Following on from last week's blog on care farming and home schooling, I am staying with the educational theme this week and looking at 'Farm Education'. This is not to be confused with 'Farmer Education', which trains students for a future career in farming.
Farm Education is the practice of enabling children to spend some time on a working farm as part of a school visit. Such visits encourage and nurture an appreciation of the countryside and aims to give an authentic learning experience in a working environment.
These visits, tailored for children of all ages might range from perhaps a hour or so, up to a full week away, possibly residential, at a farm, such as those run by the Farms for City Children organisation. A typical visit might include learning about food, healthy eating, farming and nature as well as teaching National Curriculum subjects in a meaningful way through tasks on the farm. These visits can also foster the development of children's social skills as well as building self confidence and self esteem. For children from cities who may not normally have the opportunity to visit the countryside, these visits can broaden horizons and build social capital by adding to their world experiences.
Farm Education is different from care farming because clients or students on a care farm don't follow a traditional school curriculum but instead they focus on time outdoors, social interactions and purposeful work.
In next week's blog I will look specifically at the topic of School Farms.
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