In rural Clackamas County, ten minutes east of Gresham, resides a school geared toward teaching children in a natural learning environment through the power of play. Whether the children are inside the classroom baking banana bread with a teacher, outside grooming horses, rolling down tumble-down hill, making jam out of the berries that the children picked on the farm or splashing in giant mud puddles, these children are learning through the five vital senses that allows them to internalize what they experience naturally and physically.
In a Child’s Path Farm School is offering summer camps to children of all ages this summer with each camp dedicated to main focus points. The camps are structured in a way that the learning ties together. For example, if a child attends camp for three consecutive weeks, the learning will not seem staggered; it will flow respectfully in a way that a child will learn best. Along with our music teacher, we will meet at camp starting each new week with a song that is relevant to our subject of learning along with open ended activities at different stations. The yard that the campers work in when they arrive each morning is comprised of six flower beds, a jungle gym, a large sand box, a play house, a rock wall and tons of room to run! After breakfast we could be found anywhere on the eight acres. The last hour of camp will be spent wrapping up the day in review and journaling our experiences. Each child will be given their own journal when they arrive their first day at camp with their own equipment for the week’s activities.
In a Child’s Path promote and encourages children to learn through their five senses. Smelling, seeing, feeling, hearing and tasting triggers sensors in the brain that allow a child to fully engage in an activity. When a child is engaged, their full attention is geared toward understanding everything about what it is that they are doing. To foster the learning that is already naturally occurring, a teacher observes and takes note always making sure that the child has the tools to continue their journey or simply finish a task. The teacher might ask the child, “Why do you think this is happening?” or “Why is it doing that?” These questions grease the wheels that are already turning. When a child is equipped with the necessary tools, the possibilities are endless. This is what In a Child’s Path promotes and strives for every day; a place where children feel like they belong as well as fostering a strong sense of relationship and community.
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