Lively Learning: ‘Their Eyes Just Bloomed Open’

Watching preschoolers pull up a radish, count the seeds in an apple, crunch a bite of carrot or explore a fragrant basil leaf with a magnifying glass, it’s easy to sense their excitement. Head Start teacher Sarah Richardson loves these lively ways of teaching science using healthy foods.

“Their eyes just bloomed open,” says Richardson, one of the teachers taking part in the PEAS program. PEAS, short for Preschool Education in Applied Sciences, is an NC State Extension program that currently reaches six North Carolina counties. Rather than a traditional curriculum, PEAS provides professional development for early childhood educators. Teachers learn best practices for teaching science and developing children’s language skills, all while giving preschoolers hands-on experiences with healthy foods. 

Through a PEAS program partnership with NC State Extension’s Steps to Health, PEAS teachers have support to start their own school gardens where children can explore the science of healthy living outside the walls of the classroom.

Head Start teacher LaShawn Savage expects preschoolers’ curiosity to grow because of their experiences in the PEAS garden, from planting seeds to watching vegetables grow.

“When they get to kindergarten and above, they will have patience, and they will also want to be able to experience different things such as growing vegetables and tasting new foods,” Savage says. “Maybe they’ll want to make a career such as being a farmer, an engineer or a scientist, to design something or explore something, and maybe they’ll look back and say they got their start at the PEAS program.”

More than 100 teachers in 50 classrooms have taken part in PEAS since it began in 2019, reaching over 1,000 children enrolled in Head Start programs across North Carolina. PEAS is funded by the National Institutes of Health through a $1.32 million Science Education Partnership Award from the General Medical Sciences division.

“Our next step is to develop family-focused programming,” says PEAS Director Virginia C. Stage, a registered dietitian, nutrition education and behavior specialist with NC State University’s Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences. “We hope to support families with strategies they can use in the home, on the playground, or while visiting their local library to get kids excited about science in the context of healthy living as they grow beyond the preschool classroom.” 

“Today’s healthy kids, tomorrow’s leading scientists” is the vision behind the PEAS program.

“After all, fruits and vegetables are part of the life sciences that any children can explore at the table and beyond,” Stage says. 

To access free PEAS resources, contact the team or learn more, visit www.morepeasplease.org.