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The early stages of a child’s life, starting from the prenatal period through early childhood (3-5 years) and middle childhood (6-12 years), play a crucial role in brain development and long-term well-being. Research shows that early experiences, such as the emotional bonds formed with caregivers and the child’s first learning encounters, have a lasting impact on physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development. By the age of 3, the human brain reaches almost 90% of its adult size, which highlights the importance of these years in building essential abilities like emotional control, language, thinking, and motor skills and the foundations of Social and Emotional Learning.
Focusing on early childhood development is one of the most effective ways to ensure a successful and healthy future. What children experience during this time shapes their learning capacity, emotional resilience, social behavior, and decision-making skills. Even though children are often physically healthy during early and middle childhood, they are at risk for challenges such as behavioral and developmental disorders, chronic conditions like asthma and obesity, and accidental injuries. These issues can disrupt their education, relationships, and overall growth, and may lead to difficulties later in life.
As children grow into middle childhood, they begin to show more independence, form friendships, and interact more with the people outside their families. Their mental, social, and physical abilities grow rapidly through school activities, games, and social connections. Building confidence, understanding emotions, and developing healthy relationships become important skills during this stage. Children also start learning how to express their feelings, manage peer pressure, and deal with emotional situations in a thoughtful way.
Providing a nurturing and stimulating environment during these critical years supports healthy brain development and strengthens the foundation for future success in education, relationships, and overall well-being. These early life experiences are essential in shaping who the child will become as an adult.
Understanding Social Emotional Learning (SEL)
Before exploring how school farms contribute to SEL, it’s important to understand what SEL encompasses. According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) Social-emotional learning can be defined as: “The process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.” SEL consists of five core competencies:
- Self-Awareness
- Self-Management
- Social Awareness
- Relationship Skills
- Responsible Decision-Making
These competencies are essential for academic success, mental health, and future employability. As schools move toward holistic development, SEL has become integral to curricula. School farms, when embedded into school ecosystems, provide a living place where these skills are cultivated naturally.
Why School Farms?
A school farm is not just a green space where vegetables grow. It is a living outdoor classroom, a space for open learning, healing space, It offers experiential learning that goes far beyond classroom education. School farms provide children with an environment that is physically active, sensory-rich, and highly collaborative. Learning here is practical, direct, and emotionally engaging, where education is both hands-on and hearts-on. In such a space, children take responsibility and practice empathy, teamwork, and care, not just as activities but as a way of life.
How School Farms Nurture SEL (Social and Emotional Learning) Competencies During Early and Middle Childhood?
1. Cultivating “Self-Awareness” Through Hands-On Learning
A farm requires preparation of the land, tilling, sowing, watering, thinning, and harvesting. All these tasks demand attention, presence, and patience. As children engage in these experiences, they become more aware of their own feelings, behaviors, and responses. They begin to take full ownership of the farm. The act of nurturing a living plant can be meditative, allowing students to recognize and reflect on their emotions.
For many children, especially those experiencing anxiety, ADHD, or trauma, tending to a farm brings a sense of calm and purpose. It promotes mindfulness, which is a key aspect of self-awareness. Children begin to observe how their mood influences their behavior and their ability to complete farming tasks. They learn to express their experiences, developing an understanding of their inner selves.
Children are naturally curious. Watching a seed grow into a leafy green plant invites questions, wonder, and reflection. In a school farm, they begin to notice their thoughts and emotions while interacting with plants, insects, and soil. How do they feel when a plant they cared for begins to grow? How do they respond when a crop does not survive?
They start becoming aware of what benefits the farm and what causes harm. For instance, they begin to recognize that plastic, which never decomposes, can damage the soil. They learn the importance of avoiding plastic to protect the farm and environment. As they take care of their plants, they begin to understand the natural cycle “Anything that comes from nature, goes to nature”. They realize that the fruit they eat is a gift from nature, and the peels they discard can be returned to the soil as compost. Through these realizations, children develop mindfulness and a sense of responsibility in their actions toward nature.
Furthermore, students begin to see themselves in relation to the natural world. They learn that, like children, plants also need love, care, time, and patience to grow. They draw emotional connections between themselves and the plants they nurture. One touching example came from a third-grade student of SowGood Foundation, Delhi, who wrote a letter to the earth on Earth Day, sharing how they felt during an asthma attack and expressing empathy for the suffering of the planet.
2. Enhancing “Self-Management” Through Responsibility
A key component of any agricultural endeavor is consistency. School farms function on routines like irrigation, mulching and nutrients must be monitored regularly. When children are responsible for maintaining these systems, they develop their time management, they take the full responsibility, they start setting small goals to irrigate the farm, which even lead them to become even more punctual.
These responsibilities teach delayed gratification and perseverance. As plants do not grow overnight, and children learn to manage frustration and celebrate small victories along the way, they become happy to see how in the beginning two beautiful leaves come out from the plants called true-leaves. farming instills the value of patience and discipline which contribute to self management.
Furthermore, working in a farm helps children regulate their impulses. If a plant is overwatered or exposed to too much heat, it may not survive. This teaches the importance of measured, thoughtful actions. Over time, students become more adept at controlling their emotions and focusing their energy productively.
Children plant today and harvest weeks or months later. School farms offer a powerful lesson in patience, consistency, and perseverance, teaching children that growth takes time, care, and dedication. This cultivates self-discipline, impulse control, and the ability to cope with setbacks. If a seedling doesn’t grow, the student must reassess: Was it too dry? Was it planted too deep? This fosters not just scientific thinking but emotional regulation and resilience.
3. Building “Social Awareness” Through Community and Empathy
School farms are shared spaces where children work together in groups. These farms create a setting similar to real-life situations, where people need to cooperate, share tasks, listen to one another, and respect different opinions. By working this way, children learn to value different ideas and experiences.
For example, a children from a farming background may have knowledge and experiences that urban children are not familiar with. When they share these experiences, it helps others understand different ways of life and builds empathy. This sharing breaks down cultural and social differences. Children also share the vegetables they harvest with their class teacher, the principal, and with the gardener, the gardener who takes care of the school farm when they are not around. Through this, they experience the value of contributing to the community and learn the meaning of fairness and care for others.
Farm work can also include lessons about global food systems, climate change, and environmental justice, helping children understand important challenges in the world. When children grow their own food, they begin to feel the effort and time it takes for food to reach the table. They learn how much care and hard work is involved. This experience helps them develop respect for food and appreciation for the farmers who work every day in the fields to feed others.
4. Strengthening “Relationship Skills” Through Collaboration
Working together on a school farm naturally encourages teamwork. Children communicate clearly and listen actively. These situations offer rich opportunities to practice giving and receiving feedback, resolving conflicts, and offering encouragement.
Moreover, group farms give a sense of belonging. Farming is never a solo effort. Early and middle childhood are critical times when children are learning how to build friendships, cooperate, and navigate group dynamics. On a school farm, children are often assigned to teams with specific tasks such as planting, weeding, watering, composting. They divide into groups and some start collecting seeds, some prepare the land, and some water the seeds. This helps them build better relationships with all the other children.
These roles require them to communicate clearly, share resources, and coordinate schedules. Disagreements are inevitable. Maybe someone forgot to water the seedlings or picked a tomato too early. But with facilitation, these moments become chances to teach conflict resolution, active listening, and forgiveness.
Facilitators also play an important role here. Through healthy communication and problem-solving strategies, they help children develop their own relationship skills within the farm setting.
As children work together on the farm, they begin to notice how their classmates respond to different challenges. One child might be quiet and reserved, another full of energy, while another may feel uneasy about getting dirty. By helping and encouraging each other, they learn to accept differences, support one another, and handle conflicts with care. This experience helps them grow in empathy and become more inclusive in their relationships.
5. Promoting “Responsible Decision-Making” Through Real-Life Consequences
From setting up the farm space and creating a farm map to deciding which crops to grow in which season, children are involved in every step. They only decide where to plant vegetables, how to identify the right place for different plants, and how to support them. For example, they may build trellises for climbers or leave space for creepers to grow freely.
School farming gives children a safe but meaningful space to make decisions. Should they change the watering schedule? What is the best way to stop mold from growing? Which crops will grow best with the current weather and resources? Each choice leads to a visible result.
This trial-and-error process helps children think critically and take responsibility for their actions. They learn how to study a situation, think about the results, and make better decisions. They also become more resilient. If a plant dies or a crop fails, they try to understand what went wrong and how to do better next time. There is no failure for them, every experience becomes a learning opportunity.
Every farm decision shows clear results. If they water too much, the roots may rot. If they forget to compost, the soil becomes weak. These real-life outcomes teach children how their choices have effects and help them understand cause and effect.
This kind of learning is especially important in middle childhood, when students begin to explore new ideas and want more independence. A school farm gives them a safe space to take small risks and learn from the results.
Students also participate in bigger decisions, like what to grow in the next season, how to save water, or whether to use natural pest control methods like companion planting. These decisions build their critical thinking, teach them to care for the environment, and help them grow into thoughtful, responsible citizens.
Long-Term Impact on Children and Society
The benefits of learning social and emotional skills through school farming go far beyond the classroom. Children who take part in such activities often show better academic performance, make safer choices, have improved mental health, and develop strong relationship skills.
Now imagine combining these skills with food knowledge, care for the environment, and a connection to the land. We are not just growing better plants- we are growing kinder, wiser, and more responsible human beings.
These children grow up with a strong sense of connection to nature and to each other. They experience the joy of learning in a hands-on way. They remember moments like harvesting radishes with friends, finding a butterfly on the vegetable flower, or sharing a salad they prepared in class. These memories become the foundation of their values.
In a country like India, where agriculture supports most people but is often left out of urban education, school farms can build a bridge between rural and urban life. They can bring back respect for farming and help create a generation that values both food and the farmers who grow it.
Urban school farms can also promote healthy eating. Children learn how to grow microgreens, which they can easily grow at home and harvest within a week. Eating freshly picked greens within 24 hours keeps more nutrients in the food and teaches children the importance of fresh, local produce.
When a child learns to grow food, they also learn patience, care, and responsibility. These are life lessons that will stay with them and shape a better future for all of us.
Conclusion
School farming is much more than growing vegetables. It helps children grow as people. They learn how to work together, solve problems, and make good decisions. They also learn to care for the earth, understand where food comes from, and respect those who grow it.
Through simple farm activities, children build strong values like kindness, teamwork, and responsibility. They become more confident and more connected to nature and to each other. These lessons stay with them for life and shape the way they see the world.
School farms also make learning fun and meaningful. Children do not just read about science, health, or the environment– they live it. They feel proud when they see the result of their hard work. They become curious, active, and creative learners.
School farms do not just teach farming. They help raise caring, thoughtful, and responsible citizens who understand the value of food, the importance of nature, and the power of working together. This is how we build a better, kinder, and greener future for everyone.
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