Ecology

I took F and J to a home school class at Central park, given by the Urban park rangers. They met at Belvedere castle where the kids got to walk upstairs to the lookout tower and see high above central park and then did a 'class' for 1 1/2 hours. I have to say this was one of the best classes that was given by the rangers. First they had all the kids (about 20) sit on the grass under an elm tree and had them answer c=some questions about the park, and what ecology means... it is the study of how all living thing interconnect with each other....
Then they had them play a game where each child got to wear a sign with a specific thing around their necks. F was soil and J was a mosquito :), then The ranger pulled out a big ball of yarn and said they were going to make a web of life energy. She gave the ball to the 'sun' first and then had him hold a piece of the yarn and give it to someone else, I think he started with grass... not sure though... J was cute.. she gave her ball to humans because mosquitoes bite humans. Once every kid had a piece of the yarn it was stretched around and looked like a web. They had a blast. Afterwards they took us for a nice walk around the park with stops along interesting areas. J was up in front the whole time walking next to one of the rangers and listening intently to every thing he had to say... she loved it.. it was so worth the $5 per kid I paid. He told them about leaves that have bugs in them, which berries are not safe for humans or any animals, its actually a berry we have seen often in the park. Showed them sap on a tree, beans growing from a tree, birds, various trees that they identified. It was so interesting, J came up to me once and said 'mommy, I love this adventure, it's so cool, I like exploring' hugged me and then ran to be next to the rangers again. All I could think about was if she was in school she might have this experience, depends on if they arrange for this type of trip, but I would never be able to be a part of it and see how much she learned and how she interacted with every one there.
F learned a lot as well, and had a great time running around with friends and looking at all the things the rangers were showing them. J collected things along the way that she put in her coat pocket and showed me once we were on the train home. She got a leaf with bug pods inside it, piece of the bean that was growing on the tree, a turkey feather, peacock feathers, a piece of sap that she took off the tree, and an acorn. She put all of these things (except for the acorn) inside her leaf book when she got home.

I love home schooling !