Week 1 Update - Mr. Braden’s Barn Owls
Mr. Braden here. Welcome to our first week of Farm School! We had a good time today and I want to reach out and talk a little bit about what we did today. As today as the first day, today was mostly about meeting and greeting each other and the farm itself. We had the opportunity to introduce some of our regular rhythms and get to know the space a bit.
We started the day like we will start every day. We played morning games until everyone was with us and then headed to our classroom. After introducing our day we did a short 'sit spot' and then gathered again. Sit spot is an activity where we find a spot sit in, and then we sit quietly and observe nature. In the future, after sit spot we do two things. A Haudenosaunee indspired gratitude practice share with our larger community by Chief Jake Swamp, and then we state our intentions for the day. Today we had a longer discussion around our agreements as a community for the semester to set our expectations for ourselves and each other during our time together. Some of the highlights that you should know are:
I will be kind with my words.
I will be safe with my body and the bodies of others.
I will be respectful to the farm, it's tools, and the plants & animals that live here.
The platinum rule or "Treat others how they want to be treated"
"no" means "no", "stop" means "stop"
I will participate to the best of my ability in our lessons
I will return to instructors when I am called
After that we had snack and started our lesson on Sun Sticks before going on a scavenger hunt/farm tour. After the tour we had lunch and free play, free play is a 30 minute period undirected play where I am available as a support, but am not leading any activity. As I'm sure many of us are aware, undirected play is incredibly important for mental, physical, and social development. And at farm school it gets to happen outdoors without screens, and within a safe container with adult support for any first aid or conflict resolution that is necessary. I love seeing the games they invent, and how their friendships grow through those times together,
After lunch we finished learning about how to use our Sun Sticks. And we had a discussion about what to do in the event that we get lost in nature. Some questions to ask your child about Sun Sticks are:
What is a Sun Stick?
How can I tell which way is north?
Why would you need to know that?
What should I do if I get lost?
How do I find a new home base?
How do I keep track of where I've gone and how I get back to my home base?
After that we learned about our closing day rhythms and headed to pick up. Next week I will actually be out as I am traveling. But I look forward to seeing everyone the following week!
Best,
Braden
