Fall Semester at Farm School: So, What Do We Actually Do?
If you're considering Farm School this fall, you might be wondering exactly that.
We have a familiar rhythm to our days, but we don't plan every hour of them. There are children with their own ideas, animals that need attention, vegetables ready to harvest, projects already underway and, inevitably, something around the farm that needs to be fixed.
Fall will bring plenty more.
Children who arrive at 8:30 start their morning with breakfast made in our outdoor kitchen. At 9:30, our Core Day begins and the rest of the children arrive. Friends find each other and children begin figuring out where they want to be. Some head straight for the animals. Some pick up a project from another day. Others are digging in the sandbox, climbing on the jungle gym or already involved in a game.
Lately, our new ducklings have been hard to pass by.
They're tiny now, but they won't be for long. The children who are here throughout the fall will get to watch them grow and change along with everything else happening around the farm.
There is still a lot of growing ahead of us.
September in Boise can feel a lot like summer, and we'll continue harvesting many of the vegetables we've been eating all season. At the same time, we're getting closer to pumpkins, winter squash, sweet potatoes, melons, cabbage and other crops that will begin changing what we're harvesting over the next several weeks.
The children are welcome to be part of that work. They may help harvest, carry baskets back from the field, wash vegetables, gather herbs or feed the animals. Sometimes they'll stay for the whole job. Sometimes they'll help for five minutes and head off to something else.
And then there are the projects we never have to invent because a working farm provides an endless supply of them.
A sprinkler stops working. A section of fence needs repair. Something needs to be built. Something else that we built last year needs to be fixed. There are tools to gather, materials to haul, measurements to take and problems to figure out.
The children can work alongside us when they're interested and when the job allows it. They might watch how something works, hold something in place, carry materials, learn to use a tool or offer their own ideas about how we should solve the problem.
Sometimes the project itself becomes the most interesting thing happening that day.
Other times, they're off doing something entirely different.
There is certainly plenty to choose from.
Our large patio serves as an outdoor living area for Farm School, surrounded by mature trees that provide plenty of shade. Our outdoor kitchen is there, along with a large table with enough room for cooking, projects, games, art and usually several different things happening at once.
Someone might sit down with paints or spend part of the morning making jewelry. Knitting, crocheting, sewing, carving and wood burning draw different children at different times. There are Legos, loose parts, Montessori activities and Waldorf-style toys, board games and card games, and plenty of books.
Children move easily from one thing to another. They might head to the zip line or slack line, climb on the jungle gym, dig in the sandbox, check on the animals, wander through the gardens, or grab a bike or scooter and make their way around the path that circles the playground.
Lately, they've been heading for the trees.
The children have been climbing into them and hauling pieces of firewood up into the branches, storing their wood there and then lowering it back down one piece at a time.
Why?
Because that's what they decided needed to happen.
And it has kept them busy for hours.
Those are some of my favorite things to watch unfold at Farm School—the games and projects that weren't suggested by an adult and couldn't have been planned ahead of time. One idea turns into another, someone joins in, the plan changes, a problem comes up, they figure something out, and eventually they're doing something none of us could have predicted that morning.
Given enough time, space and things worth doing, children are very good at finding something to do.
As the weather cools, the fire pit will start getting more use too.
Children learn how to make kindling, split logs, arrange wood, start a fire and keep it going. They learn how to use the tools involved safely and figure out what a fire needs to burn well.
Sometimes the fire doesn't start on the first try. Sometimes a piece of wood is harder to split than it looked. They adjust and try again. Eventually, we'll have those cooler days when gathering around the fire becomes another part of the day.
Our menu will change with the season too.
Children bring vegetables in from the garden, wash and chop ingredients, stir pots, measure, taste and work alongside us as lunch comes together in the outdoor kitchen. As the harvest changes, what we're cooking will change with it. The summer vegetables we're harvesting now will gradually give way to the crops coming from the garden later in the season.
The meals we make at Farm School follow what's growing and what's available, and fall will be no different.
All of these things overlap throughout the day.
Someone might be helping prepare lunch while two children are playing cards at the other end of the table. Another child is checking on the ducklings. Someone is making another lap around the playground on a scooter. A child might be working on the same Lego creation for several Farm School days. Someone else is watching a sprinkler repair and waiting for a chance to help. Meanwhile, another group could be halfway up a tree figuring out how to get their latest load of firewood into the branches.
Later, those same children may all end up together somewhere else.
They don't all need to be doing the same thing.
And they don't need us to fill every minute for them.
There is time here to follow an interest, finish a project, get involved in a long game, sit with a book, make something with your hands, help with real work or spend an afternoon going back and forth between a dozen different things.
There is also a lot of time simply to move—climbing, balancing, running, digging, hauling, pushing, pulling, riding and building. Sometimes that means making it all the way across the slack line. Sometimes it's learning to split a piece of wood. Sometimes it's circling the playground again and again on a bike or scooter.
And apparently, sometimes it means hauling firewood into a tree.
Week after week, the children get to see the season change around them.
A melon that wasn't ready is finally ready. A pumpkin gets bigger. The grapes get sweeter. The summer vegetables gradually slow down. The ducklings aren't little anymore. Mornings get cooler even when the afternoons are still warm.
Eventually, the work on the farm will change too. Plants will finish producing and we'll begin saving seeds, composting, mulching, clearing beds and preparing parts of the farm for winter.
But we're not there yet.
Right now, there is still a lot of growing ahead of us—and plenty that needs harvesting, cooking, building, fixing, making, playing and exploring.
That's the thing about fall at Farm School.
We don't really need to come up with a list of things for children to do.
The farm, the materials, the space, their friends and their own imaginations give them plenty to work with.
And we can't wait to see what they get into this fall.
If you've been wondering whether Farm School might be a good fit for your child, fall is a great time to join us. Our Fall Semester begins Tuesday, and families can also continue to join us for individual or drop-in days throughout the semester.
Farm School is open to children ages 4–12, with Core and Extended Day options available.
Come spend a day with us—or make Farm School part of your child's weekly rhythm this fall. We'd love to have you.
