MANSFIELD, Ohio — St. Peter’s Montessori Pre-school/Kindergarten was just one of five school groups to visit Wayne’s Country Market to enjoy fall activities on Wednesday.
Wayne’s Country Market invited schools from Richland County to participate in the market’s activities that include a haystack maze, a zip-line, two slides, apple cider pressing and sorting, and milking a cow replicate.
Director and Teacher of St. Peter’s Montessori Pre-school/Kindergarten Tammy Kemerling said physical activity, like grabbing a zip-line, helps youth make the necessary development for reading, also known as “crossing the midline.”
“Physical activity is just as important as academic activity. The way that we move our bodies … it’s all connected,” said Kemerling.
Kemerling said the Montessori takes the group of pre-schoolers and kindergarteners to Wayne’s Country Market every year as part of their seasonal education.
“We teach them about the season of fall, and apples and pumpkins,” Kemerling said. “We learn how to press apples and sort them. We’ve been sorting apples in school.”
Kemerling said the children, ages 3 to 6, learn best by doing hands-on activities, making the field trip to Wayne’s a necessary addition to the teaching curriculum.
Employees from Wayne’s could be heard asking the students how many apples they counted in the apple sorter, followed by an enthusiastic count under 10. Students in the maze were encouraged to find the end, and some were instructed to look both ways before crossing the driveway before entering the tractor for a hay ride.
David Gaines sends his five-year-old son, Haydon, to St. Pete’s Montessori because he and his wife were impressed with the school’s reputation.
“Too many video games and stuff these days, and tablets. It’s nice for them to get out and do something,” said Gaines.
