“Education is a natural process spontaneously carried out by the human individual, and is acquired not by listening to words but by experiences in the environment.” – Dr. Maria Montessori
Tag Archives: Gardening
Summer Camp at HBMH: Gardening
“Teaching children about the natural world should be seen as one of the most important events in their lives.” – Thomas Berry
We kicked off summer camp with an exciting and hands-on gardening theme, which of course, went successfully!
Over the past few weeks, we have been studying gardening. Our Apple classroom conducted a lima bean experiment to see how the bean sprouts and grows. Try it at home to see how big your bean will sprout!
We also pin-pricked various flower patterns, placing them on our wall-garden.
We’ve also been participating in plenty of garden care through watering the soil and harvesting the fresh vegetables and herbs.
Our students officially have green thumbs!Next week’s summer camp theme “United States of America”, is sure to be just as exciting!
Happy Gardening!
Butterfly
Harvesting Cauliflower
Today’s work of choice: harvesting cauliflower.
Gardening is an outdoor extension to our students’ work cycle. Maria Montessori emphasized, “the land is where our roots are, the children must be taught to feel and live in harmony with the earth.” Our gardens are lush with lettuce, cauliflower, flowers, and various roots. The children harvested the cauliflower, washed it, cut it and then steamed it for lunch this afternoon. What a joy it was to prepare for one another the “veggies” of our labor!
Happy gardening!
What’s for lunch today?
A beautiful tossed salad, of course. Complete with organic romaine lettuce and kale, topped with fresh grapefruit and oranges, and olive oil. The lettuce was home-grown here in our very own garden, and the fruit was provided from the Kiwi class’ fruit and vegetable basket (thank you, freinds!). Tasty and nutritional is how we like to keep it here at Healthy Beginnings Montessori House!
HBMH Youtube Channel, Now Up and Running!
A sneak peak of what’s to come! Follow our page for more videos and footage from “behind the scenes” of Healthy Beginnings Montessori House!
Photo of the Day: Summer Gardening
Baby peppers, cantaloupe, tomatoes, fresh basil and beautiful flowers continue to grow in this tremendous summer heat! Thank you to our young friends for making sure our plants get plenty of water to drink each day!
Outdoor Play is Key to Child Development
Playing outdoors is crucial in the physical and mental development of children. In its simplest form, playing outside is a good way for children to get their daily exercise. With one out of three children overweight or obese, being active is critically important for the health of children. Lack of outdoor play has been linked to such problems as childhood obesity, increased reliance on behavior regulating medications, low self-esteem, and lower academic performance. Improving a child’s health and well-being might be as simple as sending him or her outside to play!
Outdoor play and exploration can promote learning across all developmental domains and help ensure overall health, fitness, respect for the environment, positive social relationships, and readiness in academic subjects including science, math, language arts, and more! According to the National Center for Physical Development and Outdoor Play, playing outside improves children’s gross motor skills, which increases their ability to process and remember new information. Furthermore, interacting with nature and other kids outside helps to stimulate the curiosity and creativity of children, and also boosts their confidence as they learn new things.
A generation ago, playing outdoors in nature was a given. Times have changed. TV and computer use, unsafe neighborhoods, busy and tired parents, and elimination of school recess are just a few reasons children are spending less time outdoors. Many modern American children are likely to find themselves in the “highly scheduled” category, where life is a constant shuffle between school, sports, church, camps, lessons, or various other activities. This daily shuffle can be overwhelming and more often than not, playing outside is the last thing they want to do. So, what can you do to increase outdoor play for children in your care?
Try some of these tips to increase outdoor play:
See What’s Happening in Our Own Backyard!
The latest in our backyard improvements: an awesome new Gravel Works area, complete with a covered tarp to provide much needed shade; blossoming garden beds filled with flowers, fresh lemon balm and basil, strawberries, peppers, and tomatoes, and a few other projects in the making. BIG THANKS to Mr. Monty, our honorary Projects Manager and Head of all backyard renovations and improvements. Donations raised from tomorrow night’s Parent’s Night Out will go towards these and many more renovations in the near future; thank you in advance for your generous donations towards the growth of our school!
Stop by the backyard to see the updates for yourself!
HBMH: Gardening
A glimpse into our backyard renovations and gardens. This is always an exciting time of year, as our backyard blossoms new flowers, and fresh, green plants. The gardens are fully maintained by our students, all the way from planting the seeds to harvesting and eating the fruits and vegetables.
Gardening is something that each of our children participate in almost every day. It is an activity that is productive, enjoyable, and purposeful. Maria Montessori placed great emphasis on nature education. She felt that the outdoor environment should be an extension of the classroom. She said that “there must be provision for the child to have contact with nature; to understand and appreciate the order, the harmony and the beauty in nature”. When a child plants seeds, waters and nourishes the soil, and harvests the vegetables to fee their fellow classmates, they learn that this work serves a purpose and is very important to the community as a whole.
I would encourage everyone to plant their own garden at home! Even a small potted plant is a great start. There is nothing more that the child enjoys that a tangible, productive work such as this.
