Chaperones play an important role in our education programs
Chaperones play an important role in our education programs. The farm educator will ask for your assistance in helping the children in your group follow directions, refrain from running, and enter and exit the hay wagon safely. One of the chaperones’ most important jobs is to be enthusiastic and attentive, demonstrating how we are all lifelong learners.
We allow a maximum of 1 adult to 5 children for our K-1 Educator Guided Harvest Program (classroom teachers and teacher aides not counted in this ratio). With almost four decades of experience leading farm tours, we feel this is the best ratio to maximize the educational experience for the students. Extra chaperones may not walk alongside the hay wagon or walk out to the fields. Any additional parents must wait in the Farmyard for when the hayride returns and the students explore the barnyard with their teachers.
Chaperones should be reminded that we cannot accommodate younger siblings on our tours, so childcare arrangements should be made.
There is no limit to the number of participating chaperones in our Preschool Pumpkin Experience, as long as your group can safely fit in our hayride (45 or less participants).
Supervision and the Student Experience
Please remember that students will follow your lead - if you show interest in the educational program, you will encourage them to be involved too. Please refrain from using cell phones and having private conversations during the education program.
We are happy when adults become involved in the program, but please hold your questions until the end and let students answer questions on their own. Our educators enjoy hearing students’ answers – and it helps them understand how much the children know.
At the end of the field program, we want children to experience the pumpkin harvest themselves. We encourage children to select and carry their own pumpkins. We will ask chaperones to assist with the logistics of labeling students’ pumpkins with their names after the harvest.
Photography
Chaperones will be asked to refrain from taking photographs and videotaping during the education program. Please organize all class photos after the field program until we have returned to the Barnyard. Your teacher will arrange the perfect group shot.
Food and Beverage
Please leave all coffee cups and food on the bus. Federal standards for good agricultural practices require us to keep food and drinks out of the crop fields. We are a carry-in/carry-out facility, so any trash from snacks eaten outside the barnyard area after the program should be taken back on the bus.
Suggested Attire
Be prepared for the weather conditions on Pumpkinseed Hill - it can be chilly in the wind or hot in the sun! The basics include: wearing sturdy, water-resistant shoes; dressing in layers, including a jacket or sweatshirt; and wearing rain gear on rainy days.
