A few weeks ago, Mrs. Beth Williams’s Kindergarten classes started learning about the life cycles of plants, and each student planted their own plants from seed. With the help from the Logan County Extension Office, the students were able to also plant herbs in raised flower beds. Mrs. Williams believes in making the learning come to life through hands-on experiences.
“I believe students gain a deeper understanding of the content when they can experience the learning,” said Mrs. Williams. “My partner teacher, Karen Jenkins, and I felt like this was a wonderful way of creating a real world experience for the students.”
The project not only taught science content, but it also served as a math lesson that was applicable to the real world.
The young empowered learners wanted to sell their plants to showcase their hard work; therefore, the Kindergarten Greenhouse came to life and was quite the hit for families and staff!
On May 6, parents, guardians, and other family members were invited at selected times to visit the Kindergarten Greenhouse, which was set up in the Birdwhistell Family Outdoor Classroom on the campus of Lewisburg School. Parents moved from table to table perusing the flowers while the students explained the life cycle of plants. The students would promote their flowers in an effort to sell them to the guests. Once they found an interested adult they would bargain the price, count the money, and make change.
Beth Williams would like to see this project continue to grow and become even more in depth. “This was such a success and the kids loved it,” explained Williams. “I have already started thinking about next year and how we can make it even better. I love project-based learning and I plan to continue using projects to make the learning more meaningful for our kids.”