Week 3 Update - Miss Micha’s Builders
The builders had a blast this week at Farm School. Friday’s class started with a group game of Fox Tails with Miss Bridget and Mr Braden’s classes. There were added surprise elements that had us all on our toes (or claws). We then broke off into our individual groups and hiked to the classroom. Both Friday and Saturday’s class had Morning Circle. We went around with the Talking Stick sharing our Names, Farm Names, what we were Grateful for and our favorite food cravings we are having this time of year.
We then had our Sit Spot Activity. We sat in nature for 10 minutes, feeling our body sensations and tuning into our environment in stillness. I sung a sweet melody to call them all back together so we could then talk about our experience. After snack we had our Farm Chore. Friday’s class fed the chickens. We have 4 new hens this week, so we were extra cautious of their need for adaptation. We observed their behavior as well as the beautiful eggs that were recently laid.
Saturday’s Chore was to propagate herbs from the Hugelbed. With baskets and scissors we harvested sage, and took them to the Hoop House for planting. The kids created an assembly line of 2 students scooping dirt into the the small pots, 2 inserting the herbs, then 2 placing them in the trays. We watered them and felt so gracious for the experience.
After lunch Friday’s class and I discussed how we utilized our resources long ago. We acknowledged the use of primitive tools to meet our basic needs for food and survival. Stone, bone, and other necessities were imperative in sustaining a life off the land. I showed them a deer hide, deer skull, antlers and bones and how they were used. We talked about hide tanning and arrow making. We then harvested some juniper branches to clear a path at our classroom for play and adventure, then used what we gathered for an exercise in stone tool work. We also made piles for firewood. The mission of our Regenerative Farm as well as the lesson in Sustainable Survival seemed to correlate quite well. We carved our sticks using stone blades and enjoyed the afternoon together.
Saturday’s class had fun after lunch smacking limestone together, creating a natural pigment paint with water. We had so much fun painting each other’s faces. We then drew pictures of the farm with pencils on our clipboards.
Nearing the end of our day, both classes did the Mystery Bucket Activity. This endeavor was to fill a 5 gal bucket with 1 gal completed compost from our farm compost station, add a slice of bread, 3 grapes, 1 handful grass clippings, 3 leaves of lettuce, 3 squares of wet toilet paper, other food scraps and compostables found around the farm. We all took turns mixing it with a big stick, then blowing into it before closing the lid. We will check up on this project in the coming weeks.
It’s so interesting how I intended for Saturday to experience primitive tools, yet we went with the flow and found climbing trees and running free to be what they wanted to experience this week! So with that said, Friday’s Class finished with Throwing Sticks in the large field up by the pick up area. Sticks were some of the first tools, used in defense and building. As well as atlatls and spears, throwing sticks were used in primitive hunting, and their use has even been depicted in Egyptian cave art. We practiced spinning and catching our tools, then lined up for target practice! We knocked over 2 x 4’s at the sound of the whistle blast. What a day!
Thank you all and we will see you again very soon.
All the Best,
~Miss Micha