gardens as part of learning/curriculum. ideas/info

[luv-my-boys]

We are starting a much larger container garden this yr. Actual raised beds instead of pots. The boys learned so much last yr from it and so I thought naturally this would be a great project to expand on. We do a lot of living books and such, we currently use sonlight and similar curr. So we'll oh course check out every gardening type book at the library.

Looking for any suggestions on curriculum that could go hand in hand with what we are doing. For instance activities to do in the garden while waiting for our seeds to sprout and produce that could encompass math/science/reading. Any suggestions?

Here is some information I've found so far:
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr063.shtml
http://utah4h.org/htm/resource-libra...ruit-vegetable

[yllek]

This is one of my great loves!!

My kiddos (5 and 2) will do a lot of measuring this year - weighing harvests, spacing seeds, charting growth, etc.

We're going to do more formal botany observations with 5 yo ds. We'll sprout some lima beans, use a Root Vue to compare different kinds of root systems, compare different kinds of leaves, look at cross sections under a microscope, create different growing conditions for potted plants (restrict, light, restrict water, restrict nutrients), etc. We'll write about these observations in our science journal (encompassing science, math, art, language arts, and handwriting practice).

We are always checking out the bugs in the garden. This year, we'll do some identification and classifying. We've also kept bugs in the past. We'll do that again but expand... So this year, we'll keep an ant farm, ladybugs, mantis, painted lady caterpillars, and possibly monarchs (depending on whether I can get some milkweed going in time). And it's the highlight of the season when we collect the finished compost. All the buggy craziness in there.

If I do ancient civilizations this year, I'll probably look at the geographic origins of some of our important food crops.

We've dyed with cabbages, onion skins and berries before.

Weather observations and charting totally tie in with our garden activities, as does lunar observations.

And then there is all the great garden-themed children's literature.

And then there are our visits to local organic farms so we can see how animals are a huge part of the agricultural system too. We visit a local organic goat farm, an alpaca ranch, etc. Our neighbors have chicken and quail. We see those weekly.

I love having a garden for sooo many reasons, but as a homeschooling mom, it's one of my best tools for hands-on activities (as well as an easy summer meal!).

Edited to add: I used to work briefly at MLK Middle School, and the Edible Schoolyard was the most inspiring thing ever. Many of my ideas come from the work that the teachers did there.

[elizawill]

i also plan to incorporate more gardening come spring time, so i'm subbing. i have a black thumb of sorts, so i don't have much t offer in resources. my goal this year is to turn our entire front area into a garden with stepping stones. we have a picket fence and the space in the front is small - so i thought that would be really cool. in the backyard, we have a vegetable garden. this past year was my first time with it, and it was really fun for all of us. i'm learning right alongside my kids and it's been a lot of fun (and a bit of a challenge).

[moominmamma]

We've got some inspiration from the Jr. Master Gardeners teaching manuals. I co-led a children's garden co-op at a community garden for a few years and we did a lot of child-led stuff but when I felt the need to strew something intentionally the Jr. Master Gardener leader's book was helpful.

Edited to add: Sharon Lovejoy's books (especially R,S,B&B and Sunflower Houses) have been wonderful sources of inspiration for us as well over the years.

Miranda