Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Guardian Workshop - Day 1!






Today was the first day of our farm guardian workshop! The class will spend the next four weeks learning all about the special animals that protect the farm: donkeys, guardian dogs, and guineas. Each day, we will have an agriculture lesson and integrate it into storytime, creative writing, activities, games, crafts, and more!


The class began with a guardian overview. We talked about different predators that can cause problems on the farm. Then, we focused on donkeys! They learned donkey vocabulary terms that they can use throughout the class. The afternoon class talked about the difference between a jack and a jenny (common nouns) and the names Jack and Jenny (proper nouns).  I will bring this up with the morning class next week!  During snack, the class listen to the story of Velvet, the guardian donkey of Twisted Pine Farm.

After our snack, the kids love to getting to meet the sweet miniature donkeys!  I think the donkeys loved it just as much as the children did!

 
 





During art, Miss Nancy taught the class about collages.  Since we will be focusing on guardian dogs next week, the students began a dog collage project. We will complete them next week!



Each week, the students will be asked to do a writing assignment for class.  This is meant to be a LOW-STRESS creative writing assignment!  The students are all different ages and on different academic levels.  Some will write a single sentence, some will dictate and have parents write it, some will type theirs, others may handwriting multi-page stories.  The goal is not to focus on the technicality of the writing, but to enjoy discussing the stories each week.  Through this, I will discuss different aspects of grammar and writing. Example- Did you hear all of the amazing adjectives John used to describe the goats? 

In case it didn't make it home, here is this week's assignment!




Friday, March 4, 2016

2016-2017 Registration Info

 SUMMER CAMPS!


 

KinderFarm Mini-Camp for ages 4-5
June 21-22 from 9:30-12:00
$45

Agriculture Education
Hands-On Time with the Animals
Art/Craft Related to Topic
Story Time Correlating with Subject
Farm Games, Music, & Fun!



2 Summer Camp Sessions
June 6-9 & July 11-14

Students may come to both sessions, as they will differ.  

Classes meet Mon-Thurs - $90

Discounted price for both sessions - $160
9:00-11:30 for ages 5-7
12:00-2:30 for ages 8-11
*certain age exceptions can be made for siblings

Class size is LIMITED!  Register today, as classes are filling quickly!

Click here for Summer Camp Registration Forms

 




Farm Fusion Homeschool Classes

Farm Fusion is made up of five four-week workshops each focusing on a different agriculture topic.  Art, writing, reading, math concepts, grammar, etc are integrated with the agriculture lessons.  This enrichment/elective course is a year-long commitment.  ($450/year) The students remain together for each of the workshops, creating an environment to bond, play, celebrate, and learn with friends!  This class also includes holiday parties for students to experience with their peers!

It is very important for me to create a safe atmosphere that allows for my students be to able to concentrate, learn, and have fun.  Therefore, all children must be able to participate in a classroom environment.  In our farm environment, frequent behavior issues or unwillingness to participate cannot be tolerated.

Farm Fusion classes meet on Wednesdays

9:00-11:30 (Ages 5-7)

12:00-2:30 (Ages 7-11)

Registration Forms

Additional Sibling 

 


  SAM workshops (Science, Ag, Mathematics)   

Option for ages 12-16!

There will be 4-5 two-day workshops 

Wednesdays -   11:30-2:00
  $40 per workshop (includes supplies)  

Registration Forms

Additional Sibling 

 

 

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Plenty of Guineas!

We just finished up a two-week lesson on guineas!  Guineas, as obnxious as they may be, do serve many purposes on the farm.  They work as a great alarm system, screaming and pitching a fit anytime an intruder animal sets foot on the property.  It's wonderful when they alert us that there is a fox or predator on the prowl!  Guineas will also gang up on predators, and even kill snakes!  Another main benefit of owning guineas is that 90% of their diet is made up on BUGS.  This makes them cheap to free-range!  Guineas especially love to eat ticks, which here is Georgia is a great thing!

The students not only learned all about the origins, characteristics, behavior, and benefits of guineas, but played guinea-themed games, read stories about guineas, made beautiful guinea and fall related crafts, and wrote our own guinea stories!

In typical Farm "Fusion" style, we ended up discussing all kinds of topics.  They learned that guineas originated in Africa and read African folktales that explained how the guinea got her spots.  We talked about fables, folktales, and how stories were passed down from one generation to the next.  The students learned a little about bird embryology & genetics (they were learn MUCH more in the spring!), and even got to see a guinea keet in mid-hatch.  We talked about the elements of writing a good story and began brainstorming their newest stories.  The younger class also worked on beginning each sentence with a capital letter and ending with the proper punctuation.  As always, the classes learned all sorts of new words, such as keet, omnivore, incubation, and more!

Next week we will begin learning all about turkeys!  For next week, the kids should bring in their Guinea Saves The Farm/Day stories to share with the class!