http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
the effects of school gardens on the life skills and volunteerism attitudes of elementary school children
xviii, 182 leaves : illustrations ; 28 cm.
Middle childhood is marked with many of the beginnings of leadership and life skills. As children progress from third to fifth grade, they are exposed to more experiences and more opportunities to grow and learn. Social skills such as interpersonal skills, communication skills, anger control skills, and stress management skills lead to social competence; and being able to appropriately apply these social skills implies that a child has a good social competence. The goal of this study was to assess changes in the life skill development and the volunteer service awareness of elementary school students. There were approximately 920 children in the sample including both experimental and control groups from the Fort Worth, TX and Temple, TX areas. The sample consisted of an experimental group, which participated in level one of the Junior Master Gardener[sm] curriculum, and a control group, which did not use the Junior Master Gardener[sm] curriculum. The students were divided into groups by length of participation: one-year programs participated for the full 2000-2001 school year, and five-month programs participated during the spring semester of 2001. Students in both the experimental and control groups were given pretests before beginning the program and posttests at the end of the school year. The life skills and volunteerism attitudes were assessed using the Youth Life Skills Inventory. Significant increases from pretest to posttest were found on overall life skills, working with groups scores, and self-understanding for the one-year experimental group. Significant increases were found among the f ve-month students who became certified Junior Master Gardeners [sm] in overall life skills, working with groups scores, self-understanding, leadership, and volunteerism attitudes.
Issued also on microfiche from University Microfilm Inc.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-142).