I want my kid to get involved in some interesting kids activities that can help him in his overall development. He is currently enrolled at the boys & girls club of Texas, I wanted to ask...what else can I teach him..how can gardening help him?
He can learn how exciting it is too see a flower grow from a seed he has planted. If that flower attracts butterflies, there is another learning experience to explore...why some butterflies lay eggs only on certain plants, what the caterpillar looks like so you know it's a good critter, caterpillars eat the leaves but don't kill the plant and what they do when it's time to become a butterfly. Moths too. If he has a veggie that he really likes to eat, he can learn how to grow that plant and eat what he grows. There are also a number of plants that don't produce a fruit or veggie but the leaves of the plant itself can be eaten....mint being the easiest to start with. Kids who learn where their food comes from....other than the grocery store, also learn how important it is to take care of the earth they grow in. Meaning going organic instead of spraying chemicals on the food you are going to be eating. Through the growing process they learn to watch the weather to better take care of the plant....not enough rain then you have to water, a cold snap coming then you need to bring the plant in if it's in a pot or make a covering for it outside. Gardening teaches responsibility...if you don't take care of the plants, the soil, the critters around them and treat them right, they will die. And gardening is an activity that the two of you can learn about together. There will be many questions about plants and bugs that you will have to find the answer for. What kind of butterfly is that? What kind of bee is that? Do all bees sting? What kind of bug is that and is it bad for plants? Not all bugs are bad, so learning which ones you want in your garden is vital. Where do butterflies and bees live? How does that tiny seed know what grow up to be? And it's great exercise, you're outside in the sunshine and creating a garden no matter how small is just a great sense of accomplishment that gives your self esteem a great boost.
Gardening is really a good way to a kid to learn more about flower and other plant and how they are cool when they grow and they will learn about patient about it.
Toni said it wonderfully. Look at all the sciences she covered. From a teacher's perspective gardening and being outdoors is invaluable. You would not believe the number of children that don't know the difference between processed foods and whole foods, so they don't know the difference between fruits and vegetables. Basic categorization is weak, being able to give attributes of similarities and differences that have depth comes from familiarity. Being able to talk about nature and share it with an adult will build communication skills and therefore writing skills. Sharing gardening and nature with your kids will strengthen their math knowledge and basic concepts of volume and mass. Planning that little gardening bed is rich in education. To help children meet the national standards required of testing now the more varied the background knowledge the better prepared they are. Most important I think is gardening teaches everyone the value of planning, nurturing and waiting. We have become so much a society of instant gratification and gardening teaches patience. It also teaches us so many lessons from our failures. A lot of learning can come from any failure and gardening has just as many failures as successes.
Without touching on religion, which would be inappropriate in this type of forum and which I believe to be a completely separate issue, there is great spirituality and parables about life to be learned and appreciated throughout the entire of realm of activities described under the word gardening... As a brainstorm... Food chain/circle of life. Big fish in a little pond. Nurturing. Patience. Effort and its' rewards. Weather and different climates. A myriad of scientific issues and areas such as genetics and photosynthesis. Cooking. The basics about air and water. Decomposition. Basic philosophy about the principles which will guide one's life. The intricate interconnectedness between people, animals, plants, and the places we inhabit. How lucky (?) we are that gardening can be considered a hobby by most...
