Sunday 29 June 2014

Farewell, Friends



Everyday was a full day in which our school, the community of Argyle, and the surrounding boreal-prairies provided inspiration, motivation, and joy. From the daily morning walks to the sacred K-3 time heading south on the trail, we discovered so many gifts.  

Our theme this year was Seasons. Last August when I was planning a general outline and direction the year would take, I couldn't have imagined the discoveries we would make as the months went on. This past year, time and time again, proved the advantages to inquiry-based learning. From harvesting the gardens in fall, researching and writing about prairie animals in winter, and measuring ditch water in the spring, we have now reached summer with stronger minds and hearts. There is a part of me that wishes our journey could continue on through the summer, but instead I will wish you all a wild, wonderful, happy, and healthy holiday; may you stop and smell the (wild) roses.

Until September,
Ms Hadfield

P.S. Here are a few photos from our last week at school...

Ahhhhh.... our field trip to Storybook Farms, where we met animals, felted soap, played, and ate goat's milk ice cream. If you get the chance this summer, find our friend LeVerne with her homemade soaps, lotions, potions, wool, and fibre art at the Winnipeg Folk Festival or check out her website for CSA information, workshops, and more nice things to take home. This farm is a special place nestled right in the Interlake.







And here we are with another interesting Interlaker, Mr. Gross. Below he is fixing a sticking out nail on Caleb's birdhouse, but I want you to know that the k-3's did ALL of the hammering by themselves! (Well, we had a little help from a few of our friends in grade 6-8 and Nic's mom.) Due to the rain that morning, we had to work upstairs, but a noisily good time was had by all. And no one nailed their finger- hey oh!



The clouds parted by noon, and we were able to stain the birdhouses outside. They will make a colourful addition to the trail and our school yard, won't they?


During the last week, with all the rain, mushrooms were popping up everywhere. Caleb brought in this huge mushroom that beside his driveway. We used my grandpa's mushroom book to try and identify it but we found three of four possibilities. The guidebook came in handy again as we found more mushrooms right on the trail. I have to admit, I don't remember the names of the mushrooms, and I have lent out the book for the summer. 



 Strange, floppy mushroom,


foragers,


a very flat, smooth, orange mushroom,


another orange mushroom, but with a cap and a thick stalk.







Thursday 5 June 2014

A Thousand Words







our youngest with our oldest





Sunday 1 June 2014

May Days

Here we are in May, sketching the first tulip to appear in the front flowerbed,


stopping to look at a very active ant hill,


eating some delicious sprouts,


waiting for our drywall-paste ducks to dry,


gluing our painted mallards onto the backgrounds we painted,


admiring our curious little mallards,




squishing in the mud,


eating an apple,


stopping for lunch,



transplanting our space-tomatoes,


watering the new garden we dug-up and planted in an afternoon.


With love and sunburnt shoulders,
Ms Hadfield

Through the Eyes of a Forest-Child

The last handful of times we have been out on the trail, one of the children is the class photographer and documents the trip. Going though the pictures is great fun afterward, as the candid moments we catch ourselves in show joy, discovery, and learning. 

Here is a collection of my favourite photos. Some are from the beginning of the month, some are from the middle, some are from the end. Can you spot the colour difference? How quickly the trail is changing.

(I'm not sure who to give the photo credits to, as the camera is passed around during our time outside. K-3, maybe you will recognize your photo.)