From the care it takes to produce vegetables to learning about the importance of the leaves we eat; Kindergarten students take a field trip to learn more about food and nutrition
On April 8, students in Pre-K A and B visited the Hydroponic Garden at our main campus. Accompanied by Ms. Marta Magalhães, the Early Childhood Nutritionist, and teachers Ms. Emily Grimes and Ms. Jamila Costa, students learned how to plant vegetables in our hydroponic garden and care for them. As part of the Early Childhood Education Project, created in partnership with the pedagogical and nutrition departments, students learn to think about what they eat and where their food comes from.
The project, called “From Fields to the Table: The Path to Healthy Eating,” engages children from Nursery through Grade 1 in various activities that begin by discovering how the garden grows and ends with learning how to harvest the vegetables for students and staff to eat. In the words of nutritionist Ms. Marta Magalhães, the project helps students consolidate their knowledge in many ways.
“First, we want students to know the origin of food. We want them to see the beauty, diversity, and richness of it. Second, we want them to be aware of what they eat. There is challenging work involved in getting food to our tables. Third, we want them to develop healthy eating habits,” says Ms. Marta.
Already familiar with cultivating food in the vegetable garden at the early childhood campus, students improved their skills by learning another way to plant.