school yard gardens

Reader Dairy State Dad sent this link to an article in Atlantic rebutting an earlier article critical of the School Yard Garden movement which puts kids to work with their hands growing food. The idea of the original article was that since there was no evidence connecting gardening with achievement on standardized testing in math, there was no point to it. In fact, it was cheating our most vulnerable students from the education required for their success. It is a clear reminder that whatever you propose, there are plenty of naysayers. One reading the interesting rebuttal should read deep into the comments left by other readers who point to the history and purpose of education and proclaim the benefits of hands on learning.

The school yard garden actually got its start with Friedrich Froebel, inventor of Kindergarten. In the US, the kitchen garden movement paralleling promotion of Kindergarden was part of the foundation for manual arts training movement, having particular importance in the founding of Teachers College as part of Columbia University in New York. And in November my daughter showed me the school yard garden her gardening club planted on the Columbia University campus. Things move in cycles, are interconnected. Thanks for the links.