At the end of this week, week 3, the runners finally took off! All four of the bean seeds came up, so now it is just a waiting game. Beans are one of the easiest plants to start indoors. This experiment is like the snap pea one, in which the beans will not be transplanted outdoors. So I hope the plant will produce some nice green beans. 🙂
I also enjoy being able to see the roots! Children can really benefit from getting to see the root systems with indoor plantings. When we grow things outdoors we don’t see what happens underneath the ground, so being able to see what the entire plant looks like takes away the mystery and misconceptions young minds will often have. Don’t worry, they fill in where they don’t understand. It’s just that those assumptions are very creative and not very realistic. 🙂
I have been only watering this jar ever other day. And so far I’ve only added fertilizer twice. So I will probably add some this weekend.
One thing I will remember to do next time is not secure my beans to the window. I would like the plant to be more mobile. I like to measure the growth of the beans next to children to see how quickly the beans close the height gap. Measuring a taller plant next to children is also a great concrete and visual way for children to see the rapid growth. Planting vegetables and flowers indoors really makes the entire process more accessible to young minds. Children need to be a part of the whole process and not just he beginning and ending stages. If we want to help children construct knowledge and build onto what they already know, we have to respect they can handle learning and being an active and responsible part of the experience.
Enjoy your own planting adventures! Please like and share this posting and share some stories with me! 🙂
Heidi Scott, BA & MIT
The Marigold School of Early Learning
