to Make Homelife More Easeful with Your Ever Growing Children
$2400
- Bi-annual commitment for continued support,
- Deep Dive in Creating Your Family Manifesto
- Real Parenting Support in Real Time
When you're ready to tune in and join us,
Simply fill out our Contact Form for Coaching
Contact Us