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don't worry about grades

How Does Your Garden Grow?: Nurturing a Learning Environment

How Does Your Garden Grow?: Nurturing a Learning Environment

by OnlySchoolers · Jun 18, 2020

It’s summertime in our area and gardens are growing! Join Gina and Christyn as they discuss a different kind of garden: the homeschool garden.

See how the same things that nurture a plant garden apply to educating your kids, allowing them to flourish. Go on…get your hands dirty!

1:10 — Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow? Gardening as a metaphor for homeschool

2:06 — Homeschool garden basics
           1) Determine your garden type
           2) Figure out what you’re going to plant
            3) Think about what helps it grow
            4) Don’t forget about weeds and pests

2:46 — Just as there are different gardens, there are different kids. Each is unique and the differences are desirable. In homeschool, the “garden” is your child

4:00 — One home might have several different types of gardens.  

4:13 — There is no one right, perfect garden. Be honest with yourself and accept your child for who s/he is and work with that

4:53 — Christyn’s Canterbury Bells experience reminds her of her daughter’s strengths

7:00 — Gina embraces her son as a native wildflower garden and watches him flourish

8:00 — Love and nurture the “garden” you’ve got. Honor the heart and soul of the garden you’re entrusted with

8:40 — In homeschool, the “seeds” are the curriculum and educational activities you choose to plant. There’s a huge variety and you can’t include everything

9:19 — Christyn’s homeschool “seeds” that were planted, but didn’t take off

11:22 — The homeschool “seeds” that Gina rejected

13:38 — The beauty of homeschool is that it lets things bloom in their own time

13:50 — Christyn and Gina share examples of right gardens, right seeds, and flourishing kids

15:42 — The seeds need water, sunshine, and fertilizer to grow. It’s important to find the balance

16:49 — Water as the “work” of learning, necessary to germinate the curriculum seeds

18:10 — Sunshine and heat are essential; just balance the intensity so students don’t suffer. Include some downtime for the work of rest

19:20 — Add the “fertilizer” – the challenges and hardships that promote long-term growth

22:12 — Gina and Christyn talk about the various weeds and pests they’ve encountered in their homeschool gardens

24:39 — All the work of gardening leads to that moment after a good round of digging in the dirt where you step back and think, “Oh, yeah. That was worth the wait.”

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Filed Under: Episodes, Season 1 Tagged With: don't worry about grades, make them fall in love with learning, play play play

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