This summer, the students of Rainbows’ Kids’ Point Classroom 6 have experienced growing and the importance of regular involvement. Miss Annabel’s Garden Project consisted of tomato, jalapeno, bell pepper, spaghetti squash, cucumber, and cilantro seeds that the class nurtured. The students had the opportunity to plant seeds in pots just outside the classroom. They took turns watering their seeds and ensuring the plants were receiving proper sunlight. Excitement grew as the plants turned green, but faded soon after. Although the process was slow the students learned to be patient, each step held a different lesson for the children of Classroom 6. Excitement returned when flowers appeared on the plants. “We were able to explain that where every flower was a vegetable would grow,” said Miss Annabel. “As time went on, we began to spot the actual vegetables growing. Sometimes it was one of the kids who spotted this, other times we pointed it out to them.” Miss Annabel taught them how seeds, when cared for, would evolve into something much bigger. Their vegetables soon appeared and ripened.
The children were taught when each vegetable was ready for harvesting and collected vegetable from the plants at the right time. They anxiously anticipated the results their efforts would produce. “Once we had enough tomatoes we were able to make salsa,” said Miss Annabel. “The kids thought it was really cool that we were able to use things that we had grown to make our salsa!” Miss Annabel also entered a few of her class’ vegetables in the Sedgwick County Fair Thursday, July 10. Selections of large tomatoes and jalapenos were submitted to the Fair for judging. The jalapenos won third place and each student was given a ribbon for their hard work. “The students of Classroom 6 learned the importance of the care that was given to the plants throughout this project,” said Miss Annabel. “They all saw how something as small as a seed had the potential to grow into something much greater.”
