Benefits of Elementary Gardening Initiatives.
Teaching Elementary Students Gardening
How to Grow Their Own Food As teachers and perhaps some of you as parents, we have all experienced trying to talk a young child into eating their fruits and veggies because it’s good for them and a necessary part of their diet, however it’s not always the easiest case to win with a child. Elementary school aged children don’t always like the most nutritional foods, but what if we, as teachers, can change this? How you might ask?
We can help create edible gardens at elementary schools no matter if you work in an urban, suburban or rural area. If elementary classes and schools created fruit and vegetable gardens to provide students with the lessons, values, and opportunities to learn how to grow their own foods they will gain such significant value in their own nutrition and health among many other important values shared from the garden. Teachers have the advantage of being able to incorporate lessons of the garden into an integrated curriculum.
Teaching elementary students how to grow their own fruits and vegetables is a lesson in itself, yet it can create a basis for an entire curriculum. Reading, Writing, Math, Science, Social Studies, Health, Art and even gym can advance by having a garden. It takes a lot of hard work to keep a garden going so what a great way for children to learn. Students learn how to follow directions for planting and picking. They learn how to measure soil, fertilizer, water, how deep to dig a hole, as well as counting the fruits and vegetables once they are picked. Students can create observation growth journals for Writing and Science, as well as read books on gardening to learn more about what they are doing which can be incorporated into the Reading curriculum. They learn about their community and about democracy through gardening which can fit into a Social Studies curriculum. They learn about nutrition for health and gardening is a quite physically challenging to fit a gym curriculum. Lastly drawing pictures, drying out leaves, painting and all sorts of art projects can come from growing a garden for an art curriculum.
Students learn responsibility, cooperation through team work, understanding cause and effect, and in the process they hopefully gain a love for nature as well as for themselves. A healthy self-confidence is very important as a young child. What a better way than putting in work to see one’s productivity in their results and being able to enjoy the work they put in. For every action there is a reaction and gardening teaches us that lesson time and time again. It also teaches the idea that we can only have so much control over gardening because at the end of the day Mother Nature has the upper hand. It teaches a sense of respect for nature and our surroundings. Another advantage to elementary schools having edible gardens is that children getto use all of their senses when gardening so their appreciation of the outcome is that much more meaningful. Students get to see, hear, touch, and taste when working in a garden. They also get to learn many of the aspects of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Students get to use previous knowledge of what they might know about plants, nature, and gardening. They get to make observations, naming the plants and locating where is the best place to plant the fruits, vegetables and herbs.
Hopefully students learn a new understanding of plants and gardening and discuss with their class the importance of gardening an edible garden. They can classify the different types of fruits, vegetables, and herbs they plant. They get the change to apply the knowledge to the action of gardening and possibly problem solving methods when figuring out and designing where the plants should be placed for planting in the right light and direction. They also need enough water and if there becomes an insect issue they may need to overcome the issue to keep the health of the garden going. Students can see their productivity and they can even critique their gardening skills and hopefully become a gardening pro for the next year when they can lead creating their own garden.
Through elementary schools creating edible gardens students learn about sustainability and how to become more sustainable themselves. They learn by growing their own food that fruits and vegetables don’t just show up in the fresh produce section of the super market but rather it takes a lot of work and the fruits and veggies should be appreciated. They see how much work is put into it to see a successful outcome. Children are the future so learning to garden and the importance of nature will optimistically instill a new generation working hard to save our environment. A few musts for a school garden is to make sure to use organic seeds and/or organic fruits, vegetables and herbs as well as using safe products. Schools should never use any type of pesticides. Remember we are what we eat! Hopefully elementary students find a love for nature but also gain a love for themselves as well during the learning process of gardening. Plus kids also love physical activity and fun so it’s time to get down and dirty and start an edible garden!
Some of the Garden Picks from Summer 2020 at FreeLearner School of Sustainability
School Summer Garden 2020 has Begun! Photos by Steve Oscar
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