Today we took the opportunity to introduce our kids to the tools we will use in the garden and to articulate some rules of thumb for using them. We had each kid choose a tool (or two) and then we went around and asked them to tell us what each tool is used for and what safety rules come to mind.
The kids came up with some great additions to our basic rules (the first three are ours). This was a good short discussion and it served as either a review or introduction to the tools we'd be using in the garden.
List of tools:
Shovel
Rake
Trowel (Hand Shovel)
Hand Rake
Tomato Cage
Watering Cans
Gloves
Twine
Wooden Stakes
1. Only use tools for their intended purpose.
2. Never raise tools above your hip or head (Demonstrate proper use of gardening tools)
3. Do not throw tools.
4. Put tools away when you are done working with them.
5. Be aware of your surroundings.
6. Share, take turns, and hand off.
Part Two: Seed Starting Round 2
We had a bit of a problem with our original seed starting. We forgot about spring break... thus our seeds went un-watered for a week. Needless to say, we were not able to revive them when we got back, so today, we did round two using the many egg cartons Lisa and I had lying around our houses.
The kids go really crazy for playing in the dirt and the prospect of putting a seed in soil and seeing it grow - it was a seed-starting frenzy! We brought the seeded egg cartons back to our campus greenhouse and watered them there. We will start the rest of our seed stock in the greenhouse and bring the kids seedlings to transplant into the garden. They won't get to see those seeds grow, but they will get the chance to seed seedlings pop up directly from their garden when we plant carrots, radishes, beets, beans, etc. in the raised beds.
Afterthoughts:
The sheer, unencumbered joy that flows through the kids when they are planting is astonishing. They become completely engrossed in the process and in each other. The rest of the world kind of melted away and they were totally focused on filling those egg cartons with soil and running back to me for a seed packet.
We are still learning how much autonomy each kid can handle. Most of the gardening and preparation tasks can be sorted out for differentiation. I think I'll try to identify in each lesson which tasks are high, medium, and low levels of autonomy/independence so we can more effectively delegate to each kid.
