Through gardening, students indirectly learn many of the advanced life skills needed to prepare them for challenges later in life ie responsibility, self-confidence, communication and the skills of observation. Children develop critical thinking skills when they observe how weather affects plants; how seeds sprout; how plants grow; how gardeners cope with plant problems; how soil, water and sunshine interact; how butterflies and other insects play a role; how the awaited harvest also foreshadows death.
These real life scenarios encountered while gardening promote cognitive development, environmental responsibility and an understanding of our interdependence upon nature and each other for survival. Gardening with children at home, school, or church is a unique opportunity for parents to develop critical thinking, environmental stewardship, healthy eating, and healthy socializing in children and teens.
How does gardening foster responsibility in young children?
Gardening requires that students use their hands to prepare the soil, apply fertilizer, sow seeds, remove competing weeds, add water and harvest the crop. These activities are necessary for a plant to grow to its full potential in order to produce food.
When children faithfully fulfill these responsibilities, they are able to reap the bountiful rewards of their hard work. And when they experience the loss of plants because of neglect, they learn the consequence of improperly caring for the plants. Through these real-life lessons in gardening, children develop an understanding of the cause and effect cycles and the importance of being responsible.
Scientific discovery abounds in gardens. An ecosystem thrives in a garden and can be observed daily. Animals, insects, worms and other creatures are attracted to plants growing in a garden. Children learn by observing the ecosystem in their garden- bees pollinating plants; worms living in the soil and breaking down organic matter, - working in the soil to make it more fertile for plant reproduction; Worms produce fertilizer and mulch for plants. Observing the process of growth and change enables children to anticipate and be patient, rather than expecting immediate gratification.
When children enroll in my Kiss the Ground Challenge they will also develop communication skills as they listen and learn from a Master Gardener or Farmer who explains the natural processes that occur as plants grow as food for human survival. Children share their gardening experiences through spoken and written language via posts on my online community or in our virtual reality garden. After learning the fundamentals of gardening in a Virtual Reality Garden evidence of their hard work unfolds before their eyes in their real life garden,
Immersive Education Through Virtual Reality
Say ‘Goodbye‘ to the archaic and outdated education system.
During our formative years, it is our interactions with our environments that teach us about the world around us. It is through our senses that we gather information and build cognitive processes to understand concepts. When we enter the traditional classroom setting, teaching and learning had one singular focus-passing exams. This process relied heavily upon traditional teaching methods. Today, modern teachings is filled with many complex and abstract concepts or situations and scenarios that are impossible to communicate solely in a traditional classroom setting. This is particularly true when teaching abstract concepts such as gardening. I believe this is where virtual reality can push the boundaries of how we teach and learn.
Virtual Reality Technology
Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think. ~Einstein
Learn by living it! Virtual reality is a different way of learning. Being immersed allows students to have an emotional reaction to what they’re experiencing which is fundamental to how we form memories. When learners are inside a virtual world their senses are in tune with what is happening directly around them. It allows learners to be fully engaged with the activity and what is taken from it forms memories. The use of interactive objects and virtual environments support and enhance traditional teaching methods.
The age of sitting in a classroom to learn has finally evolved! Today education has gone virtual REALITY. To ensure your child or grandchild doesn’t get left behind get their Oculus Headset here and then sign them up for join my Free Soil Quest and Virtual Reality Garden.
Welcome to the new world of Virtual Education
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