Begin the Journey

Starting a new journey with your child is always full of surprises and joyess experiences. Regardless of their age, seeing that look of surprise on their face when they discover something new in their life is priceless. Learning something new that they can do or achieve themselves is also an experience for you as the teacher to be proud of.

It begins like this. Making a statement like "Did you know that you have the capability to grow that 'plant' yourself" pointing at possibly a vegetable you've just presented on the dinner table. Maybe tonight's the night you've decided you're introducing your child to that vegetable you've walked past a hundred times while doing your shopping. Knowing that it tasted amazing from your memories as a child yourself, but you know that trying to get your suspicious child to eat something new, let alone healthy for them, could possibly result in that mealtime augment that is not what you want to finish your long, exhausting day.

Introducing young one's to the experience of growing a vegetable or a flower is nothing short of an educational trip of love and learning that bonds hearts and minds when it comes to something we do everyday, eat. Experiencing watching a seedling grow from where you decided to plant it and begin your experiment from, whether it be your outside garden, a balcony pot garden, or kitchen window garden, the end result will be the same. Endless smiles and comments each day as this new life created by those watching grows in strength and size. Should it be the vegetable you introduced that night a while ago, becoming the result of weeks of patience waiting for it to become part of the evening dinner, or a flower developing from that tenderly watched and cared for bunch of green shoots poking out of the ground will eventually bloom into a magical display of beautiful colour?

That journey will take time and patience on your part as the teacher as well. But then think of what you've done. Taught your child something that they can use for the rest of their lives. How to grow food and create many emotions through smiles, laughter and conversation so many of us need. The raised eyebrows and looks of shock as new experiences are discovered while learning and realising that they've still a lot to learn. But best of all, starting that simple conversation about what and how the things we eat are produced begins the connection so importantly needed today.

Begin the gardening experience.