I can’t believe we have completed ten weeks of school already, it is just flying by. This week was a pretty normal week with a good mix of reading (Greek myths) , writing (compare and contrast), math (division), and social studies (early explorers). The 4th graders have also had fun in PE, Art, Music, and Spanish.
The highlight of the week was our afternoon exploring the old homestead property in the Prairie Crossing neighborhood. If you are not familiar, it is an old property that once housed a family farm. There are remnants of the farm still on the land. The kids were able to discover part of the foundation of the silo, barn, chicken coop, machine shed, and the farmhouse. They then sketched maps and used tape measures to determine the size of the various buildings. We measured out an acre of land so that they could understand h
ow large the farm was (it used to be 8 acres). The kids really enjoyed spending the afternoon doing this activity. Just so that you are aware, this activity is the basis for a project the 4th graders will do over the winter in which they will have to map out their own homestead. We didn’t want to try coming out to this homestead in the winter and have to dig through the snow to find the foundation, so we took advantage of the lovely weather we had on Thursday. 
For me the highlight of the week was when we were in the middle of the homestead investigation and one of our students smiled and said “this is so much fun, it’s like a field trip, but close to the school!” This made Ms. Hahn and I both very happy. I know it’s hard for the kids to understand, but PCCS is such a special place to go to school.
Have a great week!
