Our Earth, Our Children, Our Future

Our school continues to evolve as we navigate through where our student’s interests take us and what is relevant to the world around them. Springtime lends itself to discussion of the changing seasons, and explorations outdoors including nature hikes, planting, and gardening. 

In February, the Malibu Early Childhood Center began our investigation of the environment and how we can make a difference. Recycling, gardening, cooking, and conversations about our earth have been ongoing. Our children have integrated this thinking into their community walks. Over the course of several weeks we have gone to grocery stores to see where food comes from and have collected trash in the environment around our school.

Recently, some of our students had the following discussion during morning meeting:

What can we do to help the planet?-Teacher Katie

Give toys around your community-Guy

Give away newspaper. Recycle it-Rory

Feeding elephants. Giving elephants peanuts-Joaquin

If you don’t need money anymore, give it to your community- Shmulie

Feed birds-Marlon

Recycle the garbage cans-Heath

This conversation fueled the most recent community walk where we spoke with four local restaurants to see if they recycle and how they dispose of their waste. The students approached each business with the question of: “Do you recycle?” and if the answer was yes, “How?” The following are their responses:

Fish Grill: Yes. We recycle bottle and cans.

Malibu Inn: Yes. We do a lot of recycling. In the back we have a dumpster where we recycle glasses and cardboard boxes that we break down.

Jack in the Box: Yes. We sure do. At our company we recycle just about everything. We even recycle the oil we use for cooking so that automobiles can use it for fuel.

Tacos El Pastor: (the food truck on the pier) You know what…I’m going to start today.

At a young age, our students are demonstrating awareness of the environment around them and a desire to care for our planet. It is not just about creating a school environment where students can practice reading, writing, and arithmetic, but providing the opportunity for children to reach out within their community and make a difference. They are our future and the values they carry into the future will determine the kind of world we live in. It was inspiring to see the Tumbleweeds approach their community and ask relevant questions. Making just one impact on a local business is enough to make you reflect on your own habits and ask your self: “What you are doing to help our planet and how you can help to make the world a better place?”

Happy Earth Day,

Dede Solis

Malibu Early Childhood Center