A Bunch of Brown Thumbs
I have always loved the idea of gardening, and while I certainly enjoy being outside, I am no green thumb!
Can you relate?!
My daughter has been asking for months now to learn more about gardening, so I figured we could all get our hands dirty, and learn together!
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A couple of things happen as we learn together:
- I am modeling that you never stop learning. This is HUGE.
- We share a unique bonding experience since we’re all in it together. We are sharing in not only what we are doing, but also what we are learning.
Also, I must point out, this year definitely marks a shift in my perspective of homeschooling, moving from a school at home approach to homeschooling. They are not the same.
In previous years, I would have viewed something like gardening as extra after the REAL schoolwork was done.
And being a lower capacity person, I was never able to squeeze it in.
Between negotiating with my creative child, and life in general, my energy was usually spent.
This spring, one of my main goals is to learn how to garden with the kids. It isn’t an EXTRA thing. It is one of the main dishes! 🙂
Preparation
We didn’t, nor will we do an extensive unit study on gardening (you know the lapbooks, worksheets, extra activities,etc.)
I have done those things in the past, but find the energy I spend preparing for them is generally not matched by enthusiasm from my kids.
That makes the teacher in me sad at times but is part of the story of how we became outside the box learners.
You gotta do what works. And frankly, the planting IS the extra activity!
So to prepare us for planting, I gathered some books on gardening for the kids. That got the “brain juices” flowing…
Here are the books we explored together:
Roots Shoots Buckets & Boots (this is a great one to OWN!)
Start small
Part of what has kept me from gardening is a false idea that I needed to have our garden all planned out.
Like anything, sometimes you need to just start somewhere. This is something I have to tell my perfectionist self ALL. THE. TIME.
So, though still in the process of planning out our veggie garden, when the bug hit us this past Monday (while out running errands in the gorgeous weather!) we decided to stop at the store and just get a few plants that the kids had read about and were excited to plant.
Their plants of choice were Pansies and Marigolds.
Starting small can apply to anything your kids want to try (building something, sewing, computer coding, baking, cooking, etc). You don’t need to go all out.
Keep it simple. Start with watching a video or getting a book on whatever they’re interested in.
A Rich Learning Experience
Although we only spent about an hour doing the planting, the conversations that happened during that time were so rich.
We discussed the parable of the sowers.
We hypothesized what would happen if there were strong winds.
Would they ruin the flowers since they’re still so small and newly planted?
That led us to talk about the importance of being rooted in our faith and God’s Word.
It was truly a beautiful time.
And they were so happy to be planting and so proud of themselves. Their excitement towards gardening only grew from this relatively small experience.
In fact, when we went back into the house they were reading more from their gardening books and they had a richer context for what they were reading.
Their brains are now more engaged and primed for learning about flowers, plants, and gardening.
And as we move towards starting our vegetable garden, we ALL have more confidence and excitement!
Sometimes, when you’re treading into waters (or soil… ha!) completely foreign to you, you just need to do something and take a small first step.
What have you been learning alongside your kids?
