There
is one memory that sticks out the most for me when I think about a family
memory that also has to do with school. This memory comes from all the way back
in kindergarten, the good old days when we still went on class field trips and
all that fun stuff. My parents were very involved in school activities, and I loved
every second of it. We always needed chaperones on their field trips and my mom
would always be there, if she couldn’t be my dad would be there instead. I
loved the times I got to share with my mom and dad during school activities. Not
only was I having fun and learning but I got to do it with my family. So what is
this favorite memory that has to do with my family and school you may ask,
since I already said I have so many? Well this memory includes a kindergarten field trip, and on this particular field trip we went to my own house!!
When
I was in kindergarten I lived in Alabama still. I attended Glenwood School at
the time. I’m not sure if we were working on a specific unit, or working with a
theme or anything but for some reason we went on a class field trip to my house.
My home in Alabama was like a farm. We didn’t grow crops, but we did have a lot
of animals. We had four horses and my own pony. I had two dogs and anywhere
from two to three cats. We also had some cattle. I know that sounds like a lot,
and it was, however we had a ton of space. When you picture Alabama I’m sure
some people think middle of nowhere, cotton fields all around, no neighbors for
miles. Well you would be partly right on thinking that for my house. I lived an
hour away from the city where I went to school, our neighbor to the right grew
huge fields of corn, and our neighbor to the left was pretty far away from our
house, you could barely see their home. We had about 12 acres of land where I lived.
So even though it sounded like a lot of animals we had the space for them all.
My
dad had built an area to practice barrel racing on the horses and also to
practice roping. He used to be really into doing rodeos. I’m not sure if anyone
has ever seen one but they were a lot of fun to go to. I even have awards from
being the fastest pony racer. But that was a long time ago!
So to
my house my class went. While on the field trip my dad talked about how to take
care of all the animals we had and how much work it was. My dad showed everyone
how to saddle and get the pony and horses ready to ride. My dad also did a
demonstration of cattle roping and barrel racing for the class. When that was
over my dad saddled up my pony (Black Beauty), and let every kid of my class
have a ride, while he led them around the arena.
When
we got back to school we had to draw a picture about our favorite part of the
day. I can’t remember what I drew or what anyone else drew, probably because I was
so excited from the day spent at my house.
Overall
I don’t need to remember why we went on the field trip or what we did after to reinforce
what we had learned. Overall I have the best memory of that day, a memory of
spending the day being with my family and friends and learning at the same
time. I believe it is times like these that are essential to all children in
school. Children need to have memories that they can look back on and be happy
about. Also they need to be happy learning. By including children’s families in
the learning process it can make things more fun. It can make children more
willing to participate. I think it is essential that parents be a part of the
learning process by helping their children with school and being as involved as
they can. When parents are involved they know exactly what their children are
doing and what they need to learn. When parents model good things for their
children, the children will pick up the good habits. Family is an important
support system not only in life but in school as well, and these memories will
last a lifetime, they are something all children should have a chance to
experience.
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