Sparta’s Pots of Peace set to launch a new homeschool program later this month called the “Gardening Growers Homeschool Tutorial.”
Owner Zakiya Roberts said the program is not designed to replace other homeschool programs but to serve as more of an extension. Roberts said the program will teach students from K-6th basic subjects like Math, Science, and Language Arts, while also teaching them different aspects of agriculture. Roberts said combining school with agriculture shows students that what they are learning can be applied to the real world.
“Combining academics with practical experience allows them to put it into practice at a young age,” Roberts said. “And as they continue to grow and develop, they will already have that knowledge, and they will be able to use their math skills and their reading skills to carry them into other areas of life.”
Roberts said similar homeschool programs like this do exist, but not in Sparta. Roberts said she is launching the homeschool program as she believes it is important to teach students about agriculture.
“A lot of people don’t know where their food comes from,” Roberts said. “They don’t know how to grow their own food, so I believe it’s important for us to have skills of self-sufficiency so that we are not so reliant on the grocery store, so we are not so reliant on the system to provide for us.”
Roberts said a big part of the homeschool program is to show parents that children making messes can serve a purpose.
“Oftentimes in our society, as it is right now, parents are just so busy,” Roberts said. “They don’t have the time to teach their children these things. They don’t have the time to slow down and allow the messes to take place because we learn through play, and you know, we know that play can be messy, so that’s a big part of what we do here is allowing them to play in the garden and out in the field.”
Roberts said the program has already seen some families register their children for the program. The homeschool program is set to launch on August 20. The program will meet from 9am-2pm on Wednesdays and Fridays.
More information on the programs is available on the Pots of Peace Facebook page.
