Millersburg and Fort Wayne

This past week I had two very different groups for two different programs. Different in previous experiences, race and excitement level:. Millersburg and Fort Wayne.

For Rock Cycle, it was a group from Millersburg. The group was fairly homogeneous according to race. Almost all of the students were Caucasian and many of them were Amish children. Many of the students had pretty good natural history prior knowledge. During our hike out to the beach and bog, our discussion was lively. Most of the students had good answers for many of the questions I asked. Several of them could name many of the tree types we spotted as we walked through the woods. They participated well, we happy and clearly had spent a good deal of time outside during their childhood’s. Two of the boys, I believe both 8 year old Amish children, had already shot and killed their first deer. Boy hunters!

This group followed the leader very well and asked good questions. Their participation was evident, although the group I will mention next was far more enthusiastic about the trip out to Merry Lea.

For farmcraft I had a group of second graders from Fort Wayne. All of the students in my group were African American and I think all the children that came from the school were too. My group was very excited and their enthusiasm was quite obvious. They were loud and full of questions. Their behavior was not rowdy or bad. They were just so stimulated by the new experiences that it was obvious many of them had never been that close to farm animals before. They did a good job relating the animals to the types of food and goods they can supply. Many of them had limited prior knowledge about the garden and food canning, compared to most of the other groups I have led through Farmcarft. They were just as excited about the toys as other groups too. During our march from one station to the next, several were so excited that they kept running ahead, wanting to be first and told on others for cutting. I explained we would all get the chance to try things out after going over directions. I am so glad we give these young children the opportunity to try new things and be “hands on” and “actively involved” it makes their experience that much more enjoyable and memorable for them. This group reminded me a lot of teaching at my school in Elkhart. Full of excitement and the desire to be involved.

Oh... I loved that they all had colored hats, with their names on the bill. It made getting their names down so much easier, even if a few were difficult to pronounce. I liked that method better than name tags.