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Homeschooling

In many parts of the country, spring means farmers’ markets starting again. Farmers from all over the region come to these open-air markets to sell fresh fruits and vegetables to customers. These markets offer a great opportunity for families to buy produce that’s often fresher than what they can get in stores, and at great prices.

Farmers’ markers also offer a great opportunity for homeschooling families. In fact, a full day of learning can happen for homeschool kids who go to a farmers’ market. One of the great parts of homeschooling is that learning doesn’t just happen in the classroom. It can occur anywhere.

So what can homeschooled kids learn from this outing? Here are just a few of the concepts that can be taught or reinforced while visiting a farmers’ market:

• Science. Talk to a farmer about what it takes to make the fruits and vegetable grow. Growing produce takes the right combination of soil, water, sun, time, and human care. No one is better equipped to tell your kids about the process than a farmer.
• Math. Homeschoolers can practice several math concepts at the market, depending on their grade level. Young children can practice counting fruit, or simple addition (as in 3 apples plus 2 more apples equals 5 apples) or subtraction (take 5 squash away from this group of 8, and what’s left?).

Older kids can work on more advanced math skills. They can estimate weights (how many apricots in one pound?). They also get an opportunity to handle the money during the trip. This also helps solidify the idea that we exchange money for the things we need and want.

• Social sciences: Money-handling is also part of social science learning. Money is an essential part of many of our social interactions. For example, a farmer’s job is to grow crops he can sell. Kids can answer the question, what do people in my family do to make money?
• Language arts. Kids can match pictures of produce with the words that go with them. That week’s spelling words can have a connection to the farmers’ market. Children with journals can write numerous entries about the sights and sounds of the market.
• Physical education. A trip to the farmers’ market is a perfect opportunity to talk about the role of good nutrition in our lives. Children can do research on the food pyramid to find out how many servings of fruits and vegetables they need every day.
• Social skills. A market is a great place for children to learn how to ask questions politely. (How much does this cost? May I have 2 of those?) Kids get an opportunity to practice waiting for their turn. Also, they can work on behaving well in crowds, and especially the importance of listening to their parents in a crowd.

This is just a small list of what kids can learn at a farmers’ market. Possibly the best part of learning in these situations is that it isn’t just theory, like doing worksheets, or reading information from a book. It’s using the ideas and concepts that kids are learning at home in real-world situations.

Kids who see the connection between what they are learning and how they live are more likely to remember what they learn. So plan a homeschool “field trip” to a farmers’ market near you!

Homeschooling

Source by Richard Jarman
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