Gardening provides so many diverse opportunities for learning that it’s a fantastic plan to include gardening in your homeschool.
Our family has been gardening for several years, and we have not regretted it once. If you are looking for ways to include gardening in your homeschool experience, you will find this article packed with information to help you get started.
Why Should I Teach My Kids About Gardening?
Gardening is an Important Life Skill
Knowledge of gardening is a skill that will serve your children well for years to come. When the COVID pandemic began, the bare shelves at the grocery store made us realize how much we take for granted in regard to our food supply.
Most of us are very (if not completely) reliant on others to grow the food we eat. Skills that were once passed down from generation to generation are no longer being passed along.
I want my kids to have, at minimum, a basic working knowledge of how to plant and grow their own fruits and vegetables successfully.
Who knows how important these skills will be in the future?
Gardening Builds Character in Our Kids
It’s amazing how many opportunities gardening provides to teach our kids important character traits. Patience, diligence, responsibility and persistence immediately come to mind!
As parents, we are always looking to shape the character of our children with the hopes of helping them grow and mature. Gardening is a unique and excellent training ground for us to teach (and model!) those lessons of character, while also allowing our kids to understand first-hand what traits like diligence and hard work really mean.
Homeschool Gardening Teaches Kids About Science and Nature
Gardens have soil and soil has bugs and worms and bacteria. Right there you have four basic science topics to explore, and you’re not even out of the dirt yet. Other possible science and nature topics related to gardening include:
- Pollination and pollinators
- How seeds/plants grow
- Types of plants
- Beneficial insects
- Insect pests
- Composting
- Sustainability
- Drought
- Seasons
- Healthy eating
In the garden, kids can apply firsthand what they learn from these various science topics. They will also realize the beauty and wonder found in nature.
In my experience, this is one of the best parts of gardening: watching the bees pollinate from plant to plant, or discovering a garden spider has declared your garden it’s home.
Last year, almost daily, we would check on the spider pictured below. He provided some excellent opportunities for sketching in our nature journals. Have you ever watched a spider kill and wrap it’s dinner? It’s alluring and creepy at the same time!
How to Schedule Gardening in Your Homeschool
Gardening can easily be included in your homeschool schedule. First, consider what aspects of gardening you want to include in your homeschool.
Will your children be learning everything about gardening from start to finish? Perhaps will they only help weed and water the garden a few times a week?
Next, based on your answers to the above, you’ll want to allot the time in your weekly schedule/routine.
Keep in mind that in spring, there’s usually more rain and smaller plants, so you may not have as much work. As your garden matures and the weather heats up, watering and weeding will increase and you’ll potentially spend more time in the garden.
Tips to Consider When Scheduling Gardening Activities
Typically, we find that gardening activities are best completed in the morning while everyone has plenty of energy and it’s not too hot. However, it could also provide a good break in your schedule if everyone went out to garden mid-morning.
Do what works best for your family. Just remember that having fun and enjoying the garden is an important part of the entire experience. It can be part of your homeschool AND the most enjoyable part of the day too.
One note from personal experience: It can be easy to spend loads of time in the garden, especially if you have a large garden or plant a great deal. You can head out in the morning, and before you know it, hours have passed. This is where scheduling your garden time will help you (if you’re a scheduling kinda person).
For me, building gardening into our schedule or routine helps me ensure it’s something we all do together, versus mom only doing all the work (especially when it gets hot and the kids are less inclined to want to help!)
How to Include Older Children in Homeschool Gardening
When you think of gardening with kids, you may automatically be tempted to think of young children digging in the dirt, planting a few seeds and getting wet and messy.
While gardening is great for young children to learn and play at the same time, older children can have an important role in the family garden as well.
With older students, consider assigning them more nitty-gritty garden tasks that have greater responsibility, but also increased creative potential like:
- Researching types of gardens (raised bed vs. in-ground vs. container)
- Constructing and filling garden beds
- Soil types, amending soil, composting, etc.
- Planning garden layout and plants to grow
- Purchasing plants and supplies
- Pest control and prevention
- Organic gardening vs. conventional gardening
Do I Need a Gardening Curriculum?
Everyone’s goals may be different, but you don’t need a curriculum to start including gardening in your homeschool. If you are a novice to gardening, you’ll find it helpful to visit gardening websites that have plenty of information for beginners.
Your local library probably has a plethora of gardening books. You could also consider using a pre-made unit study or creating your own.
For a list of kids’ books about gardening, be sure to download this FREE printable list of Great Gardening Books for Homeschool.
Homeschool Gardening Unit Studies
Unit studies are an excellent way to study a topic in-depth. A unit study incorporates many of your regular learning activities (math, spelling, science, copywork, history, etc.) around a central theme. They can be a nice change of routine from your normal curriculum.
Here are several helpful resources:
Free Homeschool Gardening Unit Study Resources at Free Homeschool Deals
Amanda Bennett Gardens Unit Study at Unit Study.com
Gardens Lapbook at Homeschool Share
10 Steps to Create Your Own Easy to Implement Unit Study at Homeschool.com
How to Start Gardening with Kids
If you’re feeling overwhelmed about how to start gardening with kids, you don’t have to include it as a part of your homeschool. Keep things simple and allow it to be a hobby you all enjoy, especially if you feel that including it as part of school will take the fun out of it.
I share more details about how we constructed raised garden beds in our backyard, some basic gardening essentials we use, and helpful tips in the post How to Start Gardening with Kids.
To help you have a successful start, download the FREE five page printable garden planner, which can be used perfectly along with your homeschool gardening.
Great Gardening Websites for Beginners
One website I find super helpful is The Beginner’s Garden with Jill McSheehy. This site is geared towards the beginner.
I’m using her course, Dream to Garden, alongside the kids to get a little more serious with our garden this year. I want to be more intentional in our planning to make the most of our garden space, so we can extend our growing season strategically.
Another helpful gardener I like (and you may have seen on PBS) is Joe Lamp’l from Growing a Greener World. His site also has almost anything you want to know about gardening!
Homeschool Gardening Books-Free Printable List
I’ve rounded up a list of websites that have book lists for gardening with kids. You can easily use these to complement a gardening unit study, create your own unit study, or as a reference point to find the books most suited for your students.
- Best Gardening Books for Kids at PBS.org
- 11 of the Best Gardening-Themed Books for Children at Gardener’s Path
- Nature and Gardening Books for Children at Children’s Library Lady
- Great Gardening Books for Kids at Southern Living
- 16 Of Our Favorite Picture Books About Gardening at We Are Teachers
Or, use this FREE printable checklist of Homeschool Gardening Books. It contains several titles listed on the sites above, as well as some that aren’t!
Follow My Gardening Pinterest Board
Be sure to follow my Gardening board on Pinterest. I’ve pinned the best pins to get you started gardening, including books lists, gardening crafts and ideas, and tips and tricks for beginning gardeners.
Enjoy Your Gardening Journey
I’m rooting for you to have a successful and amazing gardening experience this year!
Whether you keep it small with a patio or container garden, or build some raised beds in the backyard, I believe you will add exciting life into your family by including gardening in your homeschool.
