How to Grow a School Garden

October 15, 2010

With realistic plans designed to reap big rewards, this book provides comprehensive information on how to promote and establish a school garden as an outdoor classroom. Bucklin-Sporer and Pringle (executive director and program manager, respectively, San Francisco Green Schoolyard Alliance) address parents as integral partners who can help bring the project to fruition. They outline formative steps, from making the initial promotional pitch to procurement of adequate funding, organizational needs, and strategies to insure ongoing success. The book is packed with colorful photos and drawings, calendars, lesson plans, highlighted tips, recipes, and itemized lists of chores, tools, and plants. VERDICT The authors make a compelling case for "garden based learning" as a truly worthwhile investment because it generates a higher level of academic achievement among students who are happier and healthier from their exposure to gardening. This book will be a well-thumbed resource in many school and public libraries. Parents of school-age children, caregivers, and childhood educators will find it especially useful, and children are likely to be engaged by it as well. Strongly recommended.--Deborah Anne Broocker, Georgia Perimeter Coll. Lib., Dunwoody

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2010
Bucklin-Sporer and Pringle, gardeners and educators, bring extensive personal experience and skill sets to this excellent manual for teachers and parents interested in creating school gardens. With step-by-step tasks, advice on everything from raising funds to garden designs, materials lists, and lesson plans that connect garden activities to curriculums and meeting school standards, this unique guide paves the way for getting a garden off the ground, so to speak, in a yearlong overview that covers ideas for building planting beds, delicious recipes, and composting. The bounty of information is presented in ways that will generate excitement and provide inspiration for teachers and their volunteer partners. Bucklin-Sporer and Pringle are also comprehensive in their approach to providing much needed guidance for communities and schools that have already embarked on creating school gardens, yet require assistance in moving forward. And for those new to the concept, the authors will awaken readers to the critical aspects of teaching children organic-gardening principles, the delights and solace of the gardening experience, and how to nurture a childs understanding of ecology.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)