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American Horticultural Therapy Association

CALIFORNIA CHAPTER

NEWSLETTER

Formerly known as

People Plant Connection

A publication of the

California Cha pter, AHTA

Summer 2008

Volume 10, Issue 2

MARK YOUR

CALENDERS

Sept.21st

Canadian Horticultural

Therapy ConferenceOctober 20th

Intro to HT at Orange CoastCollege in SCA. Call MarleneJavage for more details.714/321-4001

October 25th

Filoli Garden Party

10:00-3:00 pm

October 30-Nov 1,2008

AHTA annual conference,Lexington, Kentucky

Nov 15th

Descanso Garden Party10:00-300 pm

“N EVER DOUBT THAT A SMALL GROUP OF THOUGHTFUL, COMMITTED CITIZENS CAN

CHANGE THE WORLD INDEED , IT IS THE ONLY THING THAT EVER HAS .” M ARGARET M EAD

CAAHTA ISCAAHTA ISCAAHTA IS INCUBATINGINCUBATINGINCUBATING Restructure, Redefine, holding on to the what we have gained,

growing forward with the reality of the needs and the times…..

Did you hear, CAAHTA is incubating and morphing…. ..

No, but what is morphing……...are we going to be ok?

Of course, come to the Fall HT Garden parties being held

at Filoli and Descanso and find out all the ways we are

growing….and it is a free….

The opportunity to continue growing and connecting to a wide range of needs will be the topic of discussion during the Fall Garden Parties at Filoli and Descanso. Included in thispublication are two fliers, check out the dates and details. We are looking forward to hearing your questions, opinions and needs in HT...And we look forward to introducing you to thelatest opportunities, networks, research and visions for the future of Horticulture Therapy.

Presidents Message

The Times they are a Changing…. Truer words we re never spoken in relationship to AHTA and our California Chap-

ter of AHTA. Based on the opinion of national AHTA lawyer, each chapter must incorporate as their own non profit for the pro-

tection of their board or disaffiliate from the national. The thing that prevented us from incorporating as a non profit is the

cost of the liability insurance . You all should have be en sent out a survey as we wanted to receive your input. The results were

to not incorporate as a non profit as you will read in the Survey Update on pag e 2.

At our annual m eeting we have much to discuss as to the direction of our group and we h ope you’ll join us in celebrating over

10 years as a chapter and an opportunity to help shape the future of Horticultural Therapy in California. I have enjoyed working

with you and serving the California Chapter and look forward to the seeing you at our Garden Parties.

NATIONAL CO NFEREN CE – AHTA’s national conference will be held in Kentucky this year, Oct. 30-Nov.1. This

years theme is Connecting People with Nature. Check out our page 5 to see the whole conference program .

CALIFORNIA ANNUAL M EETING As you will read later in the newsletter, we’re having a party, a GARDEN

PARTY planned in 2 locations, one at FILOLI in northern California on Oct 25 th and one planned for Nov. 15 h at DESCANSO

GAR DENS. Both of these events are free to mem bers and former mem bers of CAAHTA. It is our way of thanking you for your

participation and support. All that is required of you is to respond and let us know you are coming so we have an accurate

count for the luncheon. Come to the party!

Patty Dunks

California Cha pter President



B

San F rancisco Flower and Garden ShowIn March, the CAAHTA participated in the San Francisco Flower and GardenShow with an educational boothvf11.88.88 2In)-5*445on naaa



Working With Children….Principles and Goalsby Vicki L. StoecklinEducation and Child Development Director with White Hutchinson Leisure & Learning Group

The first principle - and an important foundation for developmentally appropriate gardening - is thatchildren are active learners. The best teaching occurs when the emphasis is more on joining the child inhands-on interaction, play and discovery than on imparting knowledge. Children have a natural curiosity

that requires direct sensory experience rather than conceptual generalization. I have experienced thisphenomenon many times in the children's garden where I volunteer. Whenwe do a garden tour, if it does not include enough "hands-on" experienceslike stopping to collect, touch, taste and smell, I quickly lose the interest of the children and they find their own way to interact with the garden, likebalancing on the garden rails, running through the beds and wandering tothe next available space. The second principle - of developmentally appropriate gardening is thatdevelopment occurs in children in an orderly sequence during the first nineyears of life. All domains of development-physical, emotional, social, lan-guage and cognitive-change in a predictable way. Knowing typical child de-velopment for the age span that your program serves will provide a frame-work to guide teachers and horticulturists in preparing the learning envi-ronment and planning realistic goals and objectives. Age-appropriate gar-

dening activities take into account children's differing cognitive capabilitiesand psychological needs. The third principle - is that experiences and activities that stimulate chil-dren's development should be presented in increasingly complex and or-ganized ways. For example, children below age seven or eight are ex-tremely visual in their orientation to the world, partially because, depend-ing on the age of the child, they do not read or read well. A pitfall is to relytoo much on verbal explanations of concepts rather than using visual repre-sentations of the same concepts, such as with pictures.The fourth principle - of developmentally appropriate gardening is thatchildren need to be able to practice their newly acquired gardening skills.Since research shows that children's development occurs more rapidly withpractice, how can we expand our gardening scope to include others who influence the child's choice of activities? How can horticulturists support teachers in the classroom and how, in turn, can teachers sup-

port parents, who determine what children do at home? Activities chosen and shared with teachers andparents must not only include information on the activity itself, but why it is important and how it can beimplemented.The last principle - is that children have preferred or stronger modalities of learning. A variety of activi-ties will support children with the contrasted learning styles of visual, auditory and tactile. Howard Gard-ner has taken this concept a step further by identifying at least eight kinds of intelligence in humans. Themultiple intelligences include linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily kinesthetic, intraper-sonal, interpersonal and naturalistic (the ability to read the natural environment).

Goals of Developmentally Appropriate Gardening

The first important goal of a gardening program is teaching environmental stewardship. Research inthe new fields of eco-psychology and evolutionary psychology shows that if children do not have time toexplore and fully understand nature, they are at danger for developing biophobia, an aversion to nature.A second goal of a gardening program is to provide activities for children to practice personal growthand social skills. Children are so proud of all of their accomplishments in the garden, even if it is as simpleas watering. The garden provides opportunities for children to work together cooperatively as a team tosolve problems. The third goal of a gardening program is to provide for multidisciplinary, active learning.Gardens are unsurpassed in providing a hands-on approach to seeking information, observing changesand learning skills. A fourth goal of a gardening program is to teach about nutrition and health. Childrenlove to try new foods, especially when they have grown the food themselves or at least been involved incollecting the food source. A fifth goal of gardening programs is to provide opportunities for science edu-cation. Children can learn about interdependent plant and animal needs, photosynthesis, seed production,pests both harmful and beneficial, and composting. The last two goals are really the most important.Gardening is fun and is a skill that can be used later in life in many ways.

Vicki L. Stoecklin is the Education and Child Development Director with White Hutchinson Leisure & Learning Group, aKansas City, MO firm, which specializes in design and consulting for children’s environments including children’s muse-

ums, children’s leisure and entertainment sites, schools, child care facilities and outdoor environments which use na-ture. Vicki has a Master’s degree and twenty-three years experience studying and working with children including chil-

dren with disabilities. She can be reached at voice: 816-931-1040, fax 816-756-5058, Missouri relay (TTY) 800-735-

2966 and e-mail: [email protected].



California Chapter


2921 Old San Jose Road

Soquel, CA 95073

CAAHTA Newsletter

Summer 2008

CAAHTA Summer-2007 pg 6

California Chapter AHTA MEMBERSHIP

Annual membership includes; newsletters, membership meetings, seasonalworkshops, and admission to the members section of the CAAHTA Website.Membership dues are $25.00 Annually.

Please make checks payable to: CALIFORNIA CHAPTER AHTA or CAAHTACut or copy this form and return with your dues to:

California Chapter AHTAC/O Derron Dike (treasure)

PO Box 102, San Luis Obispo CA 93406

name:

…………………………………………………………………………………

address:

…………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………

phone:

……………………………………………………………………………………………...……………...………email:…………………………… ……………………………… …………………...……………... ..……………... .…

CAAHTA Newsletter is published 3 times a year. For postings or questions

contact Newsletter Editor, Marlene Javage at [email protected]

annual membership includes; newsletters, membership meetings, seasonalworkshops, and admission to the members section of the CAAHTA Website.

Board of Directors andContact Information

California Chapter


Website: www.caahta.org PATTY DUNKS * President

[email protected]

SUZANNE REDELL * VP NCA

650-207-7601

[email protected]

MARLENE JAVAGE *VP SCA Newsletter Editor

714-321-4001 [email protected]

SECRETARY * position open

DERRON DIKE * [email protected] MANN * PR Chair and

Immediate Past President818-340-6188 [email protected]

LEIGH ANNE STARLING, HTR

Membership Chair

[email protected]

Download - Summer 2008 Newsletter California Horticultural Therapy

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