Gardening: Planting SunFlowers in a School Environment Essay

Finally, I work hard to create an indoor and outdoor environment that enriches, challenges, and encourages children to develop interests, connect with each other, have alone time, and learn through play. I accomplish this goal by continually assessing my play materials, adding new things, gauging my children’s interests and needs, and adjusting my environment accordingly.

Children need to experiment outdoors as there is so much to learn. Children can learn in each of the areas and develop their skills. During play children are learning to socialise with each other, playing in small groups and taking turns which builds there confidence up. They also develop their motor skills through playing outdoors, running, jumping, walking and crawling. Children will learn to take risks

Simon Wiesenthal was born in Poland, December 31, 1908. Simon was a Jew trapped in 7 different concentration camps. He drew pictures of what he saw to recount the horror. Simon was liberated in May 5, 1945. Simon started a club/program to bring Nazis to justice. His main target was Adolf Eichmann; a Nazi who wanted to kill all the Jew’s and used little kids for lab experiments. Simon located him in Argentina. Adolf Eichmann was at trial and pleaded he was not guilty. After the trial Simon wrote a book about Eichmann. Simon didn’t spend time with his daughter since he was

In all actuality is forgiveness more of a resolution for one person to move forward, or does it fix the situation as a whole. The Sunflower, is a book that presents an idea of forgiveness and others opinions on what should happen in this case of events. Karl a dying SS man, brings in Simon a prisoner in a concentration camp to his hospital room, and asks Simon for forgiveness. Karl is guilt ridden for his killings during his time as a soldier, and wants to die confessing and seeking forgiveness from Simon. Simon however has never known Karl before their meeting, and Karl has never committed anything towards Simon. Simon struggles and is indecisive on whether he should forgive Karl or not. Saying sorry for murdering people during the Holocaust, is impossible given the damage of the event, but for Karl he searched for forgiveness through Simon. Simon being imprisoned in a concentration camp and brought to Karl, a dying SS man, Karl wanted to seek forgiveness for his actions. Being in the position Simon was in he was not entitled to take the apology on behalf of others, when he was not wronged against by Karl.

Natural outdoor environment has positive effects on children's social development and motor skills development.Outdoor play is less structured so it gives children more opportunity to discover, learn about different textures, sounds and children also gain important physical skills.Children feel more free and they use their whole bodies to explore.Natural environments stimulate children's imagination and engage their sense of curiosity.

Physical activity is important to the short term and long term health and well being of children. In the short term physical activity helps children to build muscle, develops the skeletal frame, develops the heart and lung function and helps to prevent obesity. If children have enough physical activity a day which is said to be up to an hour it can help the children get to sleep easier and for longer periods of time, this can then lead onto long term benefits as if the activity is in the garden it will also help the child to build up a good immune system so they will be less likely to fall ill to the common cold or the flu. This outdoor environment helps the over all wellbeing of the children as the outdoors makes them

The theme of this reflective account is engaging children in participation, and enabling children to have a voice. The Every child matters documentation (Department for Education 2010) focuses on the important role of the adult in enabling children to make decisions and encouraging them to participate and make a positive contribution. As a result through this account, how children in my setting are encouraged to participate in the outdoor play space will be explored. A small piece of research was carried out which will be reflected on, as will theory relating to children making a positive contribution in the early years.

There are some considerations in terms of children’s intellectual development that teachers should keep in mind. First, education is exploration. This is where teachers allow children to interact with the environment by providing rich experiences and environment. Second, children do not think like adults. This is where children have

The McMillan Sisters had a inimitable way of teaching their students and their methods have been carried out for many generations and are still practiced today. In Who Am I in the Lives of Children, table 3.2 describes the sister’s goals and influential practices. The ambitions for their program were simple; they wished to provide nurture to children, support health, nourishment and physical welfare, assist parents in improving their work with their children, and provide a model for teacher on how to work with young children. Through the Open- Air Nursery School they unquestionably accomplished their goals for they impacted Early Childhood Education with their sense training, outdoor activities (including the sandbox and gardening), focus on children’s health and activities with creative expression. A modern nursery school instructor, Hilary Cooper, connects one of the McMillan’s sisters teaching methods to a today’s teaching practices:

The Holocaust was a genocide that occurred from 1933-1945, and one of its survivors was Simon Wiesenthal. After he was set free from the concentration camp, he dedicated his life to finding Nazi war criminals and persecuting them in court. Later on in his life, he wrote a memoir, The Sunflower. It was about one of his many experiences at the Lemberg concentration camp where he got roped into listening to a dying SS soldier, Karl. Right before Wiesenthal left Karl’s room, Karl asked Wiesenthal, on behalf of all the Jews he persecuted, for forgiveness. Wiesenthal left Karl’s room without forgiving him, and then asked his readers, “What would I have done?” At the end of The Sunflower, people who Wiesenthal picked to respond to his question, had their answers published. The most interesting response was Jose Hobday’s. Hobday believed that Wiesenthal should have forgiven to Karl because it would have given Karl a sense of peace, making it easier for him to pass on. Hobday had the correct answer to Wiesenthal’s question because even though all of the Jews that Karl persecuted are dead and will not be able to forgive him in person, Karl just wanted someone to know that he was sorry for his actions.

Lastly the author recommends community gardening as the best option because it will bring the community together. The author claims that the garden will be ‘a great way for children to learn,’ also that ‘kids spend far too much time inside’ and the garden will provide a healthy option for them to go outside and do some physical work in the fresh air. Referring to children as one of the main benefiters from the garden the author not only appeals to the council, because children are the future of their community but also appeals to parents as they want their community to be a healthy and sufficient place for their children. The author declares to the council

Finding ways to keep students interested in schoolwork and increasing their cognitive abilities has been a constant struggle for teachers. It is common knowledge that when a child’s interest wanes, it becomes harder for them to learn and retain knowledge on the subject. One tool that can be used to combat this issue would be the use of an outdoor classroom or learning outdoors. During the late 60’s and 70’s outdoor education was highly recommended in curriculum guidelines to enrich educational experiences, but later declined in the 80’s (Eaton, 1998). Today, outdoor education only plays a small role in children’s education experiences, despite the benefits it could provide. Teachers should take advantage of outdoor education to increase children’s cognitive skills, provide physical and emotional benefits, and decrease the bio phobia many children seemed to have developed.

surroundings. Playing outside is a learning experience that children need to have every day. The grass

It is the author’s view that in education, the nature of curriculum is continuously changing and as educators we have not yet found a 'successful curriculum '. Ross (2000) suggests that a reform of the curriculum needs to be undertaken and that as educators we need to continuously evaluate and critically challenge our curriculum frameworks for the growing changes in society. He continues his metaphor and uses the imagery of a garden to highlight what gardens are used for by society. Ross (2000) suggests that gardens can be used for a number of different purposes; whether it be to provide food, as a means of exercise, for leisure reasons or simply as a means of relaxation. He also asks the question “who are gardens for?” and what is their purpose (Ross, 2000, p.2). Ross (2000) uses this metaphor to argue the importance that when developing a curriculum, educators first need to consider what the purpose of the curriculum is and who is the

Gardening is a great learning experience, no matter the age. It gives small children that “wow” factor by getting to watch a plant grow from a small seed to a living, green, natural thing. Gardening can help with the effort of a healthier