Outdoor Learning

Outdoor Learning at its Best!

Valuable lessons are learned along with patience as children wait for vegetables to grow, share in the responsibility and care of the garden. Even the value of exercise is instilled as children physically work in the garden, individually or cooperatively. If you garden at home, you know that families learn to work together and share, and that gardening helps build a child's senses.

There are research studies in regard to gardening and outdoor education which include control groups, pre- and post-measures, well controlled correlations, or in-depth qualitative analyses. For more studies and an analysis of research, please see Blair (2009), "The child in the garden: An evaluative review of the benefits of school gardening."

Peace Garden

Peace Garden: A Rainbow of Diversity

A Drought Tolerant Garden Inspired by the Colors of the World

Sponsored by California American Water

Designed by Olwyn Kingery

Supported by CVUSD, Master Gardeners of Ventura County, NWF Eco-school USA

Concept: A garden that initiates thoughts of peace.

A peace pole, silent and proud, stands centered amongst the colorful drought tolerant spectrum of plants. Each individual’s character adds an important piece to the overall scheme. The rainbow, arranged in red, orange, yellow, green, blue to purple represents the diversity of our community living here together as a whole peaceful unit.

The Peace Pole:

History: ‘May Peace Prevail On Earth’ coined by Masahisa Goi of Japan 1955. He was inspired by a deep dream and had awakened with a great need to spread the message throughout the global community to attain inner and outer peace.

Purpose: Symbolizes the oneness of humanity and our common wish for our world. Reminds us to think, speak and act in the spirit of peace and harmony. Stands as silent visual for peace to prevail on earth.

Built by The Peace Pole Makers as part of The World Peace Prayer Society http://www.worldpeace.org

A complete list of the Peace Garden plant palette can be found HERE.

At the same time that the Peace Garden was created, pavers were placed around the flagpole and outside the kindergarten gate. Benches were also placed outside the kindergarten gate so parents have a place to sit and wait for student release.

A space of approximately 250’ x 100’ has been set aside for the EARTHS garden project. EARTHS gardens have several sections which were installed in phases over the course of a year. The largest garden is the Native Plant garden, which measures 105’ x 90’. This garden provides habitat for native wildlife and is used to increase student understanding about native plants and wildlife. It also allows students to participate in environmental stewardship through installing and maintaining the garden.

The other gardens include raised beds for vegetable gardens, herb and flower gardens, and pollinator gardens. There is a second area which is divided by the regions of California to include the desert, mountain, valley, and coastal regions.

EARTHS has a combination of trees and shrubs to maximize the wildlife usage. Particular focus has been placed on growing plants that were used by the Chumash people in addition to the plants that our students are working with through the SHRUBS program.