Field Trips and Guests

Family. Community. Exploration. 

Family is the child’s first teacher.  Preschool should be a small community that helps children adjust from their families to the wider world around them as they gradually become more independent.   We typically go on field trips monthly.

At Rocky Hill Co-op, we’re lucky to be located in the small community of Rocky Hill, NJ. We are welcomed by the Post Office, Library, Fire Department and Rescue Squad, and all are in walking distance.

Our slightly larger community includes orchards, farms, an airport,  George Washington’s Headquarters, and Princeton University, all just a short drive away. 

Field trips should be relevant to a child’s life, and provide meaningful experiences  that can be carried over to the classroom. 

Our first field trip is a trip to Terhune Orchards to pick apples. Yes, many children have made the same trip with their families.  For many, this is the first time they are going as students, with or without their parents.  Being with a larger group teaches so many different skills!  The apples are knee-high to a preschooler and as tall as an adult.  It’s the perfect first trip.  We go, pick apples, then go back to school. The next day, the children can “sell” apple at a “farm stand” in the classroom as we cook the apples we picked!       

Our next trip is usually in October or early November. We go to a local farm to see the farm animals, go on a hayride, and pick pumpkins.  Soon after?  A farm in the classroom!

Every February we walk to Rocky Hill Post Office to mail letters home!  First the children make Valentines for their families and decorate the backs of the envelopes so that they’re visible when they get home. We have maps of the streets on the way which includes the houses and their numbers.  The children read their maps and find the matching house.  When we arrive, there are boxes ready for the children to stand on.  They go up to the counter, give the postal worker a bag with their money, and say, “One stamp, please!”  They then put their stamp on the X in the corner of their envelope.  When they’re done, they go to the lobby and mail their letter.  THEN we go behind the counter to see where the mail went!  The children are allowed to hand cancel there own envelope.  If they live in town and have a P.O. box, they can put it in their own box.  For the rest, THE LETTER SHOWS UP AT THEIR HOUSE THE NEXT DAY!!!  Simply amazing  for a preschooler!

 

Literal “field trips!”

 

The Rutgers Geology Museum