Farm field trip
Molly’s class took their first field trip of second grade to the Howard County Antique Farm Machinery Club’s Howard County Living Farm Heritage Museum. It’s a non-functioning farm that they use to teach about what it was like on a farm before electricity. I went along.
It was an action-packed day with 10 groups and 10 stations. Each station got 8 minutes to present what they wanted to show, so there was no time for goofing off. Fortunately, large groups of second graders never goof off...
Our first stop was the blacksmith, who made a mini horseshoe for us.
We then processed corn stalks, learned about grains, checked out where they milked cows, learned about making brooms, made some rope, and learned about bees (sorry, no pictures).
Next, Molly used the corn sheller to remove all the kernels from this ear of corn, leaving her with only a cob.
She took those kernels and put them in the grain mill to make cornmeal.
After that, we headed into the farmhouse to see how they did laundry, cooked, and lived without electricity.
The kids had a good time and learned a good bit, but it was an exhausting pace. I think all the parents breathed a sigh of relief when the kids got back on the bus to head back to school.
