3-Day: Moo-Baa-La-La-La!

Your 3-Day children have been having the most amazing time on the Bowen Farm this week. We’ve been exploring all the wonderful animals on the farm and we focused on caring for our developing baby chicks. We played with pigs and lots and lots of mud and learned all about sheep shearing.

Caroline and I have been teaching the children that every animal on the farm has an important job. Through our play, we learned that pigs love mud and we know that it helps their skin stay cool. The children painted felt pigs with real mud mixed in paint. They are hanging outside our classroom. We learned that the sheep give us their wool for sweaters and warm blankets. We got to feel real wool and sheared our own balloon sheep with shaving cream! Melissa from Puddlestompers came to see us on Monday to teach us about bunny rabbits! We got to feel real bunny fur.

3-Day read lots and lots of farm stories: The Cow Says Neigh, Animals on the Farm, Animal Sounds, Mrs. Wishy-Washy on the Farm, and Cock-a-Doodle-Doo. We also enjoyed singing "Old MacDonald Had a Farm". And, each day, we transitioned from meeting to play with a loud, "cock-a-doodle-doo!"

The energy in the room this week was electric. Your children had a multi-sensory experience as they explored the farm and played in the Bowen barn. Even though we were very busy in our play and exploration, children were so unbelievably gentle with our developing chicks. We explained to the children that they should observe the eggs by peeking through the window with their hands held behind their back. It was so adorable to see them taking these rules so very seriously. We are hoping our chicks will be hatching late Monday or possibly into early Wednesday. We will be keeping the chicks in our classroom for a little while after they hatch. Please let me know if you are interested in taking the chicks to care for, after we complete our unit.

Next week, we will focus our attention on the cow and, of course, our chicks! We will be milking cows, making butter, and having a milk taste-off using strawberry, chocolate and regular milk. Please let me know if your child has any issues with cow's milk and we are happy to make any necessary accommodations.

I'm looking forward to meeting with each of you on Wednesday. Please let me know if you have any questions about your child’s transition to 5-Day. I'm hoping to have a dialogue with each of you about the wonderful progress your child has made this year. I also hope to have ongoing conversations with you throughout the rest of the year. I keep telling the 5-Day teachers that they are in for a big treat! As soon as Nina reads over my reports, I will send them out to you for your review. I can’t tell you how much we are enjoying your children this year. They are a very special bunch.

It’s hard to believe we are down to our last two months of school! We have so much more to do and we are looking forward to a really nice spring. One of the things we like to do in the spring is to have our entire school day outside on the playground. We set it up as we would in the classroom, with activities around the playground, and the children love to be outside enjoying the fresh air.

If you are looking for a fun farm related field trip with the family, try:

https://davisfarmland.com/

https://www.arlboston.org/adopt/adoption-centers/

Loved seeing so many of you at the beach last night! Have a wonderful weekend!!

Karen and Caroline