Recently Kaitlin's school organized a field trip for the little ones. They were supposed to go Bollywood Veggies a few months ago when they were studying the theme on vegetables/fruits but due to HFMD cases at school and then the haze issue, the trip was postponed a few times.
Finally though, the kids got to go and Kaitlin was super excited about it! The night before she was telling me to remember to prepare her white shirt and to pack this and that. She kept going on that she was going to the farm the next day. At first she thought she would be seeing animals (probably cos of our first farm visit) but I told her this was a different kind of farm where we would be seeing fruits and veggies.
All the little kids were so excited and her classmates were totes adorbs! Especially when they were interacting together. There were lots of photos that I took of Kaitlin with her friends but to respect the privacy of the other parents, I can't post them here. I'm only posting a few and have blurred out the faces of the other kids.
The above pictures is of Kaitlin and her classmates waiting to board the bus and below was taken when we just got on. Kaitlin was all smiles that day, and it was super easy to get her to smile and take photos!
The journey took quite awhile. Thankfully though there were nursery songs being played on the bus to keep the kids entertained. Besides that, I tried to entertain babygirl by chatting with her and getting her to observe what was outside and to tell me what she sees and to identify colorurs, shapes and numbers.
While on the bus, Kaitlin and her friends were super cute and kept each other entertained as well! They were saying 'Hi!' to each other enthusiastically and Kaitlin would ask me where her friends were seated. They even had mini conversations. It was my first time seeing Kaitlin interact so much with her classmates that it was a pretty eye-opening experience. Needless to say, I was super happy to see her having fun even before we got to our destination.
We reached Bollywood Veggies and Kaitlin and her classmates got to have a small snack before the tour started. The people at Bollywood Veggies provided the kids with banana cake and milo. Though I had already packed food for Kaitlin, I let her have the cake just so that she could eat the same food as all her friends. After she was done though, I let her have her snack and she readily shared it with her friends who wanted which was good to see.
The tour started and boy was it sweltering hot! We started perspiring like mad. We also got bitten despite putting mozzie patches on :(
It was pretty interesting following Kaitlin and her class for the tour. I don't think Kaitlin fully understood much of what was being said, but at least she got to look and see. I on the other hand, learnt new interesting facts that day.
There were a couple of times where the kids could try and smell, touch and taste the flowers. One of Kaitlin's classmates was really brave and tasted the flowers twice. So awesome! Kaitlin didn't dare to try, but she did try to smell and touch. She was apprehensive at first, but after some encouragement and probably seeing her friends do it, she did give it a shot. I thought it was good that she did at least try and participate.
We took a couple of photos along the way during the tour and towards the end of it, she was starting to zone out probably cos she didn't understand much of what's happening and was feeling uncomfortable.
After the tour, we got to have some free and easy time to explore the place. It was this time that Kaitlin starting getting excited again! She went around with her friends and held hands with them, they were running together and having mini chats.
I'm so glad that Kaitlin's school organized this field trip for the kids. I'm always for the idea of outdoor learning as I believe that it's better to learn through experience than just through lessons. Though Kaitlin might not have been able to understand what was being said during the tour, she was able to observe the surroundings of the farm and see what an actual farm is like. Having a great time with her friends was an added plus. I was really happy to see a different side of Kaitlin. Perhaps, she may be like this in class but I wouldn't really know as parents aren't allowed to enter the school during curriculum time and whenever I drop her off she doesn't really behave this sociable. Her teachers also previously mentioned during the PTC earlier this year that she was very reserved as compared to her classmate. It was one of the aspects that they were concerned with and felt that she could work on. It's great to see her be more open and break out of her comfort zone. Sometimes, it's not easy for us adults to even do that, but she is able to do that at such a young age. It did take her awhile to start socializing as compared to her peers, but I'm glad that she did it at her own time and pace. Of course, now I'm also less worried about her not having interaction or participating in class. At the same time, I do foresee that I may have to help her deal with unpleasant situations that she encounters with her friends where she could be in the wrong or the victim, but we'll get to that when it happens. Afterall, it's part and parcel of growing up.
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