St. Mary’s Primary, formerly All Age, is situated in the hills of Above Rocks, St. Catherine. This noble institution has served the community and its environs for 183 years.
Most of our teachers are past students, hence the deep connection with the students as they would have taught their parents or relatives.
As educators, we’re constantly looking for innovative ways to engage children in learning. One approach that I use is gardening as a teaching tool. Not only does gardening provide a hands-on, interactive way to learn, but it also offers a unique opportunity to integrate multiple subjects, including math, science, social studies, and reading.
Being cognizant that many of our students are from farming communities, we use this methodology to enhance and whet their appetite for learning while enjoying their lessons.
LEARNING IN THE GARDEN
Gardening offers a wealth of opportunities to practise math skills; from measuring and calculating perimeter to counting and basic addition and subtraction.
Children measure the garden beds to calculate perimeter and area using their rulers. They also count the seeds and plants to practise basic addition and subtraction. Calculating the yield of crops is used to practise multiplication and division.
Students are exposed to social studies and science from grade four. Teaching social studies in the garden is a great way to introduce the subject of landforms by creating a miniature garden terrain with different landforms, such as hills and valleys. The students are then asked to name activities that take place on hills and valleys.
Gardening is an ideal way to teach young ones about science concepts, like plant structures and growth. They label different parts of plants, such as roots, stems, and leaves. They also learn to explore and observe the different structures of plants, the texture, and the shapes of leaves.
It’s true to say that reading is a challenge, especially for boys, but at St. Mary’s we have reaped great success from utilising gardening to teach reading skills. Before planting the seeds, students have to decode the words on the label. These words are written as sight words and are used to make bingo, scrabble, and other games. They also create their own reading materials to enhance their vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. And to enhance hand-writing skills, they are required to create a garden journal to record observations and notes.
BEARING FRUITS
The children are excited as they are involved in every step of this fruitful endeavour, from planning to planting to maintenance and harvesting.
When the crops are ready, students reap, and get to take home some to share.
At St. Mary’s, we are inspired by the children’s excitement and eagerness to learn in God’s roofless classroom, and will continue sowing seeds of knowledge and watch our little ones grow!
One of our Grade 4h students, nine-year-old Jerlicia Williams, expressed her love for gardening this way: “I plant the seeds and watch them grow. Every day, I water and pull out weeds so they don’t choke the plants. Sometimes, a little manure is placed at the roots to help the plants grow big and strong; it is amazing how fast they grow. Soon it will be time to reap and eat. I love to farm and will do farming when I grow old.”
Jacqueline Brown Hope is grade teacher at St. Mary’s Primary.