The Somerville Community Growing Center, www.thegrowingcenter.org in Somerville, MA is a place for people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities to gather, learn, and celebrate in nature, together building a welcoming, accessible, and thriving community.
The garden is located on the Land of the Massachusett, the name from which the colony, province and state are named. The SCGC recognizes with deep respect the Massachusett Tribe, as the original and still present stewards of this Land.
This project allowed us to ask readers to wonder about the connections the kids build with the Land, Garden, the environment and each other.
The Friends of the Community Growing Center is the non-profit group that responsibly manages and sustains this public resource offering diverse ecological, nature-based play, cultural, and educational programming for the whole community. We nurture this urban greenspace in collaboration with people and partnerships.
Project
- Gather children’s narratives and artifacts reflecting children’s relationship with the Growing Center
- Give voice to young children in community and think how children make meaning in community spaces and what the role of these spaces in children’s lives
- Present the work to the public(October 14, 2023) and inviting children to participate
- Share the book/artifact as part of a historical document for the 30th anniversary of the Growing Center
- Provide a spiral bound copy of the project book to participating early childhood programs (November 2023)
Many thanks to DEY, Babson College, Ron Grady, Alison Clark and Peter Moss(Listening to Young Children: The Mosaic Approach), the early childhood educators who value and advocate for outdoor play and exploration for all children and to the young children themselves. Seeing through their eyes has been invaluable. (Paula Jordan) www.thegrowingcenter.org
