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Montessori Gardening

seedlingGarden

 

“Children indeed love flowers, but they need to do something more than remain among them and contemplate their colored blossoms. They find their greatest pleasure in acting, in knowing, in exploring, even apart from the attraction of external beauty.”                                                          Dr. Maria Montessori

 

Gardening activities will become a larger and more integral part of the Shining Stars curriculum in SY 2023 - 24. Much like their indoor work, the children bring work outdoors with child-sized tools and self-directed lesson boxes.

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The children pick up trash, mix soil, grind eggshells, mulch plants, feed birds, and scrub rocks. They learn about worms and soil, observe sun and shade, listen to sounds and identify colors.

They reflect on nature to experience inner quiet and peace. These activities reinforce respect for all living things and recognition that in a garden filled with millipedes, beetles, snails and slugs, mites, compost, earthworms, fungi, and bacteria, there is no such thing as garbage!

Learning opportunities:

  • How healthy soil is made
  • The role of worms and insects in nature
  • The importance of reusing resources
  • The importance of composting
  • What helps plants grow
  • The life cycle of the garden

 

Individual classrooms, Primary through Upper Elementary, coordinate with our parent gardening volunteers to work outdoors with the children. In addition, there is support work for parents who would like to participate in maintaining this exciting program.