At Bixby there are many beautiful gardens around the school that wouldn’t stay maintained alone. Our teachers, especially Nifer, do a wonderful job at keeping them growing with additional help from our students. In the preschool garden areas, Nifer has recently planted new flowers, kale, onions and arugula.
There is no secret hidden within the fact that children LOVE to explore, discover and play. Gardening with the preschoolers is teaching them to become active learners. It gives them a chance to be curious of the environment around them and experience the growth of life.
Watering the gardens daily in preschool yard brings a smile to the 
children’s faces. They enjoy having a duty to accomplish. Today they each filled up their own watering pitchers and waited on their friends to do the same. This allowed us to work as a group while taking care of the gardens. The children used their water sparingly because they wanted to water every flower and vegetable. When their pitchers were empty, we walked back to the hose and repeated the filling up process. Some children were asked to hand over their watering pitcher to a friend, making sure each child had the opportunity to help out. The strong sun has kept us busy with watering the gardens and has given the children an amazing chance for a hands on experience. The sun, water, and children working together has proven worthy as they witnessed sprouted onions and arugula today!
We plan to continue this practice until snowfall to keep our gardens looking healthy and colorful!