In Class 3, we began this semester with a farming Main Lesson, looking at the seasons, the soil, ploughing, planting, harvesting and adapting to the environment. Home learning followed and many children worked in their gardens at home or started their own garden with their parent’s support. In addition, they worked on our whole Primary School home projects, The Joy of Being Me and Count Me In. It was wonderful to come back together after this time at home.
Since then we have continued with lots of literacy and numeracy practice, which has included a regular spelling and maths quiz, Mathletics and measuring. We have made metre measuring sticks and have begun to measure our world.
Grow Garden Grow, our farming/gardening Lesson with Nadia, has enabled us to engage in many practical tasks. We have harvested turmeric, washed it, sliced it, dried it, ground it, put it in jars, labelled it, and then replanted more turmeric for next year’s Class 3. We built a compost pile, all working together to place down the layers, resulting in a compostella lasagna. We have harvested the wheat we had planted, threshed it and winnowed it. We have also ground our wheat to make flour and baked crunchy buns, which we thoroughly enjoyed. We put aside some of our wheat to present to the new Class 3 at our autumn festival next year.
Working together, both Class 3 groups made a no-dig potato patch and we have enjoyed watching the seed potatoes grow, tucking compost and then straw around them as needed, as well as watching with wonder the many ladybird beetles that have come to visit the patch.
While Chris has been with the class for the past three weeks, he has been reading the children a Laura Ingalls Wilder story, Farmer Boy, allowing the children to experience the many daily practical activities on a farm, and connecting their soul life to the world and to what it means to be a human being.
From the farm to the world—in our recent Main Lesson, we have been looking at different cultures and the types of dwellings people build in different parts of the world. We looked at how people adapt to the climate, the location and the resources available to them, to build their homes. The children have been working on a project at home, making dwellings using their chosen materials such as clay, wood, straw, paper or felt. In the last week of term, they will present their project to the class, explaining how they built the dwelling, where it can be found and something about the people and the land upon which they dwell.
Chris has also been leading the children through the Bible stories of the Hebrew people, including The Tower of Babel; the story of Abraham, Joseph and his brothers; the Exodus from Egypt; Moses and the Burning Bush; The Ten Plagues; Crossing the Red Sea; Manna from Heaven and The Ten Commandments. There have been so many other stories as the children followed the journey of the Hebrew people to the promised land. Overcoming obstacles, learning to choose right from wrong and following the way of truth and goodness are some of the images brought before the children.
Throughout the semester, the children have engaged in other practical activities. In the woodworking workshop, guided by Nick, we have learnt how to use and care for tools, how to keep everyone safe, and how to shape, saw, rasp and sand wood to make stilts. Lots of will, effort, determination and enthusiasm was needed for such an uplifting result. Crafts have included sewing, clay work and beeswax modelling. Each activity has given the children opportunities to learn and grow. As we learn to work together so much can be achieved!
Class Three have had weekly strings lessons and ensemble. Each child is progressing according to their individual capacity and the effort they put in, thanks to the wonderful guidance of the strings teachers. Again, we are learning to listen and work together to play beautiful music.
Swimming lessons in the rain have been an adventure and a wonderful opportunity to practise moving our growing bodies with grace and rhythm.
Now settling into their new classroom, the children will begin to inwardly prepare for the next part of their journey together after the summer holidays.
Jenny Lott
Class 3 Teacher