It is always lovely to find a lovely place to visit close by that we never knew about, and today was one of those days. A friend had organized a plant growing course for the children at Chiswick House which is just past Michael's work. It was a gorgeous day, it was a Friday and it was lovely to be out and to be alive :D
Chiswick House is set in beautiful gardens.
We got there early so the children had a chance to run around.
It wasn't too long before our friends arrived.
And soon nearly all 18 children were there. We were introduced to the self-proclaimed "experts" who run the fruit and vegetable growing in the walled gardens.
The children were split up into about 6 groups and were given a leader. Each leader covered a different aspect of gardening. In the above one Eden was learning how to use a hoe and how to weed properly. I sat in the bench in the sunshine and smiled as I heard her chat away to the man about anything and everything. I overheard him asking her about what she is learning about and she replied "Shakespeare", he then said that he loved Shakespeare so they got into a big chat about different plays.
Niamh and Jude's first task was to water all the fruit trees.
One of the groups was learning about the characteristics of different flowers and vegetables, they spoke to the little ones about smell, colour, seeds (the older ones went into more detail), they were given seeds and beans to plant at home. (All the children have started their beans in cotton wool, so the progress will be put up on the children's blog). When Jude was given his bean he gave me such an excited look and said "Mum, can I whisper something to you, is this like from Jack and the Beanstalk, are we going to grow a big beanstalk?", I had to tell him they weren't magic, but the possibility had made him so excited.
Eden had picked a lovely boquet of mixed flowers, we put them in a vase at home and they perked up beautifully.
And so was the end of a lovely morning. The more field trips we do, the more encouraged I am to do them more regularly. I am going to try and do one once a week if we can, it is such a lovely learning opportunity for the children and it really breaks up their week of learning at home nicely.
Chiswick House is set in beautiful gardens.
We got there early so the children had a chance to run around.
It wasn't too long before our friends arrived.
And soon nearly all 18 children were there. We were introduced to the self-proclaimed "experts" who run the fruit and vegetable growing in the walled gardens. 
The children were split up into about 6 groups and were given a leader. Each leader covered a different aspect of gardening. In the above one Eden was learning how to use a hoe and how to weed properly. I sat in the bench in the sunshine and smiled as I heard her chat away to the man about anything and everything. I overheard him asking her about what she is learning about and she replied "Shakespeare", he then said that he loved Shakespeare so they got into a big chat about different plays.
Niamh and Jude's first task was to water all the fruit trees.
One of the groups was learning about the characteristics of different flowers and vegetables, they spoke to the little ones about smell, colour, seeds (the older ones went into more detail), they were given seeds and beans to plant at home. (All the children have started their beans in cotton wool, so the progress will be put up on the children's blog). When Jude was given his bean he gave me such an excited look and said "Mum, can I whisper something to you, is this like from Jack and the Beanstalk, are we going to grow a big beanstalk?", I had to tell him they weren't magic, but the possibility had made him so excited.
Eden had picked a lovely boquet of mixed flowers, we put them in a vase at home and they perked up beautifully.
And so was the end of a lovely morning. The more field trips we do, the more encouraged I am to do them more regularly. I am going to try and do one once a week if we can, it is such a lovely learning opportunity for the children and it really breaks up their week of learning at home nicely.
1 comment:
What a wonderful idea Fi, just so good to see tohem learning to garden. That could stay with them all their lives, wish I could have been there with you.
You are such a good homeschooler.
Love you all,
Mom
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