Harvesting in our garden

"The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest" - William Blake

As a Montessori preschool our children's experiences are based on real life and purposeful activities and engagement in a prepared environment. Both our inside and outside environments are set up as classrooms, with a natural flow in between the two of them.

The key to preparing the environment at our preschools is providing purposeful engaging activities that are hands-on, real and practical, and based on the Montessori principles, including beauty. The layout and mechanics of the activities play a crucial role and micro routines are an important aspect. Objects or tools have their place outside, on a shelf and are aesthetically pleasing. The environment is structured in such a way that children can make discoveries on their own. The activities are about putting things in order, moving them, cleaning, or getting them to their proper places and have a beginning and end. A garden provides excellent opportunities for purposeful engagement, especially when it is harvesting time.

Children are natural and curious gardeners. They love the be involved, hands on, especially when they can take on a nurturing and caring role with responsibilities. At Tawa Montessori we have been growing beans over the last few months. With school closing for summer it is time to harvest the abundance of ripe beans hanging from the plants.

In line with our Montessori philosophy we have prepared the environment so the children are able to work in our garden independently and purposefully. We have outdoor shelves filled with baskets and trays with activities. The children can explore, sweep, rake, dig, weed, plant, water, feed chickens, collect eggs, study science and do many more things in our garden.

To enable the children to harvest the beans independently we have set up a basket with scissors, a bowl, jug, towel and scrubber. After harvesting the beans from the plant they fill up the bowl with a jug of water and use the scrubber to remove excess dirt from the beans. They can then choose to peel the beans for morning or afternoon tea time or to take the beans home for dinner time.

Harvesting is always a very popular and satisfying activity for the children. They have nurtured and cared for the plants and watched them grow, sometimes from as little as seeds. In a time where people are expecting instant gratification, harvesting gives children the experience of satisfaction that comes from caring for something over time. Caring, kindness and compassion are the biggest harvest in our garden!
- Anja

A new home for our turtle

Animals play an important role at our preschools. We have many pets. We try to give them an environment as natural as possible. At Tawa Montessori, for many years now, we have a turtle inside our classroom, living in a tank. We also have fish, living in a small pond outside. With the warmer weather arriving, we thought we would combine the two and move the turtle into the pond.

We tried to home the turtle, named Harold, in our pond last year, but turtles are actually good climbers and, in no time, Harold had climbed out and went for a runner. Turtles are actually fast runners too and luckily one of the children spotted Harold just in time before he could disappear under our deck. So this time we thought about the move a bit more careful. We have put some "fencing" around our pond, hoping this will prevent Harold from climbing out.

For several weeks now Harold has been living in our small pond. We don't know for sure, after all how do you tell, but Harold seems very happy with the move. He spend his first days in the pond hiding under the rocks, making us wonder whether he was still alive. Now he spends most of his time basking on the rocks in the sun, to great delight of the children. Harold "begs" for food as soon as one of the children walks up to him, and the children feed him worms they find in the garden or compost.

We made the pond a few years ago. We filled a regular children play water trough with rocks and stones and planted water plants from the local creek. Amazingly these water plants transferred well and soon started growing. Time has done the rest. Fish seem to live happily in the pond. The pond is very shallow, enough water for the fish to swim around in and for Harold to totally emerge himself and have a swim.

We may sit on our deck and watch our pond from a distance, observing the birds taking a bath, some damselflies visiting the plants and Harold having a lazy bask. A precious moment of stillness, treasured by all of us during this busy time in the year.
- Anja

A new potting shed - greenhouse gardening with children

While Summer has officially arrived in our part of the world, the weather is still unsettled. Hot, dry days are followed by cold, wet days. Regardless the weather, a greenhouse is a place for contemplation, beauty and serenity, an utter delight to work in. It provides excitement as we are able to observe the plants grow, almost literally in front of our eyes, no matter the wind or temperature outside.

We don't have a real proper big greenhouse, but a couple of weeks ago we assembled our new potting shed at Tawa Montessori. The potting shed is made of native macrocarpa and has windows and a perspex roof all around. It has the size of an oversized wendy house, perfect for our children, not too big and not too small. For us it will be perfect as a greenhouse. A beautiful one, that is. And we are loving it. We are currently cultivating several plants, ranging from sunflower seedlings, to beetroot and basil. Poppies are next on our list.

The children have been very excited and thoroughly enjoy the shed. Potting mix and compost, set up in separate bins, is readily available to them. A tray or basket with gloves and trowel is ready, together with a stack of empty planter pots. We have adjusted the shelf height. The children do not need much help as they fill up their little pot with potting mix and plant a seed. They can add a little wooden popsicle stick with their name or the name of the plant on it, for later identification. The older children keep a log book. They record their name, the name of the plant, and the date.

The potting shed is so beautiful, it just calls out to enter, and the children need no encouragement to enter the shed and water the plants. It is a delight to open the door in the morning, not quite sure what to expect, as the sunflowers may have grown another few centimeters, the basil may be ready for picking and the marigolds all of a sudden blossomed into orange.

We are very happy with our potting shed, obtained with a partial grant from our local HeHa project, as part of their nutrition fund. Greenhouse gardening is an interesting concept. Many discussions take place as we plant seeds, watch them grow and plant out the older seedlings into our garden. Questions about light, warmth, moist, soil, food and nutrition encourage the children to think and investigate. Nurturing and exploring living things has always been an engaging thing to do and for children it develops a deeper understanding of the world around them.

Over the months to come, the children will get more out of the greenhouse experience as they plant, nurture and tend to their own plants. They'll have sole responsibility for their plants, resulting in harvesting their own vegetables. They will plant out the vegetable garden with tomatoes, strawberries, parsley, marjoram and basil. The tomatoes will make a great addition to their mousetraps. The herbs will add flavour to the scones and the strawberries are delicious straight out of the garden.

The children continue to sow, plant, weed, grow and nurture vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers in our potting shed and garden. The most rewarding part of the new potting shed, however, is to see how the children take on the responsibilities, grow in confidence and pride as they display and share the fruits of their labours!

On behalf of all the teachers, parents and children of Tawa Montessori Preschool, I’d like to thank the CCDHB HEHA project (Capital Coast District Health Board) for their donation towards our potting shed.

- Anja

Summer in Aotearoa

Although the Summer Solstice in New Zealand takes place around the 21st of December, Summer down-under officially starts on 1st December. In less then three weeks our schools will be out for summer break.

Summer is always an exciting season at our preschool. It marks the ending of a school year as well as the start of a new school year. With Christmas and New Year in between, it is a time of reflection, and renewal. Here is our new Summer banner.

Summer is a time when the damselflies mate and you can see pairs flying and clinging in tandem. Damselflies reside near ponds and streams and they sometimes visit our pond at Tawa Montessori. They are fascinating to watch and a real source of beauty and elegance.

Who can resist fresh fruit and vegetables from the garden? Summer is the time when we can take stock and pick the fruits of our labour. Eating fresh fruit and vegies, straight from the garden is a real delight. In our garden there is plenty of parsley and other fresh herbs to be cut. Big red juicy strawberries are calling out to us, the lettuces are ripening and the tomato plants are growing every day.

New Zealand coastline is approximate 15000 km with many, beautiful, deserted beaches. Plenty of visits to the beach are part of our Summer culture. Shell collecting is a favourite with many children.

Sunflowers in Summer grow like, well, sunflowers. Last week we planted some seeds, and already they have grown more then 10 cm in a weeks time. Soon we will plant these seedlings out in our garden and eagerly watch these miracles unfold and make their way to the sun.

Who can't remember the days of long swooshy grass? Summer is a time to run and roll through a meadow of long grass, play hide and seek, or pick meadow flowers. At Tawa Montessori we let some grass grow, as we love to run, hide and roll!

While monarch butterflies aren't as abundant as they used to be, they can still be seen fluttering through our garden during Summer. Watching the caterpillars metamorphose into a beautiful butterfly is a summer miracle no child should have to miss out on.

Harvesting, beach visits, sunflowers, long grass and butterflies, what are your plans for this summer?
- Anja

Just This Day

One Stillness

visit Just This Day - The Power of Stillness

Beauty as a foundation for education?

"A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."

- Albert Einstein

What is beauty? Does beauty bring joy? Joy to who? Is beauty a perception, or a subjective interpretation? Is beauty a concrete concept, or is it a deeper abstract? Is what we find beautiful a reflection of our personality? Can we learn about ourselves from what we find beautiful? Is creating beauty a human urge, used to focus the mind? Why does beauty matter?

Philosophers have discussed beauty for centuries. I don't have the answers to the above questions, although I have my own thoughts and interpretations, as I am sure, you will have too. What is important to me, however, is the important role beauty plays in the life and education of our young children.

Renowned Harvard University professor Howard Gardner, says that the essence of education should be learning to think - What children need is a deep understanding of truth, beauty and goodness, a training that will help them better understand why the world is as it is and how life can and should be lived. Maria Montessori too, emphasised the importance of beauty when educating the young child. The Montessori preschool prepared environment is characterised by order, simplicity and beauty which meet the needs of the child. Real tools, beautiful ornaments, china ware, glass crockery, and real art, our Montessori classrooms are a place of beauty and aesthetics.

“The child should love everything he learns. Whatever is presented to him must be made beautiful and clear. Once this love has been kindled, all problems confronting the educationalist will disappear.”

- Maria Montessori

As teachers we have an overloaded curriculum to adhere to. We are expected to load our children with facts and knowledge, we give them a taste of a topic and move on to the next. We are forever racing against the clock, preparing them for the next test. What if we take the time to give the child the tools so that in turn they can discover the universe on their own? What if we, as teachers, provide the foundation, so the child can build the structure? A building is only as good as its foundation though. The child can not build on a shaky foundation! Will a child take delight in building its own structure, and therefore gain a deeper understanding? Will beauty play a role in it?

Montessori’s global vision was not the specific presentation of a few lessons but the impact of the lessons themselves, the deepness and true understanding. An understanding of truth, beauty and goodness. In Zen, beauty rests on simplicity, requiring patience, creating a calm, reflective mind. Creating simplicity and nurturing patience in the live of the young children at Tawa Montessori and Little Earth plays an essential part. In our preschool classrooms we pay great attention to the inner needs of the child which include stillness, reflection, a reverence for nature, and appreciation of the interconnectedness of all things, and the cultivation of peacefulness, compassion, generosity and love.

Traditionally, beauty is often interpreted as being in balance and harmony with nature, effecting our emotional well-being. Nature plays an important role in bringing beauty into the lives of our young children. Nature affects our moods and our experiences. For the children in our preschools at Tawa and at Paraparaumu, the daily work of sweeping the deck, raking the sand, caring for the plants, is a time of serenity and peace. They are learning to become more aware of nature, which in itself effects the way they look at things and in the way they feel about themselves, giving them strength and endurance to build their structures. This in itself brings beauty, inner beauty, outer beauty. Does it bring enjoyment? Does it reflect the personality of the child? Does it involve the mind? Does it matter? What are your thoughts?
- Anja

Our very own Bug Hilton

Our gardens play a major part at our preschools. Gardening is one way to develop a positive caring attitude towards nature. Our gardens help us to develop an awareness and understanding of our relationship to our environment.

Gardens are more then flowers and plants. Gardens provide habitat for a wide range of living creatures and many different species of insects. Insects are crucial to a healthy living garden. Bees and butterflies will help our flowers bloom and their presence in the garden adds other dimensions of sound, colour and movement. Many insects play an important role as pollinator or as pest control. By providing the correct habitats we can greatly increase the number of beneficial insects in our gardens and also provide a home to those that are in decline.

A "bug Hilton", or “insect hotel” is a structure made from re-cycled materials such as wood, old pallets, old terra cotta plant pots, dry leaves, bark, straw and hay. Each section of the hotel is filled with a different material that provides a habitat for a wide range of insects.

At Little Earth we have started planting natives. With these plants we hope to provide a food source of flowers and shrubs for our birds and insects. However, we are in need of more (beneficial) insects to help us with the establishment of our garden. Ladybirds, damselflies bees, and butterflies, to name a few, they all play an important role. Unfortunately, many of our insects are under threat from pesticides, spreading suburbia and agriculture. Providing a secure haven in our garden allows these crawlies an excuse to make our garden their permanent home. They seem to prefer individual tunnels to either lay eggs or hibernate in during the winter months.

Both at Tawa Montessori and at Little Earth we are helping our insect friends by making an insect hotel. We are using old wooden shelf units as the basis. A small rim around the top enables us to add some soil in which we have planted succulents, giving the hotels a ”living roof”. The remaining bottom shelves will serve as “floors”, to which we will add “rooms”.

At Little Earth we recently had a “Bring a Bug” night. Families were invited to bring their dinner of choice and a picnic rug to preschool, and share each others company. In addition, each family could bring a “room and guest” to check in at the hotel. Families could bring bamboo sticks, bricks with holes, ponga logs, wood slices, dry leaves, old terracotta pots, dead wood, straw and hay etc. Anything that creates lots of of crevices, nooks and crannies for the insects to climb into to keep warm in winter or to hibernate in. We already have several guests checked in to the rooms.

		The children check the hotel every day. We wonder what bugs will want to come and stay ...

- Anja

This post is part 5 of the series "Going Green"
- Going Green part 1 - Recycling
- Going Green part 2 - An enviro care code
- Going Green part 3 - An edible garden
- Going Green part 4 - Composting with young children