Lori L. Blake, Jennie Morrell, and Leslie Barone

It’ s the beginning of the school year, and Ms. Barone and Mrs. Morrell take the preschoolers and kindergartners in their respective classes to the school garden. Once there, experienced gardeners( kindergartners) eagerly find new gardeners( preschoolers) to share and explore the plants. Because the kindergartners have a year of school gardening under their belts, they’ re able to guide the preschoolers using the knowledge and experiences they’ ve gained.

The kindergartners in Mrs. Morrell’ s class love to return to school each fall to see how the seeds they planted as preschoolers have grown into flowers and vegetables. Both teachers help them remember what they did the prior year, then describe the garden to incoming preschoolers. They engage all of the children in discussions to find out what they know about gardening, what they’ re excited to do, and what they think will happen to the garden during the upcoming seasons.

Throughout the year, kindergartners and preschoolers will work on gardening tasks in small, cross-age groups. They’ ll remove old plants in the fall, weed the garden in the early spring, plant seeds later in spring, and watch the new plants grow until school ends for the summer.

Spring 2026 Educating Young Children 35