Farms make for the best classroom. This is what Forsythe Family Farms believes, and we couldn’t agree more.
Owned and operated by Jim and Leslie Forsythe, the Durham Region farm has deep roots in farm and food education — known for hosting groups and school tours for over 27 years.
Now, Forsythe Family Farms has transitioned their popular farm tour lessons into a digital format for online viewing and virtual learning, available for both teachers in the (online or in-person) classroom, and for parents/caregivers at home.
“With most students 3 to 4 generations removed from the farm, agriculturally based education is more important than ever,” the Forsythe Family Farm website shares. “It is an essential component in building a firm foundation for healthy living and strengthening their connection to the world around us.”
Each video lesson from the Forsythes is accompanied by downloadable activity sheets, and all of the lessons are curriculum-based for preschoolers-grade 4, meeting requirements in science, health, social studies and language.
Six online farm education video lessons are organized into three packages of two, four and six videos. For those that sign up, the packages are delivered to your inbox and are available for viewing on three different devices for a full year.
Package 1 looks at Farming Foundations for all ages, with a lesson on Animals and a lesson on Plants. Package 2, titled Farming Foundations Applied, includes the package 1 lessons in addition to lessons on Bees and Eggs. And Package 3, Digging Deeper into Sustainability, has all prior lessons plus additional lessons on Soils and Habitats.
Each unit builds upon the previous lesson, ultimately building a deeper understanding of nature, the environment around us, and the journey of our food from farm to fork!
For teachers, these are great resources to enhance lesson plans and act as launching pads for further learning; they can even help to replace on-farm field trips that are currently on hold. And for parents/caregivers at home, they are fantastic resources to supplement at-home learning while engaging kids in farm-to-school education.
Learn more about these great online resources on the Forsythe Family Farms website here.