WELCOME TO BLOOMING IN ELEMENTARY!
In response to COVID-19, many people are discovering new hobbies to do at home with gardening as one of the more popular hobbies. One of the biggest barriers of gardening with young children is a lack of personal interest and limited gardening knowledge. Whether you are a new or experienced gardener, throughout this website you will find helpful tips and tricks on getting started with gardening, “how-to’s” for some of the easiest and fastest plants for children to grow, garden-based educational resources and lesson plans catered to children from kindergarten to 7th grade, and a simple guide on how to start your own seed library.
Blooming in Elementary focuses on supporting teachers and families by providing all the basics for gardening with elementary aged children. This is a free online website that touches upon many essential topics for anyone who is interested in getting children involved with gardening whilst also providing access to hundreds of teaching resources and learning opportunities that can be integrated across the BC curriculum for students from K-7. All the information and resources in this website have been carefully curated and compiled to inspire teachers and families to stay connected to nature and to continue teaching their children to play, learn, and grow whether they are at home or at school.
Happy gardening!
DOUBLE CLICK TO EDIT TITLE
CHECK OUT THESE PAGES
GETTING STARTED
HOW TO GROW
RESOURCES & lesson plans
SEED LIBRARY
ABOUT ME
Hello, my name is Kelly! I am a teacher candidate from the Teacher Education Program at the University of British Columbia. Throughout my journey of becoming an elementary school teacher, I have had experienced a little bit of gardening with young children.
During my first year of volunteering in a grade 2/3 classroom, we grew a great variety of things in our garden ranging from kale to radishes. Watching children’s involvement in the gardening process and the sense of pride they gained from eating what they had grown was heartwarming to witness. One time, I even had a parent come up to me to ask how did I get her child to start eating tomatoes! When I taught preschool, there were difficulties with a few students who have challenging behaviors but the thing that always calmed them down was our class garden. Being in the garden made them feel happy and relaxed, whether that was helping me water the garden or just taking a moment to look at what was growing in our garden.
My experiences of gardening with children served as an inspiration and motivation to hopefully one day plant a garden with my students when I get a classroom of my own. As a relatively new gardener, the idea of using the garden as a co-teacher with an emphasis on place-based learning is something that intrigues me and I am grateful for this opportunity to create this project to share what I have learned with others.