Thursday, September 16, 2010

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Outdoor classrooms

                                    Outdoor Classrooms
                                 a handbook for school gardens

This book is a reminder of our duty of care for the environment which is not new, but perhaps has become a little lost in a jam packed curriculum.
This a must for any school hoping to have a garden in a simple or extravagant way, for it outlines the challenges, plans, personnel and philosophy, necessary to begin.
It stresses the importance of Student Directed Learning and Teaching” and the ease of which “all things natural “can be integrated into the curriculum, rather than just be an “add on”.
The emphasis is on learnscapes, where students are given opportunities to discover, wonder, explore and investigate their environment in practical, hands on, fun and meaningful ways!
The lists are comprehensive, the strategies practical, the advice realistic and the sketches helpful, as well as being delightful. Imagine every school with a “Rainbow or Secret Garden”; what student or teacher would not relish having one in their school!

Clare Maloney
Itinerant Teacher: Communication
June 2010