The City as a Classroom
At Episcopal, children are encouraged to be curious and explorative thinkers, learning from the community around them both inside and outside of school. Field trips allow them to experience topics, places, and people they have been learning about in an interactive way.
After managing and staffing their own in-classroom Flower Café, Group Three journeyed a few blocks beyond Episcopal to a local cafe. Greeted by the friendly restaurant manager, children lined up along the counter in their Episcopal hats to watch the chef make homemade crepes and ask him questions. Everyone was able to try bite-sized pieces of different crepe flavors while watching how the restaurant runs during the day.
Group Four learned about postal workers during their community helpers unit. In school, children took turns gathering mail from the homemade mailbox outside of their classroom and delivering it across the school. The class then took a trip outside to a nearby blue mailbox to individually drop off cards they wrote to home. Along the way, children were able to wave to local postal workers on their daily mail route.
Field trips allow children to contextualize what they have been learning in the real world and also connect with local community members to gain an appreciation and understanding for what they do.
