Project 2012: The Delicious Gardens of Learning - Nature’s lessons for everybody

With the financial suppoprt of America for Bulgaria Foundation

We do believe that the Edible Organic Gardens of Learning created by volunteer efforts of their  Self-Supporting Communities are an excellent practice for:

• POSITIVE INTEGRATION AND SHARED RESPONSIBILITY of the parents and the local community in the educational process of the children in early ages; 
• ENRICHMENT OF THE OUTDATED EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM through the usage of the innovative methods for experiential learning that form positive attitudes and social skills;
• FORMING OF LASTING SKILLS AND ATTITUDES OF HEALTHY WAY OF LIVING in harmony with ourselves, people around us and nature as a whole. 

THE PROBLEMS we consider and address direclty with the proposed project are: 

• The lack of integral educational practices emphasizing the practical life experience or so called “experiential learning”, “learning by doing and by playing” giving each child the possibility to develop in-depth and integral knowledge on a certain topic and a wide range of lifelong personal and social skills and competences. 
• The lack of good practices for creative dialogue among the teachers, parents and the local community aiming at developing the education and the children as complete individuals of our society as well as the lack of creative time for the children and their parents to spend together doing something positive, favourite and useful for all.
• The lack of the so irreplaceable daily meeting of the children of Sofia with the Nature as a source of knowledge and inspiration to love, respect and live in harmony with the Nature. 
•  

The creative SOLUTION we propose with this project is to initiate and support the creation of a network ot ten Edible Organic Gardens of Learning in ten state kindergartens in Sofia adapting and using the positive experience and good know-how of the United States of America, so called  Gardens of Learning in Kindergarten (for example www.csgn.org). 

PROJECT ACTIVTIES accomplished from 01 March 2012 to 01 MArch 2013 (12 months)

• Competition & Selectioon among public kindergartens in Sofia (to choose ten participants)
• Expertise, technical and financial support for the new  organic gardens
• Generating resource desk with strategic resources
• Training and preparation of the new gardens teams
• Information and motivational meetings to present the project to the parent community and form local volunteer teams
• Planning and construction of the organic gardens of learning – design and building the plants beds, paths, watering system, composters and more.
• Development of organic gardens through volunteering actions - a joint effort of the integrated community of children, parents, seniors, students and community members.
• Installation of interactive learning modules in the "green classroom" of the organic gardens;
• Planting and care for the tasty gardens of learning – preparation and delivery of interactive educational modules and events for the children and the local community.
• Celebrations & open days in the organic gardens – at least two public events in each garden to promote the gardens.
• Development of a Handbook on organizing basic training sessions in learning by caring for the organic garden in the kindergartens. 
• Planning for sustainable development – a workshop to present and analyse results.
• Initiating a public debate on the integration of the organic gardens of learning into the formal educational program of public kindergartens.

 Project Pictures GALLERY - see >>>