Sustainability Via Active Garden Education (sage): the Process of Incorporating Watering Into Structured Preschool Curriculum
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: School gardens provide rich outdoor learning opportunities for young children. Practical considerations about garden maintenance, in particular, watering, can impeed success. This manuscript chronicles the development of garden maintenance strategies in Sustainability via Active Garden Education (SAGE). SAGE installed raised-bed gardens and provided a complete curriculum focused on increasing children's active time and improving healthy eating habits while fostering garden stewardship. SAGE was implemented by trained research personnel in four early care and education (ECE) facilities in Houston, Texas (SAGE 1, Summer, 2013), one ECE facility in Phoenix, Arizona (SAGE 2, Spring, 2017), and 24 ECE facilities in Phoenix, Arizona (SAGE 3, Autumn 2017- Spring 2020). ECE facilities offered structured education to preschool-aged children (3-5 years) from low-income families (~70% Hispanic/Latino). The SAGE curriculum was implemented weekly or twice weekly in 1-hour, continuous sessions that included songs, games, and interactive learning activities involving garden maintenance, i.e., watering the garden. In SAGE 1, watering was completed once a week with high observed fidelity (92.9%). Exit interviews demonstrated ongoing garden maintenance after the formal implementation of SAGE was over. SAGE 2 was adapted to increase watering to twice a week, every time the curriculum was implemented with high fidelity (93.8%). Additional water usage for watering the garden twice a week incurred $7.23USD annually in 2017. SAGE 3 was completed at 24 ECE facilities. Gardens cost approximately $251USD (in 2018) in supplies and were easy to install. Watering fidelity was again high (91.4%). The most common reason for not watering was rain. Gardens were watered more consistently when teachers were leading the session (94.7%) compared to when SAGE led the session (88.9%; p < .048). The SAGE studies demonstrated that with modest resources, minimal training and a structured curriculum, preschools can achieve regular garden maintenance, offering unparalleled outdoor learning opportunities for teachers and young children alike.
Source: Agriculture & Food
Language: English
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Funders: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institutes of Health, Agricultural Research Service, National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Awards: Science and Community: Ending Obesity Improving Health, G3720003762, G4062079724, Linking Active Transportation Use and Neighborhood Walkability to Cardiometabolic Risk Factors Among Hispanic Mothers, Partnering for PA in Early Childhood: Sustainability via Active Garden Education, G623918028, Science and Community: Partnering to prevent early childhood obesity, No time to pause: Physical activity to improve health and well-being of midlife Hispanic women during the menopausal transition, ADAPTING AND ASSESSING THE FEASIBILITY OF A TELEHEALTH DIABETES PREVENTIONPROGRAM FOR HISPANIC ADOLESCENTS
OpenAlex ID: W4405444837