Texans have been known to do things differently, as some sayings go. They’re even introducing creative methods for teaching their children.
Schools in Fort Worth, Dallas and Grand Prairie are taking the classroom outside — and planting seeds of wisdom in their students by using a school garden. With financial help and direction from the nonprofit organization Real School Gardens, 66 qualifying schools are incorporating an on-campus garden into lesson plans.
“We are living in a world where it is just critically important to give young people the opportunity to be outdoors and to connect to the natural world,” said Jeanne McCarty, executive director of Real School Gardens. “Sometimes educators feel they have to follow a certain script or guidelines or framework to succeed, but I think children learn best when they are engaged and when they’re learning in a hands-on way.”
The group brings together all the players: parents, teachers, students and the school community. With key stakeholders helping to plan meetings and organize events, McCarty said, the organization ensures that the garden will be sustained because those involved understand how to use it for teaching and learning.
Once the organization chooses a campus to invest in — typically determined by greatest financial need — it gives the school funding for five years to create the garden and start the program. During the planning process, Real School Gardens shares lessons learned and offers guidance, but the ideas and designs come from the schools.
Each school garden has a unique look, grows different vegetation and is tied to all school subjects. Math teachers can use the gardens to look at patterns in nature. Social studies teachers can explain how different populations may have used various plants. And science lessons can illustrate lifecycles from the garden.
Learning in such a hands-on environment, McCarty said, brings subjects to life for students, and curriculum can carry a deeper meaning than pages in a textbook.
“Students on the whole would rather be outside than in the classroom,” she said. “Being outdoors — and beyond the walls of the school — it's something that they truly enjoy, and then learning from things that are real motivates them.”
Photo: Children from Alice Carlson Applied Learning Center examine bugs and plants with a magnifying glass and watch birds in their garden.
