Learning in the Garden

The garden is one of my favourite places.

The positive aspects of gardening include therapeutic benefits (to body, mind and spirit), the learning of many lessons, the cultivation of a zen-like philosophy, the conception and growth of ideas.

I often come across my Muse in the garden. I've been busy out there every day for more than a week, making the most of the gorgeous weather (we need a little rain now, please!) I've got a post for the Freelance Writing Learning Curve wriggling in my head, about how the lessons learned in a garden translate to writing.

The garden is also a place where Youngest Daughter and I connect. It's not at all Eldest Daughter's thing, she hates creepy crawlies. And mud. Though she's very encouraging and supportive from the sidelines!

But Youngest Daughter and I love spending time together in the garden. We share a love of the outdoors and of creating things. When we're working in the garden we communicate on a different level; more relaxed, somehow. We learn a lot together in the garden, about ourselves and each other, about Nature, about life in general. Although I no longer homeschool, I still think of the garden as a classroom, full of exciting lessons.

For me, the garden is linked to education and creativity in lots of ways. I have inherited my love of gardening and also my perspective of the garden as a place of excitment and learning from my wonderful Mum and her wonderful Dad, both amazingly talented gardeners, highly creative people and great philosophers.

But it was while writing my BA dissertation about the Mother/Daughter relationship in the beautiful work of Alice Walker, that I was really bitten by the gardening bug. Walker often links creativity and gardening in her work. Although reading and writing were punishable crimes, black women kept that fragile, necessary spark of creativity alive in their songs and their stories. Or in the case of some (like Walker's mother), in the Revolutionary Petunias they grew.

Recent reminders of how wonderful gardening is, particularly how useful an educational resource it is, include the Children's Society Garden at this year's Chelsea Flower Show and Dave Riddell's wonderful Outdoor Classroom projects. What a fantastic idea, with wide-ranging benefits; individual schoolchildren, parents and family, the school and local community, and the environment can all benefit hugely from an outdoor classroom. Check out Dave's post and spread the word!

For more ideas on how to use your garden as a place of learning, have a look at The Learning Garden website.

Or check out the Homeschooling list of garden projects for ideas to try with your own kids.

Beverley Hernandez also has some cool ideas for homeschooling in the garden.

:o)

Positive parenting with positive perceptions

I came across a title on Helium which I just had to write something for. It was 'Raising Positive Kids in a Negative World' and this is my response:

There's not much point in trying to raise positive kids in a negative world. We need to see it as a positive world; a beautiful place, full of incredible possibilities. That's not to say we shouldn't teach them about the dangers (though we should keep them in perspective) or the struggle, but we should help them to understand that the struggle in life is a positive thing in itself.

Life is not perfect, if it was we would all be thoroughly miserable. But it is exciting and challenging. And full of wonder. We learn new things every day, but life is more of a playground than a classroom. I'm always inspired by this beautiful quote from Patricia, a character in Joe Versus the Volcano (John Patrick Shanley, 1990):

"My father says that almost the whole world is asleep - everybody you know, everybody you see, everybody you talk to. He says that only a few people are awake and they live in a state of constant, total amazement".

There are ways to nurture this sense of amazement. We can teach our children to cherish the small things (there is always something to feel good about, even if we have to look a little harder sometimes.) We can point out the beauty in the world around us; Nature consistently provides us with amazing stuff. From a spectacular sunset to a bird feeding her young, there is always something to stop and wonder at, for a moment.

We can encourage our children to read positive things. Positive things might include some of the endless, awesome scientific facts the world provides. Uplifting or thought-provoking fiction, or true-life success stories can foster a positive outlook on life in general.

We can encourage them to spend time with positive people. A positive outlook on life is contageous; being around positive people is uplifting, just as spending time with negative people can make us feel drained.

We can introduce them to heroes.

We can ensure that they feel positive about themselves. If we give them the resources and the support to do the things they love, or the things they are good at, they will see both themselves and the world in a more positive light.

Encouraging children to keep a journal (perhaps a "Gratitude Journal"), helps them to recognize and cherish the positive things in their own worlds.

We can teach them to put a positive spin on things; to change mistakes into lessons, to face difficulties as challenges, or to see a 'negative' character trait as a positive one, or a weakness as a strength. Nurturing their sense of humour will help them too.

But perhaps the most important thing we can do to raise positive kids is to role model how to be happy and successful, how to thrive in a world that is both positive and negative.

I just don't do negative ...

Wishing you a positive week filled with beautiful moments!

:o)