Article Link: http://www.exchangepress.com/article/wonder-nurturing-conditions-for-growth/5025290/
Nurturing Conditions for Growth
Coordinated by Kirsten Haugen on behalf of NACC
“Ka Whangaia ka tupu, ka puawai”
That which is nurtured will blossom and grow
– Maori proverb
“We believe it is important that children be supported in developing life skills through holistic nature-based learning.”
– Universal Principles for Connecting Children with Nature. Developed by the Nature Action Collaborative for Children, a World Forum Foundation
Working Group
As the one who coined the term kindergartens—literally children’s gardens—Friedrich Froebel may have been among the first to note the natural kinship between teaching and gardening. Sir Ken Robinson, like many others, has expanded on Froebel’s metaphor: “The plant grows itself. What you do is provide the conditions for growth. Great farmers know what those conditions are and bad ones do not. Great teachers know what the conditions of growth are and bad ones do not.”
Gardening with children invites them to experience a pathway to wholesome food; to both independence and interdependence; creating order and messing ...