School Gardens
In some schools, gardens are being integrated into the educational curriculum to teach children not only about plants, nature, and the outdoors, but other subjects as well. Gardens can teach children about history, economics, poetry, and math, but are still primarily used for science studies. If you'd like to visit a school garden, try Lord Roberts Elementary School . Teachers who need ideas may want to base the school garden on a theme, concept, or topic for teaching children ideas in a particular area.
School gardens are a fun way to expand curriculums and gain student interest, but can take a lot of responsibility. Before deciding to jump into a school garden project one should first consider the following: school garden considerations. If you still feel that your school would be an ideal site for a garden, check out the step by step guide to starting a school garden. If you think you need more details, you might consider reading Success with School Gardens: How to Create a Learning Oasis in the Desert.
If you would like to start a school garden but feel you are limited by ideas on what to do, check out these ideas and curricula from around the world . These ideas will help you get started so that pretty soon you'll be sure to be sharing your own ideas with us! You might also look at The National Gardening Association site which is full of information related to Kids & Classrooms.
A garden program does not necessarily have to start out using any outdoor land. Garden programs can be started right in the classroom on windowsill, cabinet, or table near a window or artificial light source. A good example of a small scale garden and some of the experiments that can go on is in the growing science center.
Lots of great ideas for activities to do in the classroom or at home are available from the Texas Agricultural Extension Agency's 4-H Plant Pals booklet.
The Michigan State 4-H Children's Gardens are a neat place to visit if you're in the area, but can also give you great ideas by just visiting the homepage. They are world-renowned for the children's gardens and are used as a model for both nationally and internationally. These wonderful, colorful gardens can help give ideas on garden design and theme gardens for children.
There are various books available that include articles and children's activities that would be ideal for school gardening programs. There are also resources available if you write or call institutions and request information. For more resources and information about school gardens in Canada, look at the the City Farmer Homepage.
There is a great garden related musical for elementary school children called The Garden Show. This production would be an excellent project for teachers to use along with a garden project, but would also be fun and educational by itself.
Before you put your energies towards installing a school garden, do you need to know some of the benefits? There are many nutritional benefits and educational benefits. Benefits to children are ongoing, even into the secondary levels of education, therefore high school garden areas should not be forgotten in education also.
If your own school garden is out of the question, you could still visit someone else's garden. Some botanical gardens have specific programs that are developed especially for schools or children or visit a virtual telegarden instead.