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Worms are giving children a RARE experience.
Chico State's Child Development Lab and A.S. Recycling have teamed up to teach young children about sustainability and composting methods.
Recycling And Rubbish Exhibit, a program designed by A.S. Recycling, shows children how worms are used in composting, said senior Susan Shultz, compost coordinator for A.S. Recycling. The program has been implemented at the lab by incorporating its original program for elementary schools.
RARE goes to classrooms and gives worm bin compost presentations, Shultz said. The classes then maintain the worm bins. However, RARE doesn't generally work with a children as young as those at the development lab.
The worm bin program was started to divert the waste of the lab into compost rather than throwing it out, Shultz said.
Caring for the worms is like having a pet, Shultz said. The children also learn respect for life and responsibility.
"The main reason we do this is to change waste habits," Shultz said. "Imagine if you started composting when you were two years old - what the world would be like."
RARE teaches children at the lab about composting at the beginning of the semester, Shultz said. And next semester a "worm doctor" will check up on their progress.
The worm doctor will be a relatable figure that children can communicate with, Shultz said.
The Child Development Program offers a variety of opportunities for students to interact with children, said Steve Erwin, assistant director at the lab.
"Our mission is twofold," Erwin said. "One is to care for children of Chico State students, and secondly to educate the future teachers that will be working with children form birth to five."
The lab gives students an opportunity to become more acquainted with their field of study, Erwin said.
Staff member Stephanie Williams is a teacher at the lab and helps children maintain the worm bins and teaches about other sustainability methods.
The curriculum is centered on the worm bins, Williams said. Before the children get to interact with the worms, they have to learn how the worms transform food into usable dirt.
This year students read a composting story to the children and divided them into small groups, Williams said. They talked about making the worms a home and transformed the rubber tubs by filling them with partly soaked newspaper strips and bananas for the worms to eat.
"We talk a lot with children about composting and dirt from compost that can be used to grow new fruits and vegetables," Williams said.
In the area for 3-year-olds, four garden boxes have fruit, vegetables and flowers, Williams said. Food is a good way to expose children to sustainability and a tangible way for them to learn.
Williams encourages children to learn through alternative means as well as with natural resources, through their own exploration, she said.
Mike Lata can be reached at mlata@theorion.com
Related links Child Development Lab A.S. Recycling
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