Chicks to the Farm

Our chicks are a week old so time to move them to the farm.

This year we were able to take them ourselves.

We are fortunate to have a very supportive Parent Advisory Council that paid for a bus

for us to travel on.

The chicks rode in the front seat all the way to Clea's place

where Clea explained that the chicks would still live inside 

for a while longer.

We started with a tour of two chicken coops,

first was the summer coop that had fresh plants growing.

The big chickens will move into that coop soon.

Meantime they are still in the winter coop.

These chickens are the ones that we hatched last year.

Seeing them gave us an idea of what this year's chicks will grow up to look like.

Next we went and visited the cows.

They were across the field so Clea told us to call them.

We yelled 'Cow, cow, here cow' and they came running.

They are very friendly and like to eat grass.

Next we met Clea's mom who is a Master Beekeeper.

She was outfitted to open a hive.

First she explained that the bottom two boxes are the bees home so they don't 

take the honey from them.

 

She lifted out one of the frames and we could see the bees on it.

She picked one that the honey was capped and brushed the bees off.

We got to taste it.  Yum!

Clea also taught us the difference between honey bees and wasps,

as well as mason bees.

Finally we settled on the grass for a snack and story

before climbing back on the bus for the ride back to school.

A Bus Ride and Gelato

I like simple field trips like the one we went on yesterday.
    
We started with a city bus ride across town.  That in itself is a great field trip.
  
Then we walked to a business called Hot Chocolates.  Yes they sell delicious
                           chocolates but they also sell gelato.
      
At this time of year they offer free mini cones to any class that want to visit. 
This is our first year taking advantage of this offer and since it was a success
                           we will probably go again next year.
  
We enjoyed sharing books while each family waited their turn to go into the store.
             
Then it was time to head back to the bus stop to catch the bus back to school.
    
We had the same bus driver coming and going and he was great.  He took a detour to drop us closer to the store.  Getting back on the bus he was patient to allow the children to pay for their grown up.  And finally at our last stop he parked closer to the school so we didn't have to walk as far.  His thoughtfulness really enhanced our trip.

Going for a Bus Ride

      There’s a bus stop about a fifteen minute walk from our school. 
       Everyone was excited and walked happily all the way there.
 
While waiting for the bus I gave everyone a map to use as the bus tours us through the city.  I modified the transit map by adding little pictures of buildings that we will see.
          
We all got excited when we saw the bus come around the corner and
                                drive toward us.

          The children are free but they paid their grown-ups’ fares.
            
                        We filled up the back of the bus.
 
Using our maps we kept track of where we were and looked forward to what
                                 was coming next.
  
       We had to transfer to another bus half way through our trip. 
                 The second bus was bigger and had two doors.
                       
Some of the places we passed the children recognized and told me what they do
                           there; like swimming at the pool.
                         
Introducing the map encouraged us to look for and read signs. Learning that the signs tell us about each store.  We began to look for letters we knew and recognized.
 
Our bus ride was an hour long then we were back at the start.  A few of the children started to doze during the ride and needed to be carried back to the school.
               
                        Overall this is a great field trip. 
              I think we may need to do it more than once a year.

A Rudolph Bus

                   

We started out the new year with a new box (well a recycled box freshly covered). 

         

We cut out windows and doors and made it into a bus.  

But what kind of bus will it be? 

               

As the children drove the bus we talked about what colour it should be painted and a few children kept saying “reindeer bus”, “Rudolph bus”. 

                           
At first I was confused till I remembered that over the Christmas season one of our city’s transit buses is decorated like a red-nosed reindeer.
   

So today we painted a red nose on the front, used old cds for the eyes and wrapping paper tubes for antlers.  We even added lights around the top.

                                 

Next week we’ll visit the transit bus maintenance yard to learn more about what is inside a bus.