Naturalist Morning: Composting and River Studies

As I predicted today was a much better day. We started with a naturalist guide training for high school students and interested parents. Robin Stuart, Education Director from Drumlin Farm, gave a terrific introduction with regard to guiding young children throughout parts of the SUASCO watershed. I learned a lot and I also enjoyed seeing so many of my former students.

There were many aspects I liked about the training including the following:

• Focus on intergenerational learning community
• Utilizing a living systems model for learning
• Learning about our local habitat
• Creating a culture of naturalists

Later, back at the elementary school, we hosted Transition Framingham compost experts, Brigitte and Michael. They gave a terrific talk to all three fifth grade classes on why and how we compost. Our school has a nice garden and compost bins, so we had a chance to match the study to that effort, an effort led by the town's Green Team and a second grade teacher.

Tomorrow we'll continue our study with Bryan Windmiller's visit. He will discuss local endangered species. Later in the day, we'll continue our spadefoot toad novel read aloud, color some science review pictures as they listen to the story, and participate in play practice.