Health, Wellness, and Garden Club

Capitol Hill Montessori offers an after school Health, Wellness, and Garden Club, following Dr. Maria Montessori’s belief that a child’s connection to his or her environment is critical to that child’s well being. As students spend time simply exploring the gardens, or through specific lessons relating to our school gardens, they have multiple opportunities to foster their connection with the environment. Children learn about the seasons through the cycles of planting, growing, and harvesting of plants. Through lessons and hands-on experience, students learn where food comes from. In addition, they learn about different gardening techniques, composting, and plant varieties. This club nurtures in our students both respect for the environment and a sense of responsibility for it.

In addition, club members discuss healthy eating and engage in hands-on activities in our school gardens. Meetings and events nurture each child’s appreciation and understanding of the natural world.

The overarching goals of the Health, Wellness, and Garden Club are:

• to select, prepare, and eat nutritious meals and snacks
• to learn where food comes from and how it grows
• to cultivate food in our school gardens
• to promote health in our bodies and minds, and within our families, our school, and our community

The goals are met through these and other activities:

• Students use herbs extracted from the garden to make lemon verbena and mint teas sweetened with honey. Students study the herbs and explored different colors, smells, and flavors of honey.
• Students learn about the importance of keeping their bodies hydrated. Then they pick watermelons and spearmint from the gardens to make watermelon-mint smoothies.
• In honor of Dr. Seuss Day, children make green eggs and ham from a variety of sautéed leafy greens, including kale and spinach.

The club, which is organized by parents, in coordination with faculty sponsors, is open to students from both the Primary, Elementary, and Middle Grades programs. Parents are welcome to participate.

Thanks to the hard work of faculty and parents, Capitol Hill Montessori has several gardens on its educational campus. There are edible gardens on raised beds, ornamental gardens, and a brick path along the children’s garden. Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan is grateful to the broader community and government who also contributed such as Casey Trees and DDoT by planting trees!

In addition, regular garden workdays are a chance for entire families and neighbors to pitch in and get dirty!