Field School at the Nature Center

This week Suzanne, my six-year-old, attended a Field School program at a local nature center. The class was for children who have just completed kindergarten. She had 4 two hour sessions this week, each focusing on a different sense. I stayed today and took some photos and videos and was very impressed at the knowledge and attitudes of the naturalists leading the class.

Today's plan was roughly as follows:

• Opened with talking about the featured sense today - Sight.
• The teacher showed several things the children could look at and touch - turkey feathers, a stuffed fawn, grey and red squirrel skins.
• They went outside to hide some nuts. After reading a story (What Joe Saw), they went back to find their nuts, as squirrels might do. Most of them could not find their hidden nuts! They hid some more and then looked at part of a picture book about animal tracks and then went again to hide the nuts. More success this time!
• Back inside for a Powerpoint presentation. She showed a closeup slide of something in nature and the kids had to guess what it was. Then she showed the whole picture. Examples - the neck of a Canada goose, The thorax of a grasshopper, part of a ladyslipper flower, etc...
• Then back outside for a long nature hike LOOKING for things that had been talked about all week. We saw spider webs, spiders, dragonflies, damselflies, chipmunk, bluebird, frog, fish, and more. We touched a spongy decaying log, some prickly dead pine needles, and more.
  
• At the end of the hike, each child was given paper and pencil and asked to sit and draw something he or she could see.
  
• By then it was time to leave, so we headed back to the nature center and said goodbye!

It was a great week! Two more of my children have field school yet this summer.