At the Children’s Farm we foster learning by doing. The learning opportunities are all around. Here are some examples:
Measurement
While filling water buckets to bring to the animals we heard two shouts of glee saying, “Four hand bucket!!” “It was so full we needed four hands to carry”
Counting How Many
Finding pinecones we started to count them, and then several children noticed that some were longer and some were shorter. They began to sort by size. A friend came and put another pile down to count and we heard other children say, “You found more than me, you found long ones too!”
Comparing Numbers and Quantities
Knowing we had 16 children for snack, a friend wanted to count bowls to make sure there was enough for everyone.
Meaningful Counting
Children are counting to identify items in a set while collecting eggs from the coop. A group of children were very excited and we heard shouts saying, “We have two spots left! We only need two more eggs and all the spots will be filled!” Then another child came over and said, “Let me count too.” Soon another friend brought an egg and the children shouted, “One spot left!” Then another child came with an egg and we heard; “Now all spots are full!” The teacher then asked how many eggs to fill a carton. We heard a group count and then they yelled “12!”
