CWS 4th Grade Farm Trip

The Farm trip for 4th graders is finally back!

Before the pandemic, each year the 4th grade class from the Children’s Workshop School in East village, NYC takes a weeklong trip to the Manhattan Country School Farm in New York’s Catskill Mountains.  Accompanied by two CWS teachers, and lead by the farm's extremely experienced and effective staff, the students learn an incredible amount in this intense week.

For most of the children, not only is it their first time away from home, but it’s also their

first time on a farm, surrounded by animals, fields, and nature. They milk cows, feed pigs, gather freshly laid eggs and learn about their surroundings. All students participate in four classes: 

• Farm work which can include everything from hauling wheelbarrows of hay to removing beetles from potato plants. 
• Cooking as preparing lunch and dinner for all of the students and teachers, using primarily foods grown at the farm. 
• Textiles carding and spinning wool from the farm's sheep, and weaving using a manual loom, as well as learning about the history of handmade textiles. 
• Nature walks through the farm's extensive wooded property and studying the interactions among plants, soil, water, insects, and other animals.

The farm also has a variety of seasonal activities that students may participate in such as: observe and catch frogs at the frog pond, go sledding and snow-shoeing, explore

the wood and stream, participate in different phases of maple syrup processing, sheep

shearing, get to know the farm cats, draw and write outdoors, play sports, and substantial blocks of free time!

It's an amazing, enriching experience, fostering both independence and a connection to nature and farm work that not many children at public schools in New York City get to experience.

In the past we had a generous standing donation for many years  that covered the costs of this part of our curriculum.  Sadly, that annual $10,000 gift has ended and left

Children’s Workshop School looking for funding to keep our tradition. That’s why we’re

here reaching out to family and friends, and their families and friends, to help us meet

our goal.

We are all a family under one sky!

The Children’s Workshop School PTA is a 501(c)3 and all donations are tax deductible

as allowed by law.