Week 1 Update - Grasshoppers
Hi farm school families and welcome to the Fall 2022 Farm School semester.
We had a fun day together today. Day 1 was about orienting the students to the farm and discussing our agreements (see below). Our first activity was a scavenger hunt that took us all around the farm looking up and down and all around for different items while also learning where things are around the farm. Then we enjoyed our snack under the Large Oaks trees at our classroom.
After snack we played a fun game called “Feesh”. It’s a spin-off of red light, green light, but with funny names, jokes and team strategy. They did really well working together and they were successful in stealing the feesh.
Our very first Farm Chore was harvesting black-eyed peas. Farmer Ryan was out in the field and he showed the class how to eat them raw. They tasted like green beans and the kids loved them. Then we harvested the dried pods off the stems and collected them in our bowls. Back at the class site, we shucked the peas. This was a beautiful activity that the kids loved as they worked with their hands opening the pods and placing the peas in the bowl. Once we were done the students gathered the shells and we composted them. The students learned that they just helped harvest some food that we include in our CSA – Veggie boxes – that goes out to our community. They were very curious where all that food we grow goes.
Our project for the day was making Nature Crowns. We used long sentence strips for the crowns and the students collected items around the farm to decorate to their liking. This led to so much beautiful imagination as they played knights and princesses while collecting their items.
The rest of the day included lunch time, some free play, stories, getting sprayed with the hose and clean-up.
Thanks for being part of our Farm Family. We love having the children at the farm.
————
Here are our classroom agreements:
“I will acknowledge and/or return when I am called in by a mentor.”
“I will be kind with my words.”
“I will treat others how they want to be treated” aka The Platinum Rule. “Who here has heard of the golden rule? We actually don’t use that one.” The platinum rule is simple and avoids the ideas like: a child feels like they love to wrestle without being asked so it is technically okay for them to participate with others that way. If anyone is confused about whether or not someone wants to join them in an activity all they have to do is ask. If you ask and someone seems unsure, consider that a “no.” A student must have another student's informed, enthusiastic consent before starting an activity with them.
“Stop mean stop, no means no”
“I will be safe with my hands and feet.”
