Howell Nature Center

Our annual trip to Howell Nature Center was fun and educational as always, and I know the children must have slept like rocks last night (if they even made it home before falling asleep in the car!) Our schedule was very full - lunch, followed by 4 active sessions led by HNC staff, dinner, and then s'more by the campfire. And lots and lots of GaGa.

Our group started the day by doing the zip line. This activity was "challenge by choice", and children were instructed to choose their own level of challenge. If they chose not to do it, they knew the other students would positively support them. Our group all decided they they would try it, and the looks on their faces after the ride spoke volumes.

The three other activities I chose related to what we've been learning about (or will learn about in the future) at school. We met some owls and learned some fascinating facts about them. We will be dissecting owl pellets in the near future, and will be sponsoring an owl as a class fundraising project. Then we practiced reading maps and following map directions, which nicely extended the map skills we have been improving during our Explorers theme. Our last session was Native American drumming.

Many, many thanks to our brave parent volunteers, Gwen, Paul, and Craig!  I'm so grateful for the love and support you gave all of our students.