Say hello to your new garden Spring!
Here at ScuttleBugs, our staff aims to turn not only every moment, but every nook and cranny into an opportunity to play, learn, and grow. More often than not, we see our children thrive on lessons that they can experience first hand, and with subject matter they can relate to. In other words, we believe hands-on learning is not just the best, but really the key, experiential approach from birth through 5 years of age. Every interaction children have with the environment can be a teachable moment with a life-long impact.
Through this nature-centered long term project, we continue to utilize our garden area as a space for the children to both play and learn with the hands on principle we promise to provide. Although, in this instance when we say hands on, we first have to teach gentle hands.
Respect and stewardship for nature is one of many knowledge outcomes a green space has to offer, regardless of whether you have access to pot plants, a front or back yard, local park, or an orchard or farmland etc. We reinforced this lesson of gentleness and reverence with our most popular garden inhabitant: the ladybug!
The ladybugs were a huge hit with every class that is participating, and were the perfect introduction to ecosystems: “as the soil is home for the flowers and vegetables, the plants are home to the ladybugs.” Even asking and answering the question “what do ladybugs eat?” prompts our students to start to think along these lines for all living things, and the answers provide the keys to understanding life cycles, ecosystems, and the wonders of natural science. Handy hint – ladybugs feed off aphids and other garden pests, so in child terminology they are not just insects but garden superheroes!
Each week every class is responsible for planting, watering, caring for and harvesting their garden beds. We look forward to watching our seeds sprout and grow, in parallel with tracking how the more mature plants morph throughout the season. PreK has already planted some onions, and soon our Junior Preschool and Preschool classes will be able to savor homegrown carrots and an array of herbs.
We’ll be sure to keep you updated with our little ScuttleBugs’ progress in and about the garden as we move into the Summer months.
