For my English teacher, Kate Sims.
Imagine walking into Kealakehe Elementary School, and it is surrounded with lush green vegetables, an array of rainbow colored flowers, and seeing children getting their hands dirty. Whether it is elementary or high school, we sit in a room surrounded with walls, and this is where we “learn.”
However, although books and exercises are great for learning, kids need to be outside, also. Gardening should be added as a core class in elementary school, with English, math and science. Gardening teaches positive environmental behavior, knowledge of different plants and species, and it teaches healthy eating habits.
Teaching gardening at a younger age, when our brains are at their most “sponge-like”, could help create more positive behavior toward our environment. When a child sees how not caring for a plant makes a big impact on whether it lives or dies, they become more aware to “nourish” it.
According to Chawla (quoted in Blair, page 18), “Adults who had significant and positive exposure to nature as children — experiences, often with significant adults, that socialize them to view nature in positive and meaningful ways — were more likely to be environmentally sensitive, concerned, and active.”
For example, David, my other half, has taught our son, Riley, gardening. Every morning the both of them would go outside and water the plants. Just by doing that small daily routine, Riley already gets very anxious that his plants will die.
Secondly, gardening teaches the relationship between plants, animals and the environment: how important is a bee or a butterfly carrying pollen from one plant to another, how a worm in the dirt is actually a good thing and not to kill it, or how too much sun could hurt a plant, and too much water could hurt it, also. Gardening at such a young age helps children understand that their place in our world is just as important as the plants and animals that surround us.
Riley, my son, loves to kill insects and bugs, not because he loves to kill them, but because he is scared of them. But I once told him that the worm that he just squished helps feed the plants. Since then, he has asked to look for worms to put in the garden.
Lastly, after learning the importance of plants and the animals that surround them, gardening enables children to eat healthier. How exciting to plant a seed, water it daily, and watch it grow, and then, pulling it out of the ground, and seeing a bright orange carrot at the end; in addition, children to learn they are able to eat it!
“Gardening changes the status of food for all involved. When one gardens, food can no longer be viewed as a mere commodity for consumption; we are brought into the ritual of communal goodness that is found at the intersection of people and plants. Food that we grow with our own hands becomes a portal for personal transformation.” (Thorp and Townsend, qtd in Blair, page 18)
Ultimately, our school system is good. English, math and science are great subjects. But let’s teach gardening at the same level of importance to elementary school students. Gardening teaches positive environmental behavior, knowledge of plants and the animals that surround us, and leads a healthier choice of food.
Work cited:
Blair, Dorothy. “The Child in the Garden: An Evaluative Review of the Benefits of School Gardening.” The Journal of Environmental Education 40.2 (2009): 15-38. Web.
Kayzelann Gutierrez is a resident of Kailua-Kona
