Simplify

Life is simple at the Happy Acres Goat Farm.  We should all be so lucky!

As it says in my bio, I am a special education teacher and have been for many years. I started working with kids in the summer of 2000 which makes almost 12 years of teaching. In that time I have worked for two private pre-schools and five schools in four different public school districts. I have taught kids from age two through 18 and can say that I am probably best with the younger kids. I currently teach a program for kindergarteners with disabilities. 

Over the years, I have met all kinds of people who love kids and all kinds of people who would rather forget childhood is a stage endured by all. Today I had the pleasure of meeting a group of ladies who fall into the first category. 

Some of Stephanie's goats waiting to meet the kiddos

 Each year we take kids on field trips to a variety of places. Today we took 100 kindergarteners to the Happy Acres Goat Farm. At the farm we met the owner named Stephanie, her sister, and her friend. They have created an environment that embraces what it means to be a kid.  Normally when we take kids out into the community they usually hear the following comments: "Don't touch that;" "Don't pick that up;" "Step back;" "Stop talking, you need to be listening;" and the list goes on in the same fashion.  Today, the kids heard the opposite from these wonderful ladies.  At this farm our kids were encouraged to interact with the lives surrounding them.  The picked up baby goats, got muzzled by a one-eyed horse, heard squealing baby pigs, milked a momma goat, tasted fresh from-the-udder goats milk, smelled animal poop, and laid on happy farm dogs. 

As we walked around, the specialist in me kept saying to myself over and over, "This is what being five is all about.  Sitting in a classroom doing math and language arts lessons carries so little meaning compared to this interaction with life."  

Squealing baby pot-bellied pig

There is a student who is not in my class but struggles with a very troubled home life.  Consequently he has a very unpredictable emotional state and academics are not always his friend.  During the field trip he was disturbed by all of the smells and crowding kids.  Mostly he was at the back of the group, hesitant to join the large groups of kids mobbing the animals.  When it was our turn to go into the baby goat pasture, he chose to stay outside alone and watch.  At one point, Stephanie's sister allowed us to take a goat out of the pen so he could hold it but then we returned the baby to the pen.  After some time, his teacher and I noticed something.  This young boy had decided to let himself into the pen so he could grab and hold more baby goats.  He was smiling all this time.  This simple interaction with young life changed his whole mood for the trip. 

We need to remember that the simple life can be the best education we can give our kids because it gives their lives meaning. Isn't that what we are all seeking? Simplify.