Last week, we were charmed by the 7th and 8th graders of the Monocacy Valley Montessori School. These students came out for a full day of farm fun, led by teacher Zoe Alexandratos. We started the day by taking all 55 students on a hike around the property. The students were delighted to navigate the stream and investigate the beaver lodge as we went. Upon returning to the farm, we broke up into three groups for smaller activities – animal time, nature art, and boat building. The students spent about thirty minutes at each station before rotating on to the next experience.
Animal time took place all around the main farm area. The kids learned to groom horses in the barn, spent timing loving the goats, and took turns holding and petting our chickens. They were delighted by the horses’ furry bodies, the goats’ general silliness, and the soft kindness of the chickens.
Miss Zoe led the nature art lesson in our Dawn Redwood trees in our arboretum. Here, the children crafted works of great beauty using materials they found on the ground around them. My personal favorite was the shredded leaf rainbow one girl created.
The third activity was led by another teacher – building boats down at the pond. The students are working on a ‘forces’ study in their school curriculum right now, so they were investigating how different materials floated and moved on the pond’s water.
After everyone had cycled between each of the activities, they met back up in the pavilion for lunch. The students ate and romped about with great enthusiasm until it was time to return to school.
We so enjoyed this boisterous group of students and hope they will return soon for more farm fun!