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| Welcome to Ms. Wagner's Garden |
The German translation of Kindergarten is “children garden.” As such, I have based this blog on the book, Mrs. Spitzer’s Garden, by Edith Pattou.
I was overcome by the metaphor contained with its pages. Each child is a “seed” in the garden Mrs. Spitzer tends. This really struck a cord in my heart. The thought of being the gardener tending to my seeds is a unique spin on what a teacher is. As a teacher, I am charged with tending to my garden. I hold the futures of my students in my hands. A student’s success can be enhanced or hindered by how I treat him or her. It is my desire to be nurturing, rather than stifling. It is important that I tend my seeds well. Each seed needs plenty of sun, water, air, fertile soil and fertilizer. In this class, these needs are directly correlated to an academic subject.
Sunshine–Reading/Language Arts
Reading is the most important thing to be learned. Every other subject requires reading. To be a successful reader, we will begin with most basic elements of words; the letters and their sounds. Before a person can read, he or she needs to be able to recognize each letter in the alphabet, both the lower and upper cases. We will begin our reading journey through the letters and introduce many high frequency and sight words, along the way.
I am an avid reader. I enjoy many genres. I read mostly historical and Amish fiction, with an occasional mystery mixed-in. Reading historical novels really feed my love for history, which I hope to pass on to my students. I love to travel and visit historical places, as well as national parks. Virtual trips through the national parks and historical sites will enrich geography and social studies.
I hope to instill a love of reading in my students. I will generally introduce topics and lessons with a book. These books are used not only to introduce new topics, but open discussion. For instance, Green Eggs and Ham is a great book to use with rhyming. The question and answer sessions between Sam-I-am and the other character rhyme wonderfully. As there are books on every subject, the use of age and level appropriate books to introduce learning topics aids in learning. I learned as much from fiction, as I have from nonfiction. Both fiction and nonfiction will be utilized to enhance our learning.
Watering–Mathematics
As with reading, mathematics can be broken down into its basic building blocks, as well. The numbers. As letter knowledge is essential for reading, number knowledge is essential for mathematics. Each student will begin to understand the value of each number, along with the ability to manipulate those numbers.
I am somewhat of a fabric artist. I enjoy crocheting and quilting. Crocheting requires counting the stitches in each row to ensure that the project does not “grow” nor “decrease” in size, as I continue the project. This requires me to understand the value of each number that I count. It also requires me to understand the concept of “One-to-One Correspondence.” Both of these concepts are necessary to be able to perform any of the other mathematical operations. With these basic building blocks, I am able to create scarves and afghans.
My favorite fabric art is quilting. In quilting, I use other mathematical skills, such as geometry and measurement to create something beautiful. I intend to use this skill while teaching geometry and measurement. The various shapes used to create quilt blocks will allow the students to understand how shapes are made and how they are used to create products in our world.
Fertile Soil–The Children’s Minds
Every seed needs to be planted in fertile soil. In our classroom, this fertile soil is the open and willing brains of the students. Each student contains the seed of a beautiful flower. As we lovingly and gently tend the soil surrounding this seed, each student will be encouraged to grow and flower. Soon our garden will be filled with many beautiful flowers and eager learners.
The remaining plant needs of air and fertilizer will be discussed in later posts. These are necessary items in a plant’s growth and are also necessary in the academic growth of the students. These items will consist of health, science and social studies. It is necessary to begin with the basic building blocks, before embarking on the additional tasks of reading to learn.
Thank you for stopping by our garden. Hope to see you, again soon.
