Our P1 children had a fantastic day at Streamvale farm to complement their current topic, Farm life.
A visit to the countryside teaches our children skills that can never be taught in the classroom.
Teaches children where their food comes from:
Farming is educational, and teaching your children where exactly their food comes from is a lesson itself. Children will see the hard work and effort that goes into planning, growing and harvesting crops as well as raising and caring for livestock. Understanding the farming process can help children to be grateful for their food.
Teaches the life cycle:
On a farm visit, children encounter the natural world, appreciating the compromise between human needs, animal welfare and wildlife.
Teaches responsibility:
Farming for children is a great way to learn responsibility. Feeding and watering, cleaning and grooming, building and fixing are daily tasks that farmers do. This allows children to learn the skills necessary to care for other living things while also learning the responsibility required for the organic production of farm-grown foods. This responsibility can transfer to other areas of a child’s life including classroom activity and social interaction with others.
Teaches how to care for animals:
The time children spend on a farm is very important. A child helping out on a farm learns that the lives of animals matter. Farming teaches them why and how different animals receive different feed, why they require different types of shelter and need different care at different times.
Teaches them that hard work results in sweet rewards:
Farming teaches children how to work hard to increase production of vegetables, fruits, eggs and meat. They will also know that farming is one of the hardest jobs and at the end, it is very rewarding.
Teaches problem solving skills:
The children who are actively engaged with farming activities are developing knowledge, skills and have an understanding that helps them to make sense of the importance of farming. The area of learning and solving problems include feeding animals, fixing fences, pulling weeds, fixing watering systems, planting crops etc. They learn ways to get chores done efficiently and develop problem-solving skills.
Awareness of weather and mother nature:
Because of children’s inquisitive minds, they are eager to know why things are the way they are and will ask many questions about their immediate environment. The children who experience farming will develop positive attitudes about themselves, natural life, weather and mother nature. It helps to develop respect for and appreciation of all forms of nature and a greater appreciation to understand the relationship between habitats and humans. As a farmer they will be aware of weather and observers of the environment.
Greater appreciation for food:
Spending time on a farm will change the way to see food. Children are more likely to waste less and eat a greater variety of foods. They gain knowledge about food and nutrition which will help motivate them to eat sensibly. Eating fresh food enhances children’s appreciation for healthier and diverse foods.
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