City Blossoms can bring the
gardening experience to your school or youth center in three different ways:
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Lead Teaching
City Blossoms will come to your school or learning center to lead classes in and about the garden or local green space. City Blossoms provides lessons that incorporate multiple disciplines and relate the children’s learning experiences to cultures around the world. Emphasis is placed on developing written and verbal skills in connection with specific projects in the garden such as studying the growth cycle, nutrition, agricultural traditions and environmental structures. We are also able to offer most classes in English and/or Spanish. The lessons encourage hands-on experience and can be designed to tie in with school projects such as science projects, community service and public sculpture as well as learning standards.
Don't have space for a garden? City Blossoms is now offering workshops at the Girard Children's Community Garden and will be offering workshops and partnership opportunities at Marion Street Garden in Spring 2010. Contact us to plan a fieldtrip today.
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Consulting
City Blossoms will assess the needs of your location (i.e. soil health, solar exposure, existing greenery, etc.) and design an educational plan relevant to your group’ needs. For example, City Blossoms can provide resources and information needed to start an age-appropriate garden for pre-school age groups, or help a center revitalize its surroundings by designing native tree-box plans.
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Curriculum
City Blossoms is working to complete our own unique, bilingual curriculum that ties in with local school standards such as the District of Columbia learning objectives as well as Virginia’s Standards of Learning. The curriculum will be ideal for schools needing activities to add to their own science, math, language arts, and visual arts programs. Coming Soon!
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Examples of some City Blossoms projects:
Bulb Bust!
- Participants monitor the growth of paperwhite bulbs in their
classrooms, taking regular measurements, documenting the process
through writing, drawing and movement exercises. (Winter project)
Seeds, Seeds, Seeds...
- A process of investigating and categorizing seeds harvested from the
garden as well as ones that will be planted at the begining of the
growing season.
From Farm to Garden
- Classes create a relationship with a local farm to begin seedlings
inside greenhouses that are later transplanted into their own gardens.
Color Connections - Youth gardeners focus on native and historical dye plants and harvest from the garden to create their own natural dyes.
Food in the 'Hood
- Recipes are gathered from local neighbors, friends and businesses
that utilize crops growing in the garden. Participants discuss the
cultural and nutritional values of the recipes and make them using
harvested veggies and herbs.
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For more information on what city blossoms can create with your organization
contact us at rebecca@cityblossoms.org
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