School Gardens with Ease
Discover how to effortlessly integrate school gardens into your elementary or middle school curriculum with the School Gardens with Ease Podcast. This podcast is your go-to resource for creating flourishing and productive food gardens that provide long-term educational benefits. Learn tips, strategies, and insights to help you grow and maintain a sustainable school garden that enhances your teaching and inspires students for years to come.
School Gardens with Ease
33: From Garden to Curriculum, Not The Other Way Around!
Today, on the School Gardens with Ease podcast, we’re talking about a crucial part of creating successful school gardens: lesson planning.
If you’re new here, one key thing to know is that school gardens should be grown by students, led by teachers, and supported by the community. Not parent-volunteer projects outside of class time.
Why Lesson Plans Matter:
If school gardens are built and maintained during class time, they must integrate with the curriculum. That’s non-negotiable. Gardens can enrich science, math, language arts, social studies, history, geography, health, and more. Without solid lesson plans, a school garden won’t achieve its educational goals.
But here’s where many teachers go wrong:
❌ Don’t start with your curriculum goals and try to fit random gardening activities to meet them.
The Right Way to Write Gardening Lesson Plans:
✅ Start with the garden itself.
Think about the tasks needed to grow a food garden. This includes:
1️⃣ Selecting seeds
2️⃣ Planning the timing based on your growing zone
3️⃣ Using sub-irrigated systems for seedlings
4️⃣ Creating a step-by-step plan for students to follow
Then, connect these hands-on gardening tasks to your curriculum.
A garden that grows consistently over time provides ongoing educational opportunities, not just sporadic activities.
Final Reminder: It’s All About the Plan
A thriving school garden isn’t about hard work or personal time sacrifice. It’s about having a good plan.
And if you need help? My Oasis Suite of done-for-you lesson packages (https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/links-oasis-programs) gives you everything you need: growing guides, curriculum connections, and student activities.
Want more details? Download my free seed selection guide (https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/get-seed-list-gift-for-teachers) and check out my guide for a low-cost, foolproof way to start your seeds indoors (https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/offers/pZ2cNrYj/checkout).
Thanks for listening! See you next time on School Gardens with Ease!