Annie's Big Nature Lesson was another field trip that Alice and Emily both missed out on thanks to Covid. We were paid and ready and even had the parent meeting before the world shut down. So, this year, I went to the training again, but got to actually attend this time! = )
My first day to go was on Tuesday, and it was a cold, snowy, wet April day!
Our first activity of the day was to use an old school GPS monitor.
Spider Web caught some snow. It was so cold though, that my phone kept shutting off!
Next, we trekked out into the woods for some team building exercises!
Snow collected in the clearing. It was quite pretty, but oh so cold.
We went back to the barn after the team building, for lunch, and that was the end of my time there that day. I was frozen through, so was not terribly sad to get back into my nice warm car with a lovely heater.
A few days later, I joined the group again, and the weather was beautiful! We were warm enough to take off our jackets even!
This time I was present for observation hour. They were short a few adult nature journal books, so I just enjoyed some time observing nature and pointing out things of interest to William.
He was one of the lucky ones, who had an adult and was allowed to go out onto the dock for his observation!
Beautiful view!
Unexpectedly, a group from another school came over and needed the docks for their activity, so our group was displaced.
And this was our new view. = (
We made the best of it though, and even found things we wouldn't have normally seen! A bit of deer fur, including winter coat, were trapped on a branch and we got to see it up close! Who knew that trackers really and truly could track animals in such a way!? lol
Sitting there in the quiet, it is amazing how noisy someone walking through the woods truly is!
I was also listening to A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens, and his description of the cask of wine crashing onto the street and the poor collecting it with rags and shoes, from between the cobblestones, was so engaging, that when I came back to myself, I was surprised to be sitting in the middle of a forest and not looking at a cityscape in pre-revolutionary France!
It was a very pleasant experience for me, and I know the kids had a great time of it, and learned things they can't even express. What a lovely week of outdoor learning!
And now, I'll start early, crossing my fingers that the twins have better weather!
later days
edit: written 6-17-23 backdated for continuity.
