Lessons Learned

Earlier today I was lucky enough to be able to go on Benny's end of the school year field trip to Glenwood Garden's Highfield Discovery Center. Long name, but it definitely lives up to the billing. Last year I went with Louie's class to the same park, but they had a different program for the kids. If you remember, last year a large frog talked to the kids about the changes an amphibian goes through. This time, they talked about flowers and the kids got to actually dissect a flower!

All the time I feel like I'm telling the kids to use your eyes to look at the pretty flower (or some other plant). After the program today it came to my attention that they probably haven't been able to examine the plants, know what they're really all about because they aren't allowed to touch them. They talked about all the different parts of a flower and what their purpose is. They also talked about how many things that we like (i.e. tomatoes, strawberries) start out as flowers.

As with last year, the team that put on the program did a wonderful job and I really think the kids learned a lot. Afterward they were let loose into the play area that was filled with a giant tree, over-sized mushrooms, and a tiny train track. I might have mentioned this when Louie went, but it reminds me a lot of Smurf-world ride from Kings Island in the '80s. This was much cooler, though, because the kids were able to run through the tree, peeping in holes that contained dancing spiders and bat with flashing eyes.

The weather was sunny and mild, making for a perfect day, except for one thing in Benny's eyes: after riding in a van with all girls he proclaimed, "Girls talk too much." Eerily similar to what his brother said one year ago...