We had a doctor's appointment in the morning, and as we pulled up the road, Sprout saw kids waiting for the bus and said "Are they really just now waiting to go to school?! I'm sure glad I'm doing school at home - I'm all done!"
In the afternoon we went to a county park that has a small farm on the property. We've just finished Charlotte's Web, and the kids were eager to meet some animals. We've used the book to talk about friendship, life cycles, farm life, and where our food comes from - it's important that the kids know that bacon and eggs don't just come from the grocery store, and that a lot of hard work has to happen in order for them to get their food.
So as we walked around the farm, we gave pats to the piglets and calves and kids and talked about what the animals ate, how they all needed different things to stay healthy, what a farmer needs to do to care for each animal, and the kinds of food that we get from each animal. They saw squealing Wilbur-esque piglets...
...and big grunting pigs. Sprout even noticed a spider web up in the rafters!
They met a calf...
...and chickens (and yes, the dog got her nose pecked for getting too close).
They met ducks and turkeys, sheep and goats. They saw old farm machinery and we talked about what a combine and a threshing machine and a plow do. We walked through a vegetable garden and a cornfield. And they left with a new understanding of how much work it takes to put dinner on their plates - a lot of things have to happen before mommy cooks their chicken nuggets. A super day, full of fun and learning and being together.
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