WHAT'S COMING UP THIS MONTH?
In May, in Kindergarten we will plant fava beans and water them. In First grade, we will continue to learn about our five senses. In Second grade, we will plant sunflowers. In Third grade, we will take care of our garden. In Fourth grade, we will learn about pollinators and we will meet with two beekeepers to learn more about honeybees. In Fifth grade, we will paint new garden signs. All grades will have an end of year garden celebration!
WHAT WE ARE LEARNING IN THE GARDEN
In April, in Kindergarten we tried the radishes they planted. (Pictured here.) In First grade, we started to learn about our five senses. In Second grade, we learned about habitat. In Third grade, we started our animal adaptation unit and observed skulls. In Fourth grade, we learned about mosquitoes (pictured below) and we started our unit about pollinators. The students also planted California native plants with highschool students from Galileo High School. (Pictured below.) In Fifth grade, we finished our unit about plastic pollution. Ask your student to tell you more about what they have learned in the garden!
Interesting plant or animal in the garden
We have sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) in the garden. It is an annual climbing plant that can grow up to 6 ft when suitable support is available. They are easy to grow. The local pollinators such as this bumble bee love them. Come and smell their very sweet flowers!
This has been another wonderful year with the students in the garden! We had so much fun learning about gardening, nature and cooking new dishes with what's growing at Commodore Sloat.
We will have a garden celebration during the next Green Up Clean Up on Sunday May 17. I hope to see you there. Among other things, we will continue working on our greenhouse. (Pictured below.) If you are interested you can sign up to water the plants and take care of the chickens this summer (and get fresh eggs!). You can reach out to me or to someone on the Green Up Clean Up committee: greenupcleanup(at)sloatparents.org Have a wonderful summer and I will see you in August! Questions, comments or ideas? Please reach out to me at outdoor.educator(at)fastmail.com, or visit me in the garden on Mondays through Fridays. I’d love to hear from you! With gratitude, Mr. Raphael - May 2026 Note: All the photographs were taken in our garden.
Credits:
Raphael Hitzke