What Children Can Learn From Gardening G By Carol Alexander rowing up in the woods we never had a garden; but my Granny did. I remember her flowers better than her vegetables. She planted a very large piece of land with rows and rows of irises. Each one was given a name. She used the names of each of her eight grandchildren, her daughters, her closest friends; but after that, I don’t know where the other names came from. I cannot remember a time in my life when I was not surrounded with growing things. As an adult, I absolutely adore my garden, and I’ve taught my children the same. Each of them began their gardening careers on the sidelines in a playpen. From there, they not only learned gardening but math, language, science, home economics, and more—all while growing our food. You don’t have to be a homeschooling parent to appreciate lessons from life. It is so rewarding to watch our kids “get it” while doing something as simple as planting corn. You see that “aha” expression and he says, “Now I know why eight times four is 32.” Preparation Time It’s time to prepare our gardens for summer. Planning what to plant, buying seeds, and starting seeds are all activities that children love to do. But what about stretching those activities into the academic side of life? Here are a few ideas to get you started. • Take the kids to a store that sells seeds three for a dollar and let them pick out a bunch of packets. Look at the label. Does it give the weight of the seeds or the count? Verify it. Weigh the seeds. Count the seeds. If 25 seeds weigh x grams, how much would 100 seeds weigh? Create more problems like this. Look up how many seeds of a particular vegetable you need for a row in your garden. Have your child figure out how many seed packets he would need to plant a row (or more) in your garden. What about the next vegetable? Have your child write her own description and planting instructions for the back of the packets. Don’t throw those seeds away. Plant them. every 12 inches, how many kernels go in each row? If I plant 8 rows, how many kernels have I planted? If each grows into a viable stalk with 2 ears each, how many ears do I have? And how many dozen ears of corn can I put in the freezer? Of course, this is all dependent upon God blessing and weather cooperating. Watching it Grow After all the sweat of planting a garden and getting it mulched, we tend to sit back and watch it grow until it seems the weeds pop up from nowhere, the bugs come in full force, and everything looks a little stressed. “Oh,” we think, “when was the last time it rained?” This is a great learning time for kids. Discuss water conservation with your children. See if your County Extension Service offers classes in making and installing rain barrels. If not, do the research yourself and get to work. YouTube has a lot of videos teaching you how to do this. Start a sketchbook journal for the garden. Devote a page to each weed or insect that you find. If your child feels inadequate drawing, have him take snapshots of each item and paste one per page. Label each one with both the common name and the scientific name. Include a brief description. Learning From Gardening continued on page 8 • • • • Planting Season Once the weather warms up and your seedlings are hardened off, planting season begins. Again, kids love this activity. Here are a few more things they can learn in the process. A good layer of straw, grass clippings, or compost around your plants will hold moisture in the soil and deter weeds. Try this experiment. Plant identical rows side by side. Mulch one row; but allow the other to remain bare. Keep a record of the two rows. Does the one require more water? Compare the weed growth between the two. Which plants appear to be healthier? Record your findings. Have the child take pictures to add to the notes. Our garden rows are 16 feet long. If I plant one corn kernel 2013 • Issue 3 Piedmont Family Magazine 7