Garden Curriculum a Bountiful Source of Learning, Exploration and Connection in Early Childhood School
The garden is a valuable outdoor learning tool for Early Childhood School students, but it has taken new meaning for some of St. Margaret’s youngest learners.
Whether it’s planting spaghetti squash, tending to chickens or tilling the soil, St. Margaret’s garden has continued to provide a rich learning experience for Early Childhood School students who explore, observe and take ownership of the space’s upkeep.
The garden is a valuable outdoor learning tool for Early Childhood School students, but it has taken new meaning for some of St. Margaret’s youngest learners. While engaged in remote learning earlier this year, Early Childhood School teacher Jennifer Hardison would share garden explorations with families by sending photos and videos, and encouraging students to explore their own home gardens to compare and contrast.
Now back on campus, the students are recognizing both shared experiences in St. Margaret’s garden and their own personal experiences at home, forging a sense of identity and connection.
“The children connected what they observed in our school garden with their own,” Dr. Hardison said. “Stories about their own backyards and gardens were plentiful. We wondered together about the sameness and differentness of our garden compared to their own backyards. Within these interactions, exchanges, and dialogue, the children began to construct their own identities in relation to our garden and their home gardens.”
St. Margaret’s garden has long been a vital learning tool for early childhood students. Through observation of different plants and leaves, smelling herbs, counting fruit on a tree, measuring space between plants, identifying insects and tracking plant growth over time, students learn concepts of science, engineering and math in an outdoor environment, while developing an understanding of where food comes from.
In recent weeks, the students have helped plant a number of vegetables such as peas, squash, carrots and bell peppers, have used their art and literacy skills to create identifying signage and have visited frequently to explore and work. They have also looked for spirals in nature, such as on snail shells and flowers.
“During our visits, the children explore, observe, and work in the garden,” Dr. Hardison said. “The more we visited the garden, the more children became keen observers. They noticed the creatures living within the garden, they noticed changes in the plants and flowers, and they found unfamiliar natural phenomena and developed theories about them.
“They began to see the connections between their actions and the condition of the plants and animals under their care. With empathy and care, these children took pride in the garden, becoming stewards of this place of ownership, freedom, and empowerment.”
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The garden is a valuable outdoor learning tool for Early Childhood School students, but it has taken new meaning for some of St. Margaret’s youngest learners. While engaged in remote learning earlier this year, Early Childhood School teacher Jennifer Hardison would share garden explorations with families by sending photos and videos, and encouraging students to explore their own home gardens to compare and contrast.
Now back on campus, the students are recognizing both shared experiences in St. Margaret’s garden and their own personal experiences at home, forging a sense of identity and connection.
“The children connected what they observed in our school garden with their own,” Dr. Hardison said. “Stories about their own backyards and gardens were plentiful. We wondered together about the sameness and differentness of our garden compared to their own backyards. Within these interactions, exchanges, and dialogue, the children began to construct their own identities in relation to our garden and their home gardens.”
St. Margaret’s garden has long been a vital learning tool for early childhood students. Through observation of different plants and leaves, smelling herbs, counting fruit on a tree, measuring space between plants, identifying insects and tracking plant growth over time, students learn concepts of science, engineering and math in an outdoor environment, while developing an understanding of where food comes from.
In recent weeks, the students have helped plant a number of vegetables such as peas, squash, carrots and bell peppers, have used their art and literacy skills to create identifying signage and have visited frequently to explore and work. They have also looked for spirals in nature, such as on snail shells and flowers.
“During our visits, the children explore, observe, and work in the garden,” Dr. Hardison said. “The more we visited the garden, the more children became keen observers. They noticed the creatures living within the garden, they noticed changes in the plants and flowers, and they found unfamiliar natural phenomena and developed theories about them.
“They began to see the connections between their actions and the condition of the plants and animals under their care. With empathy and care, these children took pride in the garden, becoming stewards of this place of ownership, freedom, and empowerment.”
St. Margaret’s Episcopal School
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