Dawn Publications

Malachi Bazan

Malachi Bazan believes that technology and nature can work together, and through Simply Nature Media he has joined forces with Dawn to make it happen for children, parents, and teachers. "Some folks will hide out on a hill and eschew technology, but there doesn’t have to be a fight between nature and technology," he says.

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April Showers
Bring May Flowers!

Welcome to Dawn Publications’ new blog, Inside Outside Nature. I’ll explore weekly topics with you, giving you something you can do with children both inside and outside of your home or classroom. I’m delighted to begin this blog on the first day of May—a month when all of nature is bursting with freshness, renewal, and flowers!

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Gardens Grow Minds: The School as Green Educator

– by Mary Quattlebaum

“We have a garden! With flowers and butterflies!” The third graders beam as they describe their wildlife garden during my author visit to St. John the Baptist (SJB) School in Maryland.

I thought about their enthusiasm and the dedicated teachers and parent volunteer, Mary Phillips, I met that day as I researched and wrote Jo MacDonald Had a Garden. How best to convey a child’s joy in digging and planting while offering teachers and parents helpful information on starting and/or teaching with a school or backyard garden?

These days, schools, such as SJB, can be the venues best positioned for nurturing a child’s wonder in the natural world. I grew up with a dad who shared his curiosity about nature with his seven kids and umpteen grandkids and showed us how to garden. (He’s the model for Old MacDonald, Jo’s grandfather, in my book, which is an eco-friendly riff on the popular song “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.”)

But in today’s fast-paced, busy world and with diminishing green spaces, these “growing experiences” and “life lessons” may be missing from childhood.

Happily, SJB seems to be part of a national trend, with an increasing number of schools adding an “outdoor classroom” to the traditional learning environment. At the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), Senior Coordinator Nicole Rousmaniere, who manages school programs, shared recent statistics. More than 4200 schools have started schoolyard habitats that help sustain regional wildlife, she says, with an additional 300 to 400 being added yearly.

Rousmaniere emphasizes that commitment rather than size is the key to an effective “green education” from school gardens. Small can be powerful. Having children plant and care for native plants in containers or in a little patch beside a school can foster lessons in biology and stewardship. . .

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