Fire Fighter For a Day!

I think whether you go to private school, public school or home school field trip days are always the best! Before school even got started this year we went on a field trip! We visited a local fire station. (I was personally sooo excited! I have been dying to go on a field trip to the fire station! Honestly I don't know who enjoys home schooling more, the kids or me? :) ) Soo  anyways

We visited a local fire station and got a grand tour. It was great. The truck is so intricate with all its gauges and equipment. The fire station house was impressively clean. I didn't realize how much work went into being a fire fighter and that they work for 24 hour shifts! That is pretty close to mother hood hours LOL. The fire fighters were very patient and informative and the kids felt very welcomed. We even heard the alarm go off for the ambulance!


After the grand tour of the fire station  the firefighters pulled the truck out so the kids could squirt the hose!!!! You know they loved that!

Then to show the children not to be scared of fire fighters she put on the Fire Fighter's Outfit and showed the kids how it was just equipment that they wear and that fire fighters are really our friends. 

We ended the morning wearing fire fighter hats they gave us and a group photo! It was an amazing morning of learning and hanging out with our friends.

The day before the field trip a friend of mine inspired me to do a little pre-lesson after she sent a picture of her doing a pre-lesson. :) HONESTY MOMENT: At first I was annoyed and disappointed in myself for not thinking of it first and I actually thought to myself I wasn't doing a good enough job. But instead of getting down on myself I shook off the feeling,and  turned to trusty old Google and found some resources to help my kids prepare for the trip.

First we watched a catchy little video on Fire Safety. Check it out here: Fire Safety Video.  It is super informative and my son is still singing the catch phrase (and it's been over a week!) The video encouraged us to then spend time talking about what to do in case of an emergency, how to call 9-1-1 and Stop,Drop and Roll. (The Kids LOVED rolling around on the floor pretending they were caught on fire!) Then my oldest Tripp, who is 7 and I made a (Simple) map of our home, created a meeting place and talked about alternate routes depending on where the fire was.

I wanted to also add a craft so  I quickly googled fire truck crafts, clicked on images, found one that was easy to duplicate and quickly cut out the pieces and called my daughter   (who is almost 3)  into the kitchen to make a craft. My oldest opted out of  the craft and for a moment I thought to myself, "NOOOOO then this lesson won't be perfect!" But I took a deep breath to calm down and reminded myself that I am not a perfectionist and that it was ok, it was a pre-school craft any way. I wanted to end our time together reading a book where Elmo visits the fire station, but  of course I couldn't find it ...  Grrrr... but Oh Well!! LOL (this incident did encourage me a few days later to organize all of my books!)

I think it is safe to say to we learned a lot and we are thankful for the men and women who put their lives on the line to help us in times of emergencies. The fire fighters did a wonderful job teaching and catering to all of the children. And I think it is safe to say that not all learning has to be done with some grand lesson plan in store. Sometimes it is better to just start learning somewhere and see where the Holy Spirits leads you!