LaRocha Field Trip

In October, we were able to participate in our first HCOS field trip. We went to a local self sustaining farm out in South Surrey. I will let the pictures tell the story.

The girls scooping for treasures in the pond.

They dump their findings in here to see what they have collected. We found a tadpole among other interesting things.

A salmon about to spawn in the stream, she seemed to be waiting for her  husband! ; )

A colour match.

Making perfume, by scrunching up different bits of nature and putting them in the bottle.

Chicken and ducks.

Knitting

For some reason, Theo really wanted to learn how to knit. So I hired my mom for the mission. Theo was so attentive and my mom was SO patient. It was hard on Eva, because she is used to getting so much attention from my mom, but her turn to learn came another day. Now whenever we go to their house, the kids want to practice their knitting, and I am amazed at how quickly they picked it up.

The Apple Barn

Colin has taken his grade two class to the Apple Barn two years in a row. He has always spoken highly of it, as there is an education aspect to it, as opposed to just picking out a pumpkin and being highly over stimulated by various mascots and bands etc.

So this year, I decided that I would plan my first field trip for HCOS. It was great; very educational, and lots of fun. I am looking forward to next year already!

Learning about pollination.

Learning about the life cycle of a pumpkin.

Token Mater photo.

Lifecycle of an apple, and discussing the difference between apples and pumpkins growth.

A goat on a ramp, who is looking for the food in the tin, that kids can raise and lower for it.

Bouncy pillow.

Quick pick pumpkins, and the ramp for the goat.

Petting area.

Learning about the apple orchard.

Djembe Drumming

Last spring, one of our friends set up a drumming class for homeschooled kids. It was wonderful. The teacher came to her house for an hour, and taught the bigger kids; while the mom's all watched the little ones, had tea, and chatted. Last year, we managed to borrow drums from the church. This year since Eva was interested, we decided to use some of our curriculum budget to purchase a couple of drums.
We went to a local warehouse, where there were walls and walls of drums (as you can see from the picture). We had lots of fun listening to the sounds of the different drums, and choosing one hand crafted African drum, and one little manufactured wooden drum. So now both kids have something to practice on during the week.