Courtesy of The Galt Herald
Pickin' pretty pumkins
River Oak kindergartners
obviously
enjoyed their first field trip to the
McFarland Living History Ranch,
pumpkins in hand, tuckered out and
readyto head back to school.
enjoyed their first field trip to the
McFarland Living History Ranch,
pumpkins in hand, tuckered out and
readyto head back to school.
Geiger
Staff Writer
- Tombstones inscribed with rest in peace, skeletons and bats hanging from trees beckoned visitors to the historic McFarland Living History Ranch.
"The kids are having a great time; the mamas and the daddies are too," said Frank Harper, official pumpkin patch guide and hay ride driver.
Kindergarten students from River Oaks Elementary School enjoyed a field trip to McFarland Ranch on Oct. 23. Tons of fun, interwoven with education, delighted the children as they examined the growth cycles of the pumpkin, harvested walnuts, had creepy critters painted on their faces, interacted with farm animals, rocked and bumped along on an old-fashioned hay ride, and the grand finale, a visit to the pumpkin patch to hand pick any pumpkin they chose.
"One of the fun things we are doing is getting our faces painted," and in a low whisper, "I'm going to have a bat painted on my face," said Charles Barkley from Charlotte Malloy's kindergarten class. "We colored crowns with pumpkin seeds, vines, baby pumpkins, big pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns."
Jamie Montgomery, parent volunteer, described the project that young Barkley was explaining.
"The children colored strips with images of the growth cycle of the pumpkin," said Montgomery. "They can then make a crown or make it into a book."
Parent volunteer Tom Martin and his son, Innis, were having a great time participating in the activities.
"This has been fun. We have done several activities, estimating pumpkin math, how much string it would take to go around a pumpkin, sequencing story about how a pumpkin grows," said Martin.
Additional activities included tossing bean bags into ghosts and pumpkins and milking a pretend cow.
"The kids got to pet and hold baby goats," said Martin. "Then we went on a hay ride to the pumpkin patch. The rule was they could get the biggest pumpkin they could find as long as they could carry it themselves."
Malloy explained that the kindergarten teachers had prepared the children for the field trip to McFarland Ranch.
"We talked about pumpkins and read books," said Malloy. "This is the children's very first field trip. This is a great place to have in Galt. The kids from the older grades planted the pumpkins last spring for their service learning project."
Service Learning Coordinator John Durand from the Galt Joint Union Elementary School District gave the children a brief, but fascinating, history about the McFarland Ranch. The only question from a student, "Is the house haunted?"
"This is the first field trip that we have had live animals out here," said Durand. "We have chickens in the newly renovated chicken coop, which is a result of the fifth graders and the Galt Area Historic Society. The Service and Learning Grant paid for it from the governor's office (GOSERV). Lynn Dehart from River Oaks brought the two baby goats and the mother goat."
According to Durand, the McFarland Living History Ranch and the pumpkin patch again have been a great success.
"We have had in excess of 600 students of kindergarten and first grade. It has been nonstop for two weeks. We had five classes yesterday," said Durand.
Staff Writer
- Tombstones inscribed with rest in peace, skeletons and bats hanging from trees beckoned visitors to the historic McFarland Living History Ranch.
"The kids are having a great time; the mamas and the daddies are too," said Frank Harper, official pumpkin patch guide and hay ride driver.
Kindergarten students from River Oaks Elementary School enjoyed a field trip to McFarland Ranch on Oct. 23. Tons of fun, interwoven with education, delighted the children as they examined the growth cycles of the pumpkin, harvested walnuts, had creepy critters painted on their faces, interacted with farm animals, rocked and bumped along on an old-fashioned hay ride, and the grand finale, a visit to the pumpkin patch to hand pick any pumpkin they chose.
"One of the fun things we are doing is getting our faces painted," and in a low whisper, "I'm going to have a bat painted on my face," said Charles Barkley from Charlotte Malloy's kindergarten class. "We colored crowns with pumpkin seeds, vines, baby pumpkins, big pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns."
Jamie Montgomery, parent volunteer, described the project that young Barkley was explaining.
"The children colored strips with images of the growth cycle of the pumpkin," said Montgomery. "They can then make a crown or make it into a book."
Parent volunteer Tom Martin and his son, Innis, were having a great time participating in the activities.
"This has been fun. We have done several activities, estimating pumpkin math, how much string it would take to go around a pumpkin, sequencing story about how a pumpkin grows," said Martin.
Additional activities included tossing bean bags into ghosts and pumpkins and milking a pretend cow.
"The kids got to pet and hold baby goats," said Martin. "Then we went on a hay ride to the pumpkin patch. The rule was they could get the biggest pumpkin they could find as long as they could carry it themselves."
Malloy explained that the kindergarten teachers had prepared the children for the field trip to McFarland Ranch.
"We talked about pumpkins and read books," said Malloy. "This is the children's very first field trip. This is a great place to have in Galt. The kids from the older grades planted the pumpkins last spring for their service learning project."
Service Learning Coordinator John Durand from the Galt Joint Union Elementary School District gave the children a brief, but fascinating, history about the McFarland Ranch. The only question from a student, "Is the house haunted?"
"This is the first field trip that we have had live animals out here," said Durand. "We have chickens in the newly renovated chicken coop, which is a result of the fifth graders and the Galt Area Historic Society. The Service and Learning Grant paid for it from the governor's office (GOSERV). Lynn Dehart from River Oaks brought the two baby goats and the mother goat."
According to Durand, the McFarland Living History Ranch and the pumpkin patch again have been a great success.
"We have had in excess of 600 students of kindergarten and first grade. It has been nonstop for two weeks. We had five classes yesterday," said Durand.