A buz in our garden ...

In some parts of the world honeybees are disappearing at an alarming rate. While their disappearance in New Zealand may not be as dramatic as in Northern-America, bees are having a hard time to survive in today’s ecological climate. If bees disappear, there may well be serious consequences for our food supply, as they act as pollinators for a large number of plants that provide our food, as well as providing honey. Not only the honey bee, the humble, beautiful bumblebee is also having a hard time. Bumblebees are disappearing due to their habitat reduction, a decrease in wild flower meadows.

Just like honeybees, bumblebees form colonies, but unlike the nests of honeybees, the nests of bumblebees do not not survive winter, only the queens overwinter in holes in the ground. As the colony does not survive from year to year, the bumblebees are dependent on the queen to generate a new colony. It is important the emerging queen finds flowers that provide adequate nectar and proteins to gain the energy to establish a new colony. Obviously, contrary to the myth that bumblebees shouldn't be able to fly, bumblebees can fly. On average, a bumblebee travels at a rate of 3 meters per second, moving its wings at roughly 130 beats per second, more like a fibration.

At Tawa Montessori we have been busy planting several flower seedlings, raised in our new potting shed. We planted them around our new bug hilton to create an insect garden. Over the summer months the seedlings have grown into a colourful display of flowers, attracting many insects, from praying mantis and damselflies to bumblebees and butterflies. It is important bumble bees have a continues access to blooming plants to forage on. Bumblebees and other insects need plants to provide nesting sites for egg laying. They need foraging plants for collecting pollen and nectar. The children are enjoying observing the bumblebees and other insects visiting our flowers.

At our preschools we like to help our bumblebees, butterflies, and other invertebrates. We are creating a more flower-rich environment, with the aim to improve the habitat for insects. Creating a pollinator-friendly garden habitat not only contributes to the pollination of our fruits and berries and many of our vegetables crops, but also adds richness and beauty to our garden. No summer is the same without the hum of a bumblebee ...

And, talking about bumblebees, I used to play the trumpet, and I love this incredible rendition of the Flight of the Bumblebee, played in this you tube video by the legendary trumpet master Rafael Mendez (goto 1.00 min). Enjoy ...

- Anja

The greatest gift

Eyesonnature - Anja: Ten years ago, Tawa Montessori Preschool opened its doors for the first time. Since then, many children and families have come through our doors. At the age of five or six, we see these children leave as capable young learners, who are well prepared and actively and positively engaged with the world they live in. Saying goodbye to a child is not easy. We have feelings of sadness for the departure, but at the same time we are ecstatic for the child as they embark on their next big adventure of primary school. Sometimes, however, a child leaves before they start school, due to changed circumstances. Today, Andrea Bubendorfer, one of our parents, writes a guest post about leaving our preschool and what Tawa Montessori Preschool has meant to her and her family.


I'm writing this as a guest post, from my perspective as a parent of two children that have attended Tawa Montessori Preschool.

When we started, I expected a good quality education, where my children would learn to love learning, to become self disciplined, caring, kind, confident and considerate people. I was amazed how much more we received. This preschool is an eye opening treasure trove of experiences. A place full of love. A wild and natural space, much of it outdoors, always with something new to experience with the changing seasons.

My first memory of the preschool is that it is literally a Casa dei Bambini, a children’s house. Outside, chickens free range among the miniature picnic tables and park benches, birds sing in the aviary, animals are everywhere, an obstacle course of natural materials is set amidst a thriving native garden. Rainwater collection, composting and a flourishing fruit and vegetable garden complete a sustainable paradise. A vast array of tempting activities line the extensive decks. Inside, the classroom is warm and welcoming, brimming with art, music and contributions from many cultures.

The entire feeling, unlike anything else in my experience, is not an adult creation FOR a child, but a child’s place in itself. In our world of rampant consumerism it is so refreshing to find a place, with all the inessential qualities stripped away, leaving only the essential elements. The preschool captures a simplistic beauty that captivates the child, and from this they have the opportunity to understand the world on their own terms.

In our society children are frequently confined to activities that establish boundaries and limit play to specific interactions. This limits creativity to constrained ideas, preconceived by adults.

Tawa Montessori Preschool has offered my children the opportunity to let their minds soar, free from constraint, promoting natural curiosity and understanding. Children genuinely make their own discoveries, meaningful due to the personal level of involvement. This is more than the acquisition of knowledge. It is a personal achievement. Facts may be forgotten, but the pathways to think are being cemented into place. Moreover, there is the awareness that the construction of these neural pathways is most enabled when the child is happy and at peace.

The prepared environment naturally creates a sense of wonder, which in turn fosters a desire to prod deeper and question further. In a self fulfilling virtuous cycle, a sense of confidence is developed within the child, encouraging them to take on other problems and work on them until they are satisfied. In this way, children are liberated from stopping at the superficial solution, but to achieve as deep an understanding as they are ready for. They are supported both mentally and emotionally by teachers who care for the children as if their own.

Equally important, the children are shown that there is a time to learn, but also a time just to be. Children are supported emotionally and given time to mentally digest their experiences. Valuable and underestimated tools such as meditation help prevent overstimulation.

To connect parents with their child’s work, a slide show is shown each day of photos of the children as they work. This creates the opportunity to ask meaningfully directed questions to the child about their day, and open conversation, rather than the usually ineffective adult approach to ask such closed ended questions as "how was school today, did you have a good day? What did you do?". My children were always delighted to know that their work is something both teachers and parents are interested in.

This is a space that is truly owned by the children. But their minds, hands and hearts are nurtured by a dedicated, loving team of teachers. It is with great sadness that we leave.

A no-dig garden, layer upon layer

Last term we transformed our vegetable garden at Tawa Montessori into an insect garden with a bug hotel as our chickens were ransacking our garden. A new garden had to be build, out of reach of the chickens.

Making a no-dig garden is one of the easiest, and one of the most fun and satisfying things we have ever done. The no-dig garden took us one week to make, although it can be done by adults in only a couple of hours of work. At our preschool we wanted the children to be in control and have ownership of the garden, so we spread the work out over several days to keep it manageable for our three and four years old children. Adding the different layers over several days enabled the children to learn first hand about soil - the essence of a no dig garden is that you are basically making your own soil.

After the boxes were made, this is what we did, spread out over the days:

Day 1:
We started with adding the drainage layer. If your no dig garden is on a grass patch you don't need to worry about adding this layer, but since we are building a garden on concrete we decided it would be better to start with a layer of gravel to create a drainage level. On top of the gravel we layed a fiberglass mesh (insect screening), to keep the layers that will follow from washing out through the gravel. We had heaps of fun working together, scooping up the gravel, riding the wheelbarrows and tipping the load into the boxes. Great teamwork!



Day 2:
The following day we added the first "soil" layer. We used alfalfa (lucerne) hay which we sourced from a local horse feeding supplier. Hosing this layer down was another fun activity!



Day 3:
Now we were really getting into it. Every layer added, made our garden "grow", but this layer was a real test for some, as we were now adding the manure. At first the children looked a bit worried at the sound of scooping horse poohs? But with gloves on our hands, and with spades and rakes, it wasn't as bad as it sounds. This layer too got hosed down.



Day 4:
We had some straw that had been outside for several months and had started to decompose, making good stuff for in a garden. We spread this straw out and added some compost from our own compost heap. Again, another hosing to make it wet.



Day 5:
This was the ultimate fun. We added the long awaited bales of straw. There was straw in our hair, straw in our pants, straw in our shirts, and an irresistible straw fight. And then we got to jump on top of it in an effort to compact it down. What is more fun at preschool then jumping in a pile of straw?



Day 6:
We finished it of with another thin layer of compost, nicely raked and watered.



Day 7 and onwards:
Planting, watering, nurturing, weeding. We planted tomatoes, broccoli, beetroot and various companion plants.



Making a no-dig garden is easy and can be done nearly anywhere, as long as the place gets a minimum amount of around 6 hours sun. You don't need boxing, you can put your garden straight onto the ground, although this may cause some run off. If you build straight onto grass, you may want to put down a soaked layer of newspapers first to keep down the weeds. If you build on concrete you may want to add a layer of gravel for drainage first. After that you start with adding alternate layers of fine and course organic materials. We started with lucerne, then horse manure, then compost and mulch, then another layer of straw. We finished with a layer of compost. You can add more or less layers, as suits you. For planting we used seedlings. Watering is crucial as a no-dig garden needs plenty of water.

Our no-dig garden is keeping us busy. It will be interesting to see how everything grows.
- Anja


This post is part 6 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
- Going Green part 5 - Our very own Bug Hilton