Mission Statement

The mission of the Tree of Life Literacy Circle is simple and direct: To guide students of all ages to find within themselves the desire and courage to embrace the joy of reading and the love of nature, by providing them the opportunity to combine reading books about the horses and other animals at The Four Harmony Foundation, and actually meeting and working with these same animal friends.

Overview of The Tree of Life Literacy Circle

The goal of The Tree of Life Literacy Circle is to foster a love of reading and nature in students of all ages. This will be accomplished in the following ways. A facilitator from The Four Harmony Foundation will come to the regular classroom setting to share experiences, stories and pictures about the animals that live there. Books about the animal friends that live at the farm will be given to students to read and keep. Hands-on, teacher led activities will be provided to the classroom teacher. These activities could include but not be limited to storytelling, role playing appropriate treatment of animals, student written plays, art projects, animal research, lobbying for animal rights, volunteering at the local animal shelter, and writing original animal stories.

At a later time, students will take a field trip to the farm to meet and actually work with the animals they have met through the books they have read. Follow-up projects will involve reading other animal stories, participating in activities relating to the new stories, and further visits to the farm.

A farm-based project will be designed by students, teachers, and the facilitator to provide students with first hand experience in designing and creating a special area of the farm, dedicated to the students in honor of the work they have accomplished. Examples of this project might include creating: butterfly and hummingbird gardens, herb and vegetable gardens, handicapped accessible nature trails, and outdoor reading areas.

These projects will be age appropriate and based on the abilities of the students.

Experiential learning is a valuable and integral part of education. When students are excited about and have ownership of their learning experiences, and actually participate in real-life activities that make a difference in the lives of others, they experience themselves as valuable people with much to offer the community at large. It is our dream to facilitate this learning through The Tree of Life Literacy Circle.