Sir Wilfrid Laurier Elementary School, Laurel Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada
To answer last week’s critical question, I found a web resource teaching children to care about the environment. The website is hosted by EcoParent, a magazine funded by the Government of Canada to promote “healthier and greener lifestyle choices” for families. The article I read was “How to Teach Children to Care About the Environment,” and it offers some great ideas on getting kids to develop a sense of connecting to, caring about, and being responsible for the environment and people around them.
One of the ideas that stood out for me was reinforcing and expanding the developing sense of empathy through planting, tending, and harvesting something that can be eaten. Food gardening is a wonderful pathway for my kindergarten class to learn their roles and responsibilities on the Land and their community, and Indigenous knowledge. I plan to combine land-based learning and dramatic play in my lessons. My students will pretend to be farmers, and they are responsible for planting, tending, and harvesting crops. Also, there will be a Farmer market dramatic play in school when the crops are ready. Throughout the learning experience, students will learn how to grow some local and special food from various communities. They will learn about the growing practice and knowledge of some Indigenous nations. Also, they will get to know how to respect the Land and understand the relationship between the weather and the Land as well as the Land with animals and people (i.e., holistic learning). Last but not least, students will appreciate the importance of looking after the Land (reduce, reuse, and recycle) and the idea of only taking what they need and leaving some for the insects and animals (reciprocity).
How to Teach Children to Care About the Environment. (2021, June 24). EcoParent. https://www.ecoparent.ca/eco-parenting/how-teach-children-care-about-environment#:%7E:text=Explore%20human%20impact%20on%20the,your%20community%20about%20your%20project
Posted by Tammy