Behind the Curriculum
Integrating hand, heart, head, and place, our land-to-craft curriculum supports the development of self-generated conscious action. We teach practical skills in a farm and forest setting. We see the place as having a local genius. We see the farm as a self-contained individuality. We recognize the reciprocity of health amongst humans, plants, animals, farm, and place as fundamental to mutual development.
Our curriculum develops out of the place. The process of becoming manifests in each art or craft, as a picture both literally and symbolically. As we transform materials from the land into something beautiful and useful – something cultural – we transform ourselves. In an integrated farm and forest setting, these inner transformations take place within a farm individuality and a genus loci that is also undergoing transformation through the work and care of our dedicated farmers and the children they serve. As staff, volunteers and children take part in the becoming of the being of the place, they develop a sense that there is something meaningful and greater than themselves that they are part of.
GRASS-TO-WOOL-TO-FIBER-CRAFT
Children who work with wool on a farm that raises sheep experience the special friendship only possible between farmer and animal within an integrated farm where farmers choose regenerative biodynamic ecology. This allows children to internalize the interdependence among soil, plants, animals, and humans in such a way that love becomes the driving force behind the relationship of interspecies interdependence. This is in stark contrast to an ecological need to survive. As a result, children learn to truly love the earth.
"Self-generated movement is the foundation of thought and willed action, the underlying mechanism by which the physical and psychological coordinates of the self come into being. For humans, the hand has a special role and status in the organization of movement and in the evolution of human cognition." –Frank R. Wilson, Neurologist
FORESTRY-TO-WOODWORKING-CRAFT
Children who work with wood – or other materials from the land in the context of life on an integrated farm – develop a respect for and ability to care for nature that includes the right activity of the human being. The idea that earth would be better off without humans is both prevalent and depressing for adults and children alike. A land-to-craft curriculum teaches children how to be in a healthy relationship to the earth and all of its creatures: mineral, plant, animal, and human. In addition to valuing nature, children learn to love themselves and each other.
FARM-TO-TABLE
Research shows that children who plant, care for, and cook the food they are served, are more likely to eat it (Nierenberg, 2013; Committee on Physical Activity and Physical Education in the School Environment, 2013). Healthy food supports healthy development. At Wild Rose Farm, children become familiar with textures, smells, and colors that are integral to a lifetime of healthy eating. As a result, children learn to love eating vegetables. Carrots are a farm favorite!
Resources:
Nierenberg, C. (2013, March 7). School gardening programs plant seeds of healthy eating. Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/27734-school-gardens-broaden-kids-palates.html
Wilson, F. R. (1998). The hand: how its use shapes the brain, language, and human culture. Vintage Books.
