A garden is a place for possibilities, play and inquiry, safe risk taking, the building of relationships and a deeper understanding of diversity.  The reciprocal learning observed in children’s interactions with nature and people convinces us of its importance in sustaining society’s commitment to the early years.

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Our adventures with gardening has always been an important aspect of our program, continually devising and implementing  learning  experiences about sustainability and the world of plants.  Our educators have worked hard to provide opportunities for children to learn about the joys of gardening in the hope that we will develop the next green generation.  Please see attached learning experiences from each of our four groups.

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The deeper learning became evident through observations of the children and their reflections about cross disciplinary collaborations.  Through this we are provoking children’s curiosity and desire to investigate.  We are encouraging them to be active, observe the natural world, investigate scientific concepts and be responsible for living things.

Fox street is so fortunate to have an outdoor space that provides children and their families with a sense of freedom and serenity.  We recognize that children’s learning and development takes place in the context of their families and our aim is to provide a space where children can be strong, capable and resilient; rich with wonder and knowledge.  Research tells us that childhood memories of contact with nature involve a deep sensory imprint of texture, smell, color, sound and taste; therefore we propose to create four purposeful and individual garden spaces where this can be augmented. Our view of the garden as a play environment, is one with which children can create new worlds that use sensory elements of the natural environment, to shape drama and fantasy.  It is simply a place to be.

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THE SENSORY GARDEN

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A sensory garden is an environment that is designed with the purpose of gently stimulating the senses.  This stimulation occurs courtesy of plants and the use of materials that engage one’s sense of sight, smell, touch, taste and sound.  This can be both therapeutic and beneficial to both children and adults, especially those who have sensory processing issues, including autism and other disabilities.  Our aim is to provide a calm space for children to feel safe and comfortable in exploring their senses without feeling overwhelmed by them.  Depending on the child’s needs, a sensory garden can primarily focus on one sense, or it can incorporate all of them.  Our plan is to appeal to all five senses:

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• Visual – colours, seasonal plants, clustered and standing along.  Brick, gravel and stone.

• Sound – ornamental grasses to create unique sounds, and the rustling of leaves to soothe.  Wind chimes and water.

• Smell – Natural scented plants from subtle to more intense to produce the greatest variety of interest.  Honeysuckle, lavender, violets, mint and chocolate cosmos, which release a chocolate-like scent.

• Taste – planting edible herbs and other plants.  Edible flowers like nasturtiums, evening primrose, and hibiscus, pansy and of course fruit trees.  Edible plants will be placed in a designated area.

• Touch – Plants that add a variety of tactile stimulations in terms of texture, this could include lambs ear, which feels wooly to the touch and soft.  Cape sundew is a sticky and colorful plant that is also carnivorous.  Yarrow flowers are stiff and its foliage soft.  Feather grass, coneflower, and borage are also good for touch.

 

We plan to create this space around our mud patch, which already inspires children to wonder about the transformation of dirt.

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THE BUSHTUCKER GARDEN

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The EYLF (Early Years Learning Framework) highlights our role in ‘closing the gap’ in current educational outcomes, and as Educators, we contribute to improved learning outcomes for indigenous children directly, when our educational programs reflect children’s cultural ways of being and knowing.  When we make particular efforts to build strong relationships with families and community members we are not only growing strong in culture and engaging in learning, we are contributing to reconciliation and equity in a less direct sense.  Here at Fox Street Preschool we don’t believe that a few books and posters and an expensive cultural performance will have the same lasting effect as coming to know and appreciate Aboriginal history and culture through local knowledge.  It is important for us to continue building these relationships to ensure that all children are familiar with the rich and long history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

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By learning about native bush tucker our children will become more aware of the variety of edible plants already growing in the environment and will gain an understanding of the conditions necessary for various plants to thrive.  The children will have a better appreciation of the skill and knowledge the Aboriginal people possessed in order to survive in our harsh environment.  We would like to separate the garden into three specific areas, bush tucker are, medicinal area and bush craft area.

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For quite some time we have wanted to introduce story poles.  We have a strong connection with our indigenous community, inviting the Elders in to share their stories and history, artists to paint with the children, the indigenous dance group comes in to perform, and also with the families who are enrolled.  We would use the story poles as a way of engaging not only the children but the parents and wider community.  With the help of our indigenous artist, each pole would be prepared and painted in a way that signifies our connection.

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THE VEGETABLE GARDEN

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In this space the children will learn where food comes from, and that farming is both hard work and fun.  When children grown their own food, they learn about a fundamental principle: What sustains life on earth.  Edible gardening promotes both respect for the environment and a child’s own responsibility for good health.  When children take part in growing fresh foods, they are more willing to try them.  We are strong advocates for healthy eating and portray this within our nutrition policy.  Under our regulations and National Quality Standards we are expected to continuously find ways to prove that we are providing ways to look after Children’s health and safety (NQS).  This space is vital to the health and well being of our children and their families.  We will provide areas in which children can plant and harvest their own edible vegetables, fruit and herbs.

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We are so excited about the fist stage of our Garden Project!

A huge thank you to our Builder Dad’s Laith and Hamish, for taking on the task of creating our vegetable gardens!  We found a picture we liked, unsure whether it would even be achievable and WOW! We couldn’t be more happy and impressed with the outcome.

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THE JAPANESE ZEN GARDEN

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The Early Years Learning Framework describes cultural competence as so much more than awareness of cultural differences.  It is the ability to understand, communicate with and effectively interact with people across all cultures. While cultural competence encompasses a wide spectrum of difference beyond race and ethnicity, those aspects are usually the first in our minds when we hear the term.  We as Educators have a responsibility to our children and families to contribute to Australia’s reconciliation and equity agendas.  Since employing our Japanese educator, the children have been given the opportunity to learn about a new culture and be submerged in the beauty of origami, paper making, music, arts and or course cooking.  The introduction of this authentic garden will not only enhance our ability to connect to another culture, but provide a  unique opportunity to extend our children’s vocabularies and conduct small groups Japanese language sessions, which will be run by our educator.

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Japanese gardens emphasize the use of rocks to create three dimensional pictures which is why we have chosen our rockery area.  We will enhance this by adding:

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• A water feature as it contributes to the expression of nature and symbolizes renewal, calm, wonder and continuity in the hereafter.

• Lanterns, as their light was also considered as the light of knowledge clearing away the clouds of ignorance.

• A Bridge is a privileged site in a Japanese garden, offering a place to linger and take in the beauty of the landscape.

• Specific plants such as Serviceberry, pine, lotus and azaleas.

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