Farming – Animal Care

Kingswood Montessori Academy in Homestead, Fl offers a unique experience to the students. Kigswood Montessori sits in a 4 acre campus in rural Homestead. We have a small farm with two Shetland ponies, a goose, chickens and roosters. The Elementary students in small groups take turn every day in the feeding of the animals with the help of the teachers. The preschool and todddlers students bring snack to share with the animals.
The Elementary students are also responsible for the animal’s grooming. This work the children do with the animals not only fosters the responsibility of taking care of others in the children but it also instills a love an nurture for animals. Kingswood Montessori Academy is proud of the work the children do every day to take care of their animals and knows those are experiences the children learn and grow from.
“The land is where our roots are. The children must be taught to feel and live in harmony with the Earth.” Maria Montessori
Mission Statement
The Gardening Program at Kingswood Montessori Academy nurtures each child’s appreciation and understanding of the natural world by involving them in the processes of planning and maintaining a sustainable, ecologically-friendly garden.

Goals

1. To use the garden as an outdoor, experiential classroom for the child’s engagement with the natural world
2. To lay the foundation to becoming skillful and knowledgeable gardeners by introducing children to gardening techniques, composting, and plant varieties.
3. To teach children about the connection between farming and food, and provide an awareness of where food comes from.
4. To teach children to honor their bodies with wholesome food, tastefully prepared, slowly eaten.
5. To allow children to teach others what they have learned.
Our gardening program is just one of many ways we connect to nature.

Our Vision
Maria Montessori believed that a child’s connection to his or her environment is critical to that child’s well-being. On our 5-acre campus, we try to find myriad ways to foster that connection, with programs in outdoor education and field biology at every age level in the school, using the natural setting of our campus and the wide variety of natural resources around us as an outside classroom. We encourage students to develop a respect for, an understanding of, and a sense of responsibility for the environment.