I’ve been using the Rutabaga Education curriculum in both my 2nd grade classroom and in my home-garden with my preschool aged daughter for the past 2 years. For so long, I’ve wanted to get my students into the school garden, but I was intimidated. The Rutabaga Education books are just what I needed to start gardening with my students. Each lesson is full of engaging, hands-on, low prep activities that always hit the learning target. These books are so much more than just gardening lessons. They are full of garden-based science, nature, and nutrition activities. I especially love that each lesson has been paired with a picture book to reinforce the learning objectives.
As a busy teacher and mother, I have to be discerning about the materials I choose to use with my kids. I don’t have time to waste on lessons that require a lot of prep or don’t hit the learning objective. Each lesson is very stimulating and easy for children to understand. On many occasions, I have witnessed my students and my daughter put their newly gained knowledge to use in real world scenarios, discussing topics such as pollinators and eating from the rainbow!
The best part is that you don’t need a large garden area. My home-garden is quite small, but that hasn’t been a problem one bit.
I highly recommend the Rutabaga Education curriculum to teachers and parents!
