Seeds of Change - Learning to Read through Gardening

by Mark Hutchinson, Extension Educator

I remember my parents spending hours reading my favorite bedtime stories over and over. Remember them trying to skip pages when they were really tired? Unfortunately, not all children have this opportunity to develop the joy of reading with an adult. In fact, there are still a large number of illiterate adults. Illiterate adult parents do not have the skills to assist their children in learning to read. Reading is fundamental to a child’s success in school and beyond. “Seeds of Change” program is designed to provide skills to incarcerated fathers to encourage their children to read. The program is designed to make learning to read fun through gardening for both, the parent and child.

This is a collaborative project between Coastal Community Action Program, Knox County Child Services, Mid-coast Literacy Volunteers of America and University of Maine Cooperative Extension, and the Maine State Prison. ABC (a plant for every letter of the alphabet) gardens have been constructed at the Extension office in Waldoboro, outside the Maine State Prison in Warren and inside the Maine State Prison in Warren. The gardens are mirror images, identical in plant varieties and developmental stages. Master Gardener volunteers and under-served children have established two ABC gardens. Children have the opportunity to plant and read in the gardens. Fathers work on the prison garden. These gardens provide positive conversation topics, reading and gardening.

Volunteers are needed for this project to maintain the garden beds and work with the children during their time in the garden. The children range in age from 2-8 years old. Volunteers are needed at both the Maine State Prison outside garden, and at the Extension office. If you have an interest, please contact me at (207) 832-0343.

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If you are a person with a disability and will need any accommodations to participate in a UMCE program, please contact your county office to discuss your needs.

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