Healthy Me : The Grove School: A seriously fresh new preschool in Cary and Plano!

3-step plan for gardening with kids

Britt Stromberg | April 28, 2010 | Comment

Planting with kids of any age encourages their interest in nature and gives invaluable basic skills, like the ability to see cause-and-effect relationships, explore sensory experiences, express creativity and practice inquiry. Not to mention the chance to develop patience, responsibility and self-confidence. Plus gardening is fun. Kids love scooping dirt, planting seeds and watching plants grow.

Container gardens make a great introduction to gardening for children. And now through May is the ideal time to plant a decorative container. They’re space-savers—a window sill, patio, balcony or doorstep will provide sufficient space. And they’re great for food or flowers. Here’s a 3-step plan to get you started.

Step 1: Find a container
Planter boxes, wooden barrels and large flowerpots can be used. Or get creative and reuse items that your child will appreciate, like juice boxes, rubber balls, a baby bathtub or a toy box. See how to create these and other fun containers here. Make sure your container has adequate drainage. Holes should be at least 1/2 inch across.

toy dumptruck container garden

Step 2: Pot your plant
Start with dirt. Ask your child what dirt is. There are different kinds of it. Show her by taking a walk in your neighborhood and touching the soil at a variety of locations, like a building site, stream bed, or friend’s flower garden. For older children, explain that life on Earth depends on the nutrient cycling that takes place in the soil as microorganisms and larger animals recycle organic materials.

The dirt in your container should drain rapidly but retain enough moisture to keep the roots evenly moist. This site has good soil instructions. And here’s a video that shows how to mix your own organic soil. When it’s time to pot, encourage your child to help. They can mix dirt, scoop it into the pot and poke in the seeds.

As far as what to grow, consider planting things that your child like to eat. Or grow a wide variety of annuals. Here are some plants ideally suited for growing in containers:

Veggies: Tomatoes, eggplant, green onions, beans, lettuce, squash, radishes, parsley
Flowers: Pansies and nasturtiums (their leaves are edible), marigolds, snapdragons, periwinkles

Step 3: Water, watch and wait
Your child will love holding the hose or watering can. If you use a hose, set the nozzle on mist to keep from drowning the plant. In the coming days, help your child vary the watering regime and adjust the amount of sun or shade. Keep in mind that container gardens must be watered more frequently than ground plants. Container plants can not tap into the moisture which ground plants have access too deep within the soil. And, if outside, container gardens have the full force of the sun to dry out their soil.

After a week or two, you and your child will get a feel for how much water your plant needs. Help your child remember to water by printing a watering chart from chartjungle.com. It has space to write down names of plants and check off boxes for the days of the week the plants need watering.

Show off your work. Plant this weekend, take a picture and send it to us using our flickr photostream.

Resources
Kidsgardening.com
American Community Gardening Association
The Kids Garden
My First Garden
The Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden

Britt is the editor of The Grove School website. She's got 15 years of writing and editing experience, a 6 year old daughter, a garden and a healthy obsession with all things green.

Keywords: container gardens, gardening with kids, Grove School, Healthy Me, healthy planet

Busy Saturday in Cary

Scott Andersen | March 13, 2010 | Comment

I had a busy Saturday today. First thing this morning, I attended the Push the Pace 5K run to support pediatric brain tumor research. It was well attended even though it was a soggy morning at the park. We provided organic fruit for the runners to enjoy. Of course, I took some video, so watch below.

The Grove School also participated in the Spring Garden Party hosted by the Garden Supply Company. This was a wonderful indoor and outdoor event that provided many fun activities. We were there with one of our sensory tables filled with sand and “fossils” for children to discover. We also provided a little planter with soil and some vegetable feeds. We will be there for the next week as well. Come by and see us. Also, take a look at the video below.

Scott, a.k.a. Dr. Andersen, is our Head of School in Cary, NC. He brings 16 years of experience as a teacher and school/district administrator. He has also worked as a photojournalist and software developer.

Keywords: Cary, Dr. Scott Andersen, Eco Friends, Grove School, healthy body, Healthy Me

My Favorite Drink!

Scott Andersen | March 9, 2010 | Comment

I like to drink. I am not referring to alcoholic drinks, but to flavorful drinks like cherry limeades, diet Pepsi and fresh fruit smoothies. However, after running 6 miles on Saturday and 4 miles this morning, there was nothing more satisfying than a big drink of water!

Over the past several weeks, I have been trying to increase my water intake in replacement of those others drinks which are just bad for me or contain too many calories. Hopefully when you come in the building, you will see a tall stainless steel double-walled water bottle on my desk. Furthermore, I hope you see me drinking from it!

I love the water we have here at The Grove School. Our drinking water goes through our water filtration system (see photo) and reminds me of the delicious water I used to get from my personal well I had when I lived in NH. That water was delicious and so is our water here.

Perhaps you will join me in my water drinking challenge. Some of you may be way ahead of me. But for those of you who seem to have an attached coffee cup or soda bottle to your hand, I invite you to replace it with a delicious drink of water.

Keywords: Cary, Grove School, Head of School, Healthy Me, water

Healthy Me: overview and goals

Linda Nelson | October 27, 2009 | Comment

Physical fitness and nutrition go hand in hand. Healthy Me teaches children the importance of physical activity as well as nutritious foods.

The benefits of Healthy Me influence every domain of a child’s development–emotional, social, physical, and cognitive. The Grove School aims to foster children’s self-esteem, build interaction and teamwork skills, develop movement capabilities, and enhance an understanding of what it means to be healthy and physically fit.

Healthy Me Goals

Our school day offers developmentally and individually appropriate experiences that help children gain confidence in their movement and develop healthy lifestyles. Overall goals guiding the program are identified below. These goals address the program’s purpose, and are in alignment with the standards and guidelines set forth by the American Association for Health Education (AAHE) and the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE).

Our goals for the Healthy Me program are to:

- Improve children’s levels of fitness through movement
- Nurture children’s natural love of moving through playful movement activities
- Enhance children’s understanding of movement concepts, principles, and strategies
- Help children develop the dispositions, knowledge, and interpersonal skills necessary for achieving and maintaining health-related fitness
- Increase children’s understanding of the roles of physical activity and nutritious foods in the body’s performance
- Provide children with information that will positively influence their physical fitness and food choices
- Generate enthusiasm among children and families for healthful living

Linda is a program development senior specialist and holds a master's degree in Early Childhood Education. She loves the fact that The Grove School curriculum and learning environments help children take care of themselves, one another and the natural world.

Keywords: curriculum, early childhood education, Grove School, healthy body, Healthy Me

Healthy Me: teaching children about nutrition

Linda Nelson | October 27, 2009 | Comment

In addition to the primary focus on physical activity and movement, Healthy Me teaches children the importance of eating nutritious foods. Nutrition concepts taught in the lessons are based on guidelines and recommendations from the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and MyPyramid for Kids.

When teaching nutrition concepts to young children, we take into consideration that children come from a variety of backgrounds in terms of the foods they are exposed to and the foods they eat on a regular basis. Teachers try to keep any personal biases or feelings about certain foods out of the lessons. Food choices and preferences vary greatly from family to family. We accept and respect these variations.

We also support the understanding that all foods can provide beneficial nutrients to the body. Therefore, no food should ever be labeled as either “good” or “bad.” In Healthy Me, foods that provide the most benefits to the body are referred to as “anytime” foods. Children and families learn that anytime foods are foods that support growth and provide the body with energy and nutrients that maintain health. Children learn to enjoy a variety of “anytime” foods each day.

On the other hand, “sometimes” foods are foods that may provide energy, but do not provide essential vitamins and minerals the body needs to grow. Children and families learn that “sometimes” foods can occasionally be included in their meals and snacks.

Keywords: curriculum, early childhood education, Grove School, Healthy Me, nutrition

Healthy Me: children’s physical development

Linda Nelson | October 27, 2009 | Comment

There is wide agreement among the scientific and educational communities that motor skills develop as a result of the interaction between a child’s hereditary potential and his or her life experiences. Children’s physical abilities and motor skills develop in a predictable manner. Changes in physical development are qualitative, sequential, cumulative, directional, multifactorial, and individual (NASPE, 1995).

Here’s a description of these characteristics.

Qualitative. Children’s motor skills change in qualitative ways as they grow and gain experience. For example, the running of a three-year-old child looks very different from the running of a nine-year-old child. The movement patterns of typically developing children become more effective as they age.

Sequential. Children’s motor skills develop in a sequential, orderly manner over time, progressing naturally from immature to advanced. Activities designed to support children’s physical development should follow a scope and sequence based on both vertical and
horizontal progressions of skill development. Activities within each block of Healthy Me follow a scope and sequence based on knowledge of motor-skill development in children. The early childhood years are associated with the fundamental movement phase of motor development. Healthy Me teachers have knowledge of the typical sequence of acquisition for fundamental motor skills such as walking and jumping.

Cumulative. Developmental change is built upon previous developments. Fundamental motor skills act as building blocks for more complex skills. For example, the ability to walk is a building block for the later emergence of the ability to run. Foundational skills and abilities should be developed before more complex and difficult skills are introduced. Children are offered sufficient opportunities within planned learning experiences to practice the skills they are acquiring. This helps children develop a sense of confidence about their movement abilities. In Healthy Me, children are given multiple opportunities to repeat activities and to explore specific motor skills in multiple ways before more complex activities are introduced.

Directional. Developmental change occurs in a direction, or toward a goal. In terms of movement, the ultimate goal may be for children to become skilled movers. The direction of developmental change can be progressive, moving toward the goal; or regressive, moving away from the goal. Change may be regressive with age, progression of a disease, or lack of practice.

Multifactorial. Motor skills do not develop in a vacuum–they develop simultaneously with skills and abilities in other domains of human development including cognitive, social, affective, and psychomotor. Development depends on many factors acting together. For example, a child must have strength, balance, perceptual capabilities, and motivation to develop the ability to hop on one foot. Healthy Me goals and outcomes consider interactions between all areas of a child’s development. These goals and outcomes have been carefully designed to acknowledge children’s skills and abilities related to all domains of development.

Individualized. In addition to following the predetermined program scope and sequence for skills instruction within each block, teachers implement Healthy Me in a way that is consistent with children’s individual abilities, skills, and knowledge. Motor-skill development is age-related, but not age-determined. For example, one four year-old may have developed the ability to alternate feet while ascending stairs, but another child of the same age may still be placing both feet on each step. The rate of motor-skill development differs from one child to another, depending on each child’s body characteristics, experiences, and environmental situations.

Healthy Me considers children’s individual characteristics such as developmental status, body size, age, previous movement experiences, and fitness and skill levels. The program recognizes differing capabilities for movement and provides learning experiences that challenge each child to move to his or her next stage of development.

Keywords: curriculum, early childhood education, Grove School, Healthy Me