Case Studies of Children

Participants on the Grow Organic programme have benefitted in different ways. Here are some case studies of some of the children we have been working with:

Children

Child D – started to eat different foods

Child D is a quiet, slightly overweight male in year 4 of a primary school.
During first gardening sessions where a range of fruit and vegetables were prepared and tasted by the whole class Child D was reluctant to taste anything. What little tastes he did make were very quickly spat out. Through gardening club sessions D tasted small amounts of different produce grown in the garden, salad leaves, nasturtium leaves with similar reactions. As work progressed and items were harvested over the late winter months D’s interest in gardening and the produce increased. He began to ask lots of questions about the garden and how thing grew and what different things could be used for in cooking.
When the group took part in a cook and eat session to make bread rolls and pumpkin soup child D loved both the soup and rolls asking for more of both commenting “The soup and bread was lovely, it was tasty, a lot of people really liked it.”.
When rhubarb fool was made by the group he was again happy to try and although he was not so keen was pleased that he had given it a go.
Child D has commented during sessions that he is trying to grow a few things with his parents in his back garden.

Child Z - enabling a non-academic child to shine

“Z is a very pleasant, well-behaved, but physically immature child, who has learning difficulties and poor organisational and communication skills.

Z has really enjoyed and learned a lot from the gardening project. Z has learned about healthy eating as part of a healthy lifestyle and has participated with zest in any cooking and eating of our own produce activities. Z has handled gardening tools and has cared for our plants. Although Z is not usually suitably dressed for outdoor work, Z has been enthusiastic throughout!”

The class teacher added in conversation with me:
“The practical outdoor sessions give child Z a chance to be competent, whereas she struggles with understanding even the most basic concepts in the classroom. She thrives in the small group sizes.“

The teacher also commented on how she's noticed that child Z always eats whatever food she's offered out of the garden or in cooking sessions. She’s never picky like some of the other children.

I’ve noticed that while many of the children tend to rush at things, child Z quietly waits her turn and works at a steady pace.  Whenever there's anything to take home – food or plants - she always asks if she can take an extra one for her brother and sister.
I tried talking to her about what she likes about the gardening sessions:

“I like planting strawberries.”
“My favourite weather is snow  . . . and windy  . . . . .  and sunny.  I don’t like rain.”

Child A – developing in confidence as a result of gardening
Child A is a primary aged child with a difficult home life. Mum is wheelchair bound and appears to need a lot of support from both father and the child. It is apparent that before Child A was born the father had an allotment but had to give it up to meet the demands of his family.
When Child A first joined the gardening sessions she was very quiet and somewhat withdrawn, hovering on the sidelines of both the activity and the other children, always needing directing into a specific activity.
Now after 2 terms of gardening Child A is volunteering to do activities and coming up with suggestions of ways to do things and ideas of best approaches. She readily engages in conversation with other children working on the plot and supporting adults. She is happy to talk about home life and volunteers stories relevant to the subjects and stories that her Dad has told her about his allotment and gardening.

Child B – enabling a child to access and enjoy the outdoors through gardening.
Child B is a primary aged child who lives in a terrace of houses with a small yard overshadowed by a mill and surrounded by industrial units and a busy main road. He would appear to be slightly overweight, and does not get a lot of exercise or opportunity for playing or being outside.
Through the sessions this child has developed a real passion for gardening and growing and being in the outdoors. He digs with great gusto, working hard to dig the large hole needed to plant fruit bushes and is enthusiastic about every aspect of the work. He will happily weed for extended periods of time enjoying the calm that this provides.
He now helps the teacher prepare for all her outdoor sessions, waters the seeds ever day and helps and supports younger children out in the garden, sharing the knowledge and enthusiasm he has gained through the sessions.

These case studies are in the form of an interview.  

Child E

E is a 9 year old girl who has attended the gardening club after school. From week one, she has been one of the most enthusiastic children in the group.

What made you want to come to gardening club in the first place?

I’ve always wanted to do something with the garden at home. My brother did it last year and it just made me want to do it more. He used to bring vegetables home that he had grown.

Have you found that you are gardening more at home?

Yes. We bought some seeds last year and I said to my dad that when I go to gardening club, we’ll be able to sort something out with the garden and maybe do a vegetable patch because I could use some tips from it.

What’s the best thing about gardening club and what’s the worst thing?

For me the best thing is that it’s not just about working in the garden. It’s about more than that, like cooking food with what we grow, and we work in different places. There isn’t really a worst thing. It’s all good.

Even when it rains?

If it rains we go into school and learn things about fruit and vegetables. And when it rains, it helps the plants to grow.

Have you tried any fruit or vegetables in gardening club that you hadn’t tried before?

Yeah, we tried damsons. We had a kind of damson pudding and it was really nice and I’d never had damsons before.

If one of your friends was thinking of trying gardening club and they weren’t really sure, what would you tell them?

I’d tell them that it’s all good and they would enjoy it. Not one thing is bad.

Child F

F is a 9 year old girl who started coming to the gardening club at the end of January 2010. She attends with her brother and cousin.  Although these children have only recently joined the group, they quickly became integrated.  They are very keen, and clearly enjoy all activities.

When did you start coming to gardening club?

About 5 or 6 weeks ago

What made you want to come in the first place?

I really like gardening, and planting and getting dirty.

So do you do gardening at home?

Yeah loads of it

..and what sort of things do you grow?

We have a veg patch and at the top of the garden, we have flowers and fruits.

Tell me what is the best thing and worst thing about coming to gardening club.

When everyone comes and we work together, and all of it is fun, and the worst bit is when it rains and there are big muddy puddles.

Tell me more about gardening as part of a group.

One person has one idea and someone else has another and you might not know their idea, so you get to understand everyone else’s ideas, and when you have to do a challenge and you all work together, then you get it done quicker.

You sound like an experienced gardener. Have you learnt anything new?

Yeah, the way you plant seeds. You don’t always have to make a hole, you can plant them in lines. I hadn’t tasted rhubarb before and I tasted it in gardening club and I really liked it.

Do you think coming to gardening club is good in any other way, for health or for you socially?

Yeah it’s good for your health because you might just sit at home and watch television and have nothing to do. With gardening you get active and do things different to what you do at home.

Child C

C is a 9 year old girl, attending gardening club after school.  She asked specifically to come and talk to me when she heard people were being interviewed about the work the children had been doing in gardening club.

Do you like gardening?
Yes.  I love gardening.
What do you like about coming to gardening?
Everything!
Tell me 3 things that you have especially enjoyed.
We've planted some beans today.  We also planted some a couple of months ago.  And we planted peas in a drainpipe a couple of months ago, and today we planted them over there.  … Also, we put some CDs near the cabbage plants so the birds didn't get them.  And we planted some wheat.
Have you ever grown wheat before?
No.  But my aunty's got a garden, so I did gardening before.
What has been the best thing in gardening club?
When we had to pick up cards really quickly about birds and worms and what birds eat.
Like, a game, you mean?
Yes.  But I liked loads of things.
Do you think gardening is good for children's health?
Yes, it's healthy because you plant stuff and then you can take them home and eat them.  And, like, digging - you get into it and you exercise and it's well fun!
When you go home after gardening, how do you feel?
I feel energetic - and tired; I enjoyed it and want to do it all again!  I feel happy -  it's a bit exhausting, but it'll take all the bad things away, all the stuff that's happened at school.
Yes, I know what you mean! Is there anything you can think of that we can do to make gardening better?
It would be better to have more fruit to plant and more games to play outside.  But I love gardening!

The BCEP programme worker recognised that this girl has shown a keen interest and good understanding of growing food and all related processes.  She is extremely mature and a strong positive influence in the group.

Her head teacher was surprised that she had volunteered to be interviewed, and noted that the club has had a significant impact on the girl's self esteem, she gets so much out of it.

Child X - behaviour change through gardening

Child X is an 8 year old boy who is very much a creature of habit and geenrally only likes to do what he likes to do - often finding it difficult to engage in other activities when requested. His difficulty with this usually leads to him being quite disruptive and sometimes quite agressive with his fellow classmates during hte course of lessons / sessions. Despite initial protestations one week he discovered he liked weeding and in an in subsequent weeks repeatedly asked if he could do this.With the support of a placement student he weeded for an entire session. During another session he again asked if he could 'do weeding' - with negotiation we agreed that he would helpre-plant some other plants first, then be able to do some weeding. He did this quite ahppily and with no problem or disruption to the session and was then ahppy to move onto do a range of other activities.

Child Y - behaviour change through gardening

Child Y is an 8 year old boy who finds being in class quite difficult, although seemingly quite bright - he is rarely on task, talks out of turn, answers back to adults, disturbs and disrupts others from tehir work and asa  result often finds himself removed from class after a series of warnings. Over the course of the gardening based sessions Y has begun to respond a lot better to the outdoor sessions, being happy to get involved in activities most of the time and generally beign engagedwith the task and being a lot less disruptive. When the GO worker arrives in class Y wants to share information and expereinces with her and often asks if he can go outside with the group.