by Alyssa Huber, Current Third Grade Class Teacher
There’s no doubt that the Farming Curriculum of the Third Grade meets the developmental stage of a nine-year-old just beautifully. I see every day how it resonates with their growing awareness of themselves and the world during the nine-year change.
In the fall, we learned about the 7 ancient grains: wheat, rice, barley, millet, rye, oats, and corn. The students learned how each grain is grown, specifically in regard to climate and soil conditions, as well as how each is harvested. We learned many important terms, like threshing, winnowing, flail, chaff, etc. After learning about each grain, the students engaged in a cooking experience that highlighted that specific food. Our favorite experience was with wheat because we ground our own wheat berries into flour and incorporated it into our chocolate chip cookie and challah bread recipes! We also churned our own butter for our bread. Yum!
Each grain and its description was added to the children’s own personal cookbooks, along with the recipes that corresponded with that grain. Our cookbooks were done just in time to be given as Christmas presents!
This spring, we will be learning about various life cycles, specifically chicks and seeds! We are hatching our own chicks and growing our own lima beans, all while taking close observations and collecting data! Since most of the gardening is done with Ms. Davis, we will be planting our own radishes, beans, and lettuces in planter boxes within our classroom and recording our observations. We are also excited to visit Seven Stars Farm and learn how to milk the cows early in the morn’!
We had so much fun taking care of the ducks this month. The children cleaned out and prepped the pen, fed and collected their eggs each day. We also just visited a local pumpkin patch and marvelled at the beauty of growth! We are anticipating some visits to additional local farms in the future to learn more about animal husbandry and crop-growing.
