Garden Centre

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Gardens on the curriculum

I wonder why we don’t do this here? In Alameda county, in California, nearly 200 schools have some kind of gardening programme for children up to twelve. This, in the face of the technological mountain that has swept schools into the cyber age, (with increasing childhood obesity as a constant concern) makes perfect sense to me.

To date, nearly 200 public schools in Alameda County garden have programmes that provide a variety of educational opportunities. Students are encouraged to explore the multidimensional aspects of life's processes and discover the origins of fresh food while their nutritional awareness rises. Not only that, but studies commissioned by the California Department of Education cite a direct correlation between school garden programs and positive impacts on children's health and academic achievement.

That doesn’t surprise me at all! I wish there was something similar in the UK, where only ‘special’ schools offer young people a chance to get outdoors and grow something.

Garden for children photograph by Space Cadet, used under a creative commons attribution licence.

Labels: all-year gardening, children

The All Seasons Gardener at 12:21 AM 0 Comments

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