Grouptime events

It was a beautiful sunny day and we were all excited to get our hands dirty at the farm. The children learned about what makes a healthy soil for planting, the process of composting and the importance of bugs like worms and bees in breaking down nutrients and pollination. Lunchtime!! We got to see part of the garden and tried edible flowers and leaves. At first the children found it odd to be eating "leaves" right off the plants.  I suppose we've been so removed from knowing how we source our food that we think food grows and only comes from packages and the supermarket. It was an interesting experience for the children for sure. What's in dirt? edible kale flowers Fragrant lemon balm Trying the wheelborrow dirt turned into mud

"I see ants and bugs crawling in the wood" We are lucky to have the forest in our backyard to explore and learn from. As part of our Formative assessment the children went on a nature walk and observed the lush forest surroundings. "leaves smells like Yuck!" "I found small animals on the leaves!" "I son't think leaves taste good." "We found lots of worms under the log!" Using their senses the children carefully observed the physical features of plants. Some even tried to taste the leaves. They lifted broken wood bark and discovered many bugs, worms and ants living underneath.  Looking closely at tree barks, they noticed tiny bugs that bury in between the cracks.  There were spiders hanging in the bushes and they began to wonder why they were there.  They were very intrigued by how and why animals live and stay in the dirt and why some bugs stay on plants. short discussion about our coll...