I’m on the left coast this week conducting an Urban Kinder-Garden Workshop with Miss Avalos’ Kindergarten class at Kester Ave Elementary School in Sherman Oaks, CA.
Miss Avalos is tying the garden into the curriculum for her students.
Art
The first part of the project was having her student paint the containers, which helps them to express themselves creatively.
Science and Language Arts
“One of the cool things is that it also teaches about seasons and weather,” said Miss Avalos. “We are getting everything that is in season.”
Her class will be keeping a plant journal and talking about the parts and life cycles of the plants.
“Also the idea of taking care of our earth. We can do something local. We don’t have to waste fuel to get the food to us,” said Miss Avalos.
Team Buidling
The workshop and garden will also help the kids with their team building skills. They’ll have to work together to plant and maintain the garden.
Math
She’ll also be tying in math activities like how much they’ve gotten out of each plant.
Nutrition
“A lot of these kids haven’t been exposed to anything but iceburg lettuce. This is a whole new experience for them.
Responsibility
Some of the kids will also learn about having responsibilities as well. When winter break rolls around in a few weeks, some will get the chance to take the containers home to care for them.
When I was in elementary school, we just got the chance to take home a hamster.
The workshop will be broken down into two days with the first focusing on building the self-watering containers with the parents. After the containers are built, I’ll go over how the containers are made, how they work, about how they are reusing materials and the environmental impact of them.
Day two of the workshop will revolved around planting and setting up a worm composting bin.
It’ll be interesting to see how the kids react to the worms. I know that they still kind of freak me out.
My secret plan (well not so secret anymore) is that the kids have such a great time that they pester their parents to start their own gardens at home.
It’s all about getting people back in touch with their food source.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnuuGOcWzv0
love this! may i re-post this?
Sounds like a really neat workshop. They need you and your experience. Good luck and congratulations!!
Absolutely Dawn. Thanks!
Thanks Marydelle. Much appreciated.
Mike! This is awesome. I definitely plan to propose a garden for the school in my neighbourhood in Cape Town. Seeing Mud do his thing with the LAUSD and you doing yours, I am inspired. Will be following your progress….and taking notes.
This is wonderful! I was fortunate in middle school in that we had a biology teacher that was dotty about gardening. She convinced the school to set aside a small piece of land behind the football field, and teamed up in fours to maintain our school “allotments”. Some grew flowers, some veg, some both. It was a wonderful experience, and went a long way toward helping to foster my lifelong love of gardening. I hope you can stay in touch with Miss Avalos' students during their first gardening season. Would love to hear how the project turns out!
Nice Ryan. Appreciate the kind words. Def keep me updated on how things progress with you as well.
That's a great story. I'd love to have the kind of impact on someone that carries through to their lives. I'll definitely be keeping in touch with Miss Avalos' students throughout the season.
My wife and I manage to supplement our diet with fresh veggies from the garden every season. We even pressure can some for the winter months. Self-sufficiency and sustainability are natural to mankind. Every child is entitled to see that gardening is a means, outside the corporatists world of supermarkets and ROI's, to feed oneself. Please include composting, soil care and seed reclaiming in your sessions with the children. America is secure within the corporatist system at the moment and the popular propaganda is that this will last forever. China, however, looms on our horizons and other means of sustainability may be sought soon by Americans. At least these children will look at land and see gardens before polluting in ignorance and the corporate name.
Thanks for the comment. That sounds great. I'd really like to get to the point where most of my food is coming from gardens. Definitely want to start getting into fermenting and canning for the winter months. Any favorite canning recipes or tips?
With this workshop, we set up a worm composting with them. The kids and parents really seemed to enjoy the workshop.
My wife and I manage to supplement our diet with fresh veggies from the garden every season. We even pressure can some for the winter months. Self-sufficiency and sustainability are natural to mankind. Every child is entitled to see that gardening is a means, outside the corporatists world of supermarkets and ROI's, to feed oneself. Please include composting, soil care and seed reclaiming in your sessions with the children. America is secure within the corporatist system at the moment and the popular propaganda is that this will last forever. China, however, looms on our horizons and other means of sustainability may be sought soon by Americans. At least these children will look at land and see gardens before polluting in ignorance and the corporate name.
Thanks for the comment. That sounds great. I'd really like to get to the point where most of my food is coming from gardens. Definitely want to start getting into fermenting and canning for the winter months. Any favorite canning recipes or tips?
With this workshop, we set up a worm composting with them. The kids and parents really seemed to enjoy the workshop.
Bravo to you both, please let me know how Authentic Haven Brand can help support you in this wonderful School Garden program. Annie
Great stuff – had a group through our Store Grow From Here In Wellington City NZ yesterday – they loved the monarch caterpillars and the taste of marigolds
Thanks Annie. This post is actually from last year, but likely going to be doing it again this year. Will keep you in mind. Appreciate the support.
Sweet.