Down on the Farm

When I was a child, my grandparents lived on a farm. I vividly remember waking up there one morning and the smell of cow manure in the air, and yes the rooster crowed very early. As a youngster, I couldn't wait to get up and see what was going on. When I went down stairs, my grandpa was already outside working and I could hear the put put tractor in the pasture, grandma was in the kitchen making homemade bread. The smells and sounds on the farm were indescribable. After breakfast, we would head outside to pick the eggs and see what grandpa was doing. 

These were very real memories of the farm and I am sad to say my grandpa passed away on Saturday. He will be missed but I am thankful for the experiences I had growing up and visiting the farm.

It is a bit reminiscent but we are learning about the farm these next two weeks at school. The children in my class have not had those farm experiences and are just learning the names of farm animals. Yet, I want them to have the experiences and learning of a real farm. I wish I had a video of my grandparents farm to share with them. Since I don't, I am thankful to YouTube. Today my students watched this video about the farm, then played in our pretend farm I have set up in the classroom. The dressed up like cows, ducks, pigs, chickens and even picked eggs.  

How are children going to experience life in the 21st century? 

Pretend play and YouTube videos?