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Harmar Elementary School students learn about life on the farm

Photo by Michele Newbanks Students from Lindsay Thomas’ kindergarten class pet and feed a goat during their end-of-year field trip at Sweetapple Farm Tuesday.

VINCENT — Kindergarteners from Harmar Elementary got to experience farm life during their end-of-year field trip to Sweetapple Farm in Vincent Tuesday.

The youngsters spent the afternoon in activities they might experience living on a farm.

“We want the experience at the farm to allow kids who don’t get to see a farm to see it up close,” said Mona Barrett, owner of Sweetapple Farm.

Lindsay Thomas, Harmar Elementary teacher, said her class was reading “Charlotte’s Web” and making their own books. She thought it would be nice for the kids to visit a real farm and make further connections.

In their books, the students were retelling the story in their own way and then they will read the story to students in an older grade before the end of the year.

Photo by Michele Newbanks Learning about planting was just one of the activities kindergarteners from Harmar Elementary enjoyed during their end-of-year field trip at Sweetapple Farm on Tuesday.

“We had a summary of what they were taught to write,” Thomas explained. “They illustrated it as well.”

There were four activities for the students to participate in Tuesday. They went on a hayride and visited the animal area where they got to feed and pet goats, and pretend to milk a cow. They also learned about bees, seeds and pollination, as well as took a garden tour where they could plant a marigold to take home.

For many students, the animal area was a big hit. They crowded around the goat pen as they each got a chance to feed one of the animals.

“I really like the goats and the ducks,” said 6-year-old Raegan Flinn.

Madison McDonald, 5, said her favorite part of the trip was feeding the goats and seeing the ducks.

“And I didn’t see any pigs, but I could hear them,” she said.

Barrett said the hayride was something the students had been looking forward to.

“On the hayride, they can see cattle grazing and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine,” she said.

The school tours began in the fall of 2000 and are now held in both spring and fall. The spring tours begin in mid-April and continue until the end of the school year. The fall tours are held from mid-September through October.

“We have to schedule time for everything,” Barrett added. “We work as a team.”

During the fall field trips, children can make pinecone bird feeders, traverse the corn maze and plant a pumpkin seed instead of a marigold.

The farm is open to the public in the fall and a lot of people visit for the corn maze and “pumpkins you an pick for yourself,” Barrett said.

But during the week, most visitors are school children on field trips. There are even special days in both spring and fall when homeschooled children visit.

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