Well if it gets under about 65 degrees at anytime in the day where you live you probably shouldn't plant them until you have at least two months of warmth ahead of you. As far as getting seeds, it sounds like your first grow so you should plant seeds from weed that you get or already have called bag seeds. I wouldn't go with the school approach at all. Not too much care needed to take care of them, i would suggest a good store bought soil for wherever your going to plant them. water once a day or once every two days whichever is easier and make sure that where they are planted they get plenty of sun. (Over 12 hours a day) Just mark a spot with a stick or something and check if the sun is still on it at different times of the day to see how long one spot gets sun. I am also on my first grow with bag seeds indoors at 4 and 1/2 weeks.