Discovery Child Care brings nature into the classroom and takes the classroom into nature, offering an environmentally aware foundation of early learning for children, from infants to school-age. www.discoverychild.on.ca
Today the School Agers took a break from daily life at the Centre and hopped on the bus to visit our local landfill! Upon arrival, we were excited to learn that we would get to tour the facility on the bus and see all of the different ways that garbage is sorted. We were surprised to see how clean and organised the site was and how many different categories of trash they had there!
Very little of what is brought there actually ends up in the landfill. We thought this was wonderful. As we entered, our bus went onto the scale. With our bus driver, 5 teachers and 36 children, the school bus weighed 10710kg!!!! We never would have guessed! (We certainly tried)
We learned that vehicles are weighed while entering and exiting the landfill in order to find out how much garbage they had dropped off.
Inside the Education centre, we learned about sorting our disposables at home and which bins (grey, blue, green or garbage can) different items belonged in. We were very proud that we were already pretty good at this! We also talked about our ecological footprint (which is the affect we have on our planet) and ways we can keep our footprints small such as recycling, conserving energy, composting and reusing items.
Did you know that the education centre building at the landfill is built with reused bricks from a home, glass block/windows from old city hall and has a driveway that was created from the pavement dug up from Ann St when it was repaved? It also has a carpet in it that is made from recycled plastic bottles! How cool is that???
Outside, we enjoyed a scavenger hunt in the breezy fresh air, a relay race though tires to sort “discarded items” and even planted flowers from seed paper into pots made from compostable plant food! In all, it was a very FULL, FUN and INTERESTING morning and were pleasantly surprised to receive gift bags (lunch bags) filled with all kinds of cool recycled items to bring home!
Thank you City of Barrie for this wonderful learning opportunity!
Discovery Child Care offers interesting and educational before and after school programs. Call us for a tour. We'd love to meet with you and your child! 705-733-2052
Summer Camps at Discovery Child Care Centres are all about FUN and LEARNING! We combine outdoor activities, field trips, with exciting themes for learning and play. Here's a slide show of a traditional camp activity - making SMORES!
Our weekly programs include:
Computers
Creative arts & crafts
Dramatic play
Music & Movement
Cognitive & science activities
Cooperative games & sports
Organic gardening program
Field trips and/or visitors (may be an extra charge as needed)
1-3/4 acres at Harvie Road, 1-1/2 acres at Big Bay Point including; soccer, baseball, tether ball, gardening, art easel, sand box, dramatic play, and at Harvie Road - a wonderful sports court that includes opportunities for tennis, basketball, ball hockey, 4-square, and much, much more!
Contact us today to enrol your child in a Summer Camp at either Harvie Road or Big Bay Point, Barrie.
Week #1 CREEPY CRAWLIES
June 30-July 4
Examining, exploring and learning about all of the tiny, slimy and sometimes beautiful little critters we find underground, in the sky and in our gardens. Let's discover what these things that 'bug' us mean to our planet and why they are important. We are in the planning stages of having a few quests visit us each week: A beekeeper and a Monarch Butterfly specialist. Stay tuned for dates/times.
Week #2 ENERGIZE THIS!
July 7-11
Taking a look at various means of eco-friendly/alternative energies such as: wind, solar & geo-thermal. We will be investigating how they work and finding ways to put them to use ourselves. Children will be involved in hands on activities and we are in the planning stages to take a trip to see geo-thermal in action!
Week #3 FROM FARM TO TABLE
July 14-18
Discovering how the products we consume make their way from farms & fields to our homes and dinner tables. We will be investigating the various procedures and hard work that is required for this to happen. We will take a trip to an organic farm in our community.
Week #4 FOREST ADVENTURES
July 21-25: We will be learning about the types of forests around us and how they, and the animals who inhabit them are in danger and most importantly, what we can do to help. We are planning trips to a forest, arboretum and/or tree seed farm. Gwen Petreman, Author, Environmentalist and board member of Living Green Barrie, will kick off the week as a guest speaker on Monday.
Week #5
CLOSED July 28-Aug 1
Week #6
OCEAN KEEPERS with the David Suzuki Foundation
Aug 4-8
We will be hosting an OCEAN CELEBRATION using a kit provided by the David Suzuki Foundation. We will introduce the children to the magic and wonder of the ocean. Through many games, experiments, arts/crafts, stories, and even foods, we will explore how oceans contribute to all our lives and inspire the children to protect it.
Week #7 ROCK ON!
Aug 11-15:
Identifying all kinds of rocks, gems and minerals. We will learn where they came from and how they get to where we find them in our daily lives from household items to jewellery.
Week #8 SURVIVOR WEEK
Aug 18-22:
Children will learn about Canadian forests and how to survive in the Canadian wilderness. We will talk about how to make a fire, create shelter, the dangers and wonders of the forest and how to survive in different weather. Can you survive? We are in the planning stages for a trip to Tiffin Conservation area. (Note to parents: this will be taught in a fun, play-based, non-threatening manner!)
Week #9 NATURE ART WEEK
Aug 25-29
Children will use a variety of mediums to plan, construct and display artwork created from nature. Children will be using paints, dyes, tools, paper and other natural materials that they have found (or created) in nature. Discovery Child Care offers interesting and educational before and after school programs. Call us for a tour. We'd love to meet with you and your child! 705-733-2052
What can you say? These pictures show how much fun we had at Chappell Farm, celebrating the fall and enjoying a trip to a pumpkin patch.
Enjoy the show!
Chappell Farm Slideshow!
Discovery Child Care offers interesting and educational before and after school programs. Call us for a tour. We'd love to meet with you and your child! 705-733-2052
