Gardening Curriculum

Third Grade gardening is about being introduced to the garden and running through most of the garden processes in an introductory way...

• Tilling and Toiling
• Harvesting
• Seed Saving
• Compost Building
• Adding compost to beds
• Sowing Seeds
• Wood Working

Fifth Grade

August-December -
Fertility Building, Compost, Weeding, Pest Control, General Clean-up and beautification

January - June -
Nursery management; starting seeds, maintaining starts

Sixth Grade

August - December -
Nursery management; Starting seeds, Maintaining starts, Transplanting starts

January - June -
Transplanting Starts, Maintaining Raised Beds, Weeding, Direct Sowing of Seeds, Watering

Seventh Grade

August - December -
Transplanting Starts, Maintaining Raised Beds, Weeding, Direct Sowing of Seeds

January - June -
Maintaining garden outside of raised beds, weeding, beautification, pruning brambles, ornamental and trees as needed, watering

Eighth Grade

August - December -
Maintaining garden outside of raised beds, weeding, beautification, pruning brambles, ornamental and trees as needed, watering and irrigation projects as needed

January - June -
Maintaining beautification outside of gardens, pulling in grass clippings and other fertility sources from the fields and incorporating them in to compost, Service to Community, Class Gift

Our daily rhythm for all grades is as follows:

5min - Movement with Opening Verse
10min - Work is Assigned and Instructions given as needed
30min - Work is done in teams
5min - Cleanup and Closing Song

Cultivating Collaborative Problem Solving Strategies

Composting for sustainability

• Carbon and Methane Sequestration
• Water Shed Restoration; building topsoil allows for rainwater to penetrate the water table instead of running off into the streams, rivers and ocean.
• Building Topsoil
• Diverting Compostable Waste from Landfills

Golden Valley Students have composted over 3,000lbs of organic waste this year from waste generated by The Sacramento Natural Foods Coop collected with infrastructure put in place by Resoil Sacramento a Division of The Green Restaurant Alliance (G.R.A.S.)

Engaging the hands in work which engages Gross and Fine motor skills developed through Practical Arts such as handwork and gardening helps to build synapses in the brain that directly correlate with cognitive development especially logic and mathematical cognition.