Leet Center visits pumpkin patch
TOM PINNEY/DAILY FORUM
Pumpkin Ring Toss Students at Horace Mann Laboratory School’s Leet Center visited the Dot Family Farms Pumpkin Patch west of Maryville Friday morning. The students spent the morning learning facts and legends about pumpkins.
Around 60 students from Horace Mann Laboratory School’s Leet Center and their parents visited the Dot Family Farms Pumpkin Patch during an annual trip which allows the students to learn more about pumpkins, travel through a maze, and pick pumpkins of their own.
Horace Mann uses a student-based curriculum model known as constructivist curriculum, and director Cindy Rouner said the Leet Center followed a similar format.
“We base our learning philosophy around the children, their theories and interests,” Rouner explained. “In society during this time of the year, they are learning about pumpkins; this trip gives them the ability to explore pumpkins for themselves.”
There were numerous activities for the students to do, including climbing on hay bales, dancing, listening to stories, and seeing firsthand what makes up a pumpkin.
Most of these side activities were run by Northwest Missouri State University seniors in their practicum classes. One such student, Nicole Clark, was in charge of the pumpkin station.
“We’re scooping out the insides of the pumpkin to save the seeds,” Clark said. “We were told to pick an activity, and I decided to make mine a sensory one.”
Courtney Ravenscraft, another practicum student, was reading stories to the students.
“I brought a couple of books about pumpkins and scarecrows to read to the students while they wait to do another one of the activities,” Ravenscraft said.
Ravenscraft said using the constructivist curriculum with an experience like the pumpkin patch was essential for these students.
“It allows them to experience the world around them and ask questions, and it allows us to hear what they are thinking about,” Ravenscraft said. “It’s huge; they make so many connections.
“One of the lessons I did with the students was to teach them about dinosaurs: what their habitats were like, what they ate, etc. Weeks later, they’re still asking questions about dinosaurs.”
The students were able to bring their parents with them on the trip, and some of them actually brought their whole family. Rouner said having parents attend the trip was so that the families could learn together.
“We plan this trip early enough in the day that most parents aren’t at work yet, so they can come with us and then go to work,” Rouner said. “This way, as the students learn about pumpkins, they are learning with their families.”