Prepare for Your Class Visit

Before your class visits the farm for their school program, there are several items to review to ensure you and your students have the best possible visit.

Confirmation Invoice and Packet                                                                                                                                                                           After our education staff has confirmed the date and time of your program through a phone call or email, we will send to you a confirmtaion invoice based on the information you provided at registration.  In addition, you will receive a confirmation packet in the mail containing the exact number of nametags for your students and chaperones.  Wearing these nametags will allow our farmers to address the students by name and to identify who is registered for the program.

Dress Like a Farmer: Suggestions on How to Dress for the Field Trip
In this fun, child-friendly handout, Dress Like a Farmer suggests how children (as well as chaperones!) should dress to be comfortable and safe during their farm visit.

Sample Letter to Parents
We provide a sample of letter or permission slip to parents about what activities their child will be experiencing on the farm during their field trip.

Chaperone Guidelines
Prepared, engaged chaperones can greatly enhance a farm field trip.  We provide a Chaperone Guidelines handout for the teacher to distribute and review with the chaperones on they can help make sure the children have a positive and enjoyable learning experience.

Directions to Pumpkinseed Hill
Please print out school tour driving directions to our Pumpkinseed Hill Farm, located at 120 Beardsley Road in Shelton.  Please note, our Pumpkinseed Hill Farm is not at the same location as our Christmas Tree farm!  This has confused many chaperones as well as bus drivers.  Try to make sure everyone has the correct directions to ensure your program starts on time and runs the full length.

Online Resources
There are many interesting educational materials on the internet. 

• Pumpkins and More, University of Illinois Extension,  http://urbanext.illinois.edu/pumpkins/
• All About Pumpkins, http://allaboutpumpkins.com/varieties.html
•  Winter Squash, University of Illinois Extension http://urbanext.illinois.edu/veggies/wsquash.cfm
•  Native American History of Corn, www.nativetech.org/cornhusk/cornhusk.html

Additional Teacher Resources

Teacher's Kit

An optional teacher's kit is available for purchase on the day of your program. The kit includes a variety of winter squashes, gourds, and corn with information  about  the harvest and suggested activities to enrich classroom learning. 

Suggested Reading

From pumpkin growth cycles to cultural uses of corn, these are some of our favorite fall harvest books for young students: