Dirty hands. Muddy feet. Grass-stained clothing. A teacher’s worst nightmare. But for many students, the opportunity to get dirty through outdoor education is a crucial, missing component in their early development.
Category: sustaining school gardens
Core Principles Series: Engage the Senses
Being outside in the garden is the best place to engage the senses and develop social emotional skills.
Core Principles Series: Engage with Worms, Bees, Chickens, and Other Animals
Early exposure to organisms builds empathy for living things and teaches about life cycles, ecosystem dynamics, and predator/prey relationships.
Core Principles Series: Build a Diverse Community
Students observe birds on campus near the garden in order to categorize behaviors.
Core Principles Series: Let the Kids Be the Gardeners
It’s helpful to give kids some direction, but they need opportunities to try things out and make mistakes.
Core Principles Series: Make it Hands-On
A hands-on instructional approach is a cornerstone of garden-based education.
Core Principles Series: Build Self-Efficacy
When a newly planted seed germinates or a freshly harvested radish is eaten, kids wear success in their smiles.
Core Principles Series: Cultivate a Sense of Place
Cultivating a sense of place is a key – and sometimes underestimated – component of a successful garden-based education program.
Core Principles Series: Cultivate a Connection to Food
If they grow it, they’ll eat it. It will seem less bizarre if they are part of the growing process.
Core Principles Series: Make Connections to Home and Community
A class field trip to the farmers market illustrates just one of the many connections to home and community made with garden-based education.
Core Principles Series: Let the Garden Be the Teacher
A garden is a living system, which means lessons must be dynamic, flexible, and in tune with seasonal cycles and natural patterns.
Core Principles Series: Engage Kids in Meaningful Fitness
Meaningful fitness “exercises” the mind and body at the same time.
Core Principles Series: Utilize an Integrated Curriculum
Throughout 2022, I’ll be sharing Nathan Larson’s 15 “Core Principles of Garden-Based Education,” using them as an organizing frame for reflecting on the school garden movement in Napa County.
Year End Appeal: A Call to Action for School Garden Educators and Supporters Alike
Given the challenges schools have faced in the last two years, garden teachers (and kids) need more support from the community than ever before.
Building Resilience with Robust Vision
School gardens with a robust vision are more likely to build resilience in the wake of many challenges.
Gleaning the Field 