Building a K-12 regenerative school garden curriculum: Seeking perspectives

I'm working on developing a school garden curriculum for students from kindergarten through grade 12.

The goal is to design a framework that integrates hands-on land stewardship directly into the school system, moving beyond basic gardening into deep ecology and regenerative systems thinking:

growing organic food suitable for local climate

permaculture and agroecology

self-sufficiency

market gardening and economic pathways

school subjects in the context of the garden

outdoor pedagogy training for teachers

...what else?!

While this is initially being designed for a project in Chile with support from the state educational authority, the core methodology will be universally adaptable. We are contracting a US doctoral student who is basing this as her thesis at a Canadian university, in which we plan to pilot down south in the next year.

To build a truly functional path, I am looking to you Permies for your collective insights, lessons learned, and real-world experiences...and your dreams for our future generation. 🌱

This helps guide us in building the core of our curriculum from a diverse array of real permaculturists.
🙏 Thank you

That is a lovely idea.

I always remember my lessons on how to plant seeds when I plant each years.

What do you remember most about the seed planting as a child?

Is it getting hands in the dirt?...
Is it the long-term process of nurturing and observing it grow?
Is it the yield: something useful (food) or beautiful (flower)...?
Is it the security of knowing how to create something from very little?

Would love to dig deeper...

In Elementary school, we planted pinto bean seeds in paper egg cartons with cotton balls for soil.

When we moved to our homestead I used those lessons to start my garden.