Watching their own garden grow
Preschool pupils are learning a lot more than just gardening skills
TEACHING children permaculture at the Mother Goose Preschool in Durban has helped them understand the soil’s importance as the main source of nutritious food for vegetables that grow in it.
Grade R teacher Jolene Pote, one of the pioneers of the garden patch at the school. realised the importance of educating children about the soil’s natural value.
“I wanted them to have hands-on involvement with gardening. This is a learning project for them to have a much better understanding of the ecosystem, and how worms, ants and other tiny insects (ladybirds) have a hand in preparing the soil.
“The ladybirds are nature’s own ‘pest’ controllers and are more effective than poisonous chemicals,” she said.
Pote said the children were having so much fun growing their own vegetable garden: “Watching their little seeds sprout into plants and become carrots and tomatoes is an exciting adventure for them. When the kids take their harvest of vegetables home, their parents get excited and applaud us for the skills we’ve imparted to the little ones.”
Pote said that children were curious by nature and it gave them great joy to reap a harvest from the crop they cultivated.
“They cannot wait for the gardening period, because they love creating yummy treats through their imaginary games of baking an artificial pudding cake, using the wet soil.
“To them gardening is everything – they are at a stage where they acknowledge that food, and even the clothes they wear, come from the soil,” Pote said.
She said children also learnt how to be consistent while working in a team and making the effort required to grow veggies.
Pote said, besides teaching them ploughing skills, an indirect lesson is for them to learn to be dedicated and achieve something in life.
According to Pote, gardening also helped the children develop a sense of responsibility and achievement, which ultimately helped to improve their self-esteem.
She said gardening was a good stimulant to a child’s brain, because of the outdoor nature it espouses.
Spinach, carrot, tomatoes and chillies are some of the vegetables grown in Mother Goose’s garden.
A beaming six-year-old, Gabriella Yon, said she loved the outdoors, especially beautiful butterflies but also worms and chasing away unwanted insects.
“I enjoy watering plants and giving them a fresh new look,” said Gabriela.
The smell of the wet soil, water dripping off from the vegetable leaves, was also exhilarating for her.