It is Sunday morning, and I am writing this post in Taupo. I am sitting outside our rented bach, overlooking a reserve. The sun is making its way up the horizon, the sky looks promising blue and the lake is glistering in the distance.
 | All I can hear on this beautiful calm Sunday morning is the song of the thrush in the tree next to me, some other birds across the valley, a bumble bee visiting the clover buds in the grass and some flies buzzing around. |
| How long this will last I don't know, but people will soon arise, cars will get started, lawns will get mowed, boats will get launched and the birds will get quiet. I am enjoying this moment to the full while it lasts. |  |
Yesterday I visited the Ecoshow. My favourite stand during a show or exhibition is usually the bookstand and this is no different at the Ecoshow. The stand had several books available with the main focus on organics, permaculture and transition towns, but my eyes quickly caught the pile of books at the back of the table that looked brand new. Indeed, "Outdoor classrooms, a handbook for school gardens" is hot of the press from Australia. It is written by Carolyn Nuttall and Janet Millington, two primary school teachers and permaculturists with over 60 years of teaching experience between them, many of which have been in garden-based learning.
The book explores the benefits of school gardens and their value in nurturing children's relationships with the natural world. It gives plenty of ideas, plans and designs for developing and maintaining a school garden and suggestions on how to get started. What is clear from the beginning is that this is not a book about the traditional school gardens as we find them at schools across the country, the forgotten little patches in the back corner of a playground. Instead, this is a book about developing and maintaining a permaculture or sustainable garden as a formal part of an outdoor classroom and a living curriculum. This is where the book has my attention, with its extensive list of "outdoor learning adventures". This collection of ideas and concepts will add to our own ideas, which we have applied in our own preschool garden. Our preschool garden is an essential part of our classroom and is the main component of our living curriculum, see my post "Our beautiful garden, a magical place". You can also read more about our garden and our outdoor naturalised environment on our preschool website. Another valuable part of the book is the section about curriculum connections. Although Australian based, the information can easily be applied to the New Zealand environment and the workshops and units can easily be adapted to your own situation and environment.
The book is illustrated with sketches and drawings, and a handful of black and white photographs. Some full colour photos would have enhanced the book. I haven't finished reading the whole book, but it already has given me new ideas I can't wait to apply some of them in our garden. I can recommend the book to any teacher who'd like to embark on the journey of setting up a school garden as part of a living outdoor curriculum or for those who'd like some fresh ideas and inspiration to take their school garden to the next level. Together with our own book, "Our journey as an enviro preschool", the two books will be a great resource and put you on the pathway of setting up a sustainable garden as part of a naturalised outdoor school environment.
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