I felt like a child on Christmas morning! I was so excited to share the farm and all its offerings with our Dixon buddies. A couple of weeks ago I met with Ian Lai, Director of the Richmond Schoolyard Society ( http://www.kidsinthegarden.org) to design the day. Kevin (the Dixon teacher), Ian and I had worked together last year so we had an idea of what we wanted to explore with the students; we also wanted to keep it fresh and do some different activities. We created a general outline of the day, knowing that depending on the students interests, some activities may be shortened or lengthened.
Two weeks ago, as I wrote on our blog, we collected our Red Fife wheat seeds and each student estimated their weight. This exercise provided a unique learning opportunity to discuss food production. It was apparent that many children had never thought about where flour came from- they thought it just appeared at the grocery store. A discussion ensued about the thought, energy and commitment it takes to grow nourishing food. As well we recognized the importance of food security.
So, with seeds in hand, we arrived at the farm where we were warmly welcomed by Mr. Lai. We waited anxiously for our buddies to arrive. This was only our second visit so we spent a lot of time in class front loading- reminding our preschoolers their buddy's names, discussing how to be polite and thinking about how to be a good conversationalist. All skills I believe to be important. Our buddies ran off the bus with great energy, enthusiasm and eagerness. Everyone said their hellos and once paired up, we began our day.
We gathered in the barn; some buddies arm in arm, some side by side, some with little buddies in front and big buddies in back. Any concerns I had of the proper buddy groupings were quickly alleviated. Children have such a beautiful ability to just be in the moment and that is what happened. We began our bread making session with grinding our seeds (which proved to actually weigh very very little!) followed by a detailed description of how to make the dough. I greatly admire Mr Lai's devotion to actually 'teaching' the students. It is important to learn to follow directions and to be able to start and finish a job with care and attention. Always developmentally appropriate and fun, the instructions push each child to perform to the best of their ability. I also believe it is important to teach them to be accountable for their work, even at fours years of age.
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| Weighing our wheat seeds |
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| The Grinder- which Connor described as a making the same sound as a vacuum cleaner |
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| We mixed the dough |
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| We learnt how to make a "claw" with our fingers. |
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| We helped each other get the sticky dough off our fingers. |
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| Joban was adamant he did not want to touch the dough. But, with a little convincing, he caressed a small piece! |
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| We cleaned our bowls and tables. |
While the dough was rising, we ate a quick snack. Conversations deepened, laughter echoed into the fall air, tidbits dropped by small buddies were picked up by big buddies and energy was restored. Ready for the next activity... COMPOST! Mr Lai spread beautiful compost on a table. He probed their knowledge of compost and shared some of his expertise. They loved it! They investigated its contents, talked about worms, the benefits and the process. Some children were very squeamish but most embraced this beautiful organic mass!
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| A precious snail found in the pile of compost quickly became an adored creature! |
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| Worms gained respect as we carefully watched them. |
Then we moved onto mason bees. Mr Lai showed them a mason bee house and briefly talked about mason bees and their wonderful ability to pollinate.
Then we were tasked with weeding several garden beds. Large shovels, trowels and ho-mis (a Korean ground spear) were distributed and the children got to work. They picked and ate lettuce before it was brutally dug up, clawed at weeds, marvelled at worms, and joyfully found treasures like potatoes (which were then collected and washed).
While Mr Lai started to grill the dough, we went off to engage in our second Genius 15 session. Beforehand, at preschool, we had talked quite extensively to the children about their topic and brainstormed what they could bring to share with their big buddy. Some children forgot but I was impressed that most remembered. Clip boards in hand, they broke into their groups and chatted. A few themes seemed to naturally shine through their conversations. There was a keen interest in statistics- the biggest, the oldest, the most goals etc. The topics themselves were interesting- the students wanted to know more about topics that they interact with in their own daily lives- sports, how playgrounds are built, facts about swimming pools, and animals. I found this interesting- space, other cultures and countries did not emerge from these initial discussions. It made me think about how our sense of place, our own place, is so important. If children in another country were coming up with ideas for Genius 15, how different would they be? Would their topics be localized to their own lives? Another piece that resounded strongly for me is how very fortunate these children are to live in a free and safe part of the world. They have no fear of war, death on a large scale or seriously adverse living conditions. If they did, what would their Genius 15 topics look like?
Even though we were far from the grill, we began to smell the aroma of the bread which captivated us all. The children loved it- Mr Lai explained his "Yum" mixture- a variety of seeds and grains that add texture, taste and up the ante on the healthy scale. Thank yous came in abundance, some naturally, some reminded, and we all enjoyed the bread, mostly because we had made it!
Lastly, Mr Lai brought out a warre hive. The children were given a brief overview of honey bees and had a glance inside at the magical honeycomb. The topic of honey bees will most certainly come up again as there was lots of chatter around the hive.
The time came to say thank you to Mr Lai, Mr Vines and the preschool staff. Buddies hugged, shook hands or said goodbye with a subtle glance of the eyes. A rewarding day for students and teachers! What, I wondered, did the children think about that night before bed? I asked them the following class what they remembered and I was amazed at how much they could recount ( this blog is already too long so I best leave their answers alone!). What I do know is this... sharing an experience such as this will have long lasting benefits for these children and I am delighted to be a part of this journey!
Emily
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