Learning Life Skills In The Garden

In many ways, the learning garden is unique in that it lends itself to opportunities for students to perform meaningful work. While the definition of “meaningful work” can be debated, we employ the term as it refers to purposeful jobs or tasks that students truly care about, become wholly invested in, and which have tangible outcomes that positively impact our students and/or community.

Students perform meaningful work in the learning garden when they plant seeds or seedlings, care for them over time, and finally, harvest their crops. Meaningful work includes maintenance tasks such as watering, cleaning, bug removal, thinning, and weeding.  These activities provide a time when students can foster social and physical growth as well as the personal qualities of a dedicated learner. Through the processes of meaningful work, students are allowed time to try, make errors, and work to fix those mistakes independently or collaboratively with peers. Students glean life skills and strengthen character traits such as responsibility, caring, and respect for the shared gardens as well as the contributions of others.

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