Old McDonald's Farm, Inc.

 

Parent Reminder
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The Summer Program & The Jr. Vet. Program - 2025

Each of our weeks of THE SUMMER PROGRAM has the same amount of horse husbandry and horse riding time, no matter the academic focus animal.
Each of our weeks of THE SUMMER PROGRAM has the same amount of time to meet, feed and learn about all of the other Farm Program animals too.

Get out of the city and grow, learn and thrive at our educational Farm Program for children. Enjoy one of five weeks of The Summer Program and participate in hands-on, educational activities with more than 30+ farm animals including chickens, ducks, geese, goats, sheep, rabbits, pig, horses, donkey, pony, and cats and dogs too! Learn the care and maintenance of each of the farm animals and get active with gardening, game time, learn to ride a horse and more. Academics are important; the entire program is taught by an experienced, Oregon State Certified Teacher with over 40 years of livestock experience. We are a non-profit, children’s program with a goal to “teach and reach” children and youth. Please bring a sack lunch.

The Summer Program is for students going into 2nd-6th grades. Eight students min. & 18 students max. $299 per week. $39 for the bus.

The Jr. Vet. Program Week
Each year we teach a different Jr. Vet. Program (Week). In the past, we have taught, a Jr. Vet. Equine Week (horses and ponies), a Jr. Vet. Ruminant Week (goats, sheep and cows), a Jr. Vet. Feline/Canine (cats and dogs), or a Jr. Vet. Baby Piglet Program, etc. We change it each year. All of these Jr. Vet. Program Weeks include health, housing and feeding needs of the subject animal(s). If you have ever thought about becoming a veterinarian or a Vet. technician, then this is the class for you. Learn the diagnostic plan that Vets. use to determine a treatment plan. Learn how to maintain health, the lifespan and life stages of the animals, how to treat ailments, when to call a Vet., how to vaccinate and de-worm, the K.I.S.S. principle and more. The Jr. Vet. Program is taught by an Oregon State Certified Teacher with 40 years of livestock experience. We are a non-profit, children’s program with a goal to “teach and reach” children and youth. Please bring a sack lunch.

The Jr. Vet. Program(Week) is for students going into 4th-10th grades. Eight students min. & 18 students max. $309 per week. $39 for the bus.

Please Note: If the classes have less than eight students each, we will not be able to run the program. We simply cannot afford to run the programs (and pay for the costs associated) if we do not get enough registrations. We will contact you in advance if we must cancel a program. We did have to cancel a Summer Program & a Jr. Vet. Program week in 2024 so it is possible. Last year was a rough year for us in terms of registrations and financially. Please help our non-profit! Spread the word and ask your friends and family to join us for the week(s) to ensure that we get enough registrations. Thank you in advance.

Parents/Guardians Please Note:
With staffing shortages last summer and also it is super hard to find skilled help for our educational Farm Program with the required skill set needed, we are offering three weeks of Monday-Thursday programs & three weeks of Monday-Friday programs this summer.

Our programs are not a “camp” but an academic and skill building program and each day builds on the knowledge that they learned the day before. If your child misses a day, they will miss a great deal of information and then will be at a disadvantage. Please join us all four or five days, respectively.

Friends and Family please join us on Thursdays or Fridays, respectively, at 2:00 sharp for the Presentations for the Parents. Please check your dates.

Student Summer Helpers (11 and 12), and
Student Camp Counselors (13 and up) Click Here

Important Notes

The Bus for Old McDonald’s Farm, Inc. (OMF) parking is now at Concorde Career College, 1425 NE Irving St, Portland OR 97232. You can enter on NE 15th/Irving where it is paved. Head north under the building and then turn right. Head east to the back of the property away from all of those buildings. Look for our white bus and the really, really, big, old Crimson tree in the middle. Concorde Career College has kindly offered this drop off/pick up space to us but please be respectful and do not linger there because we do not want to take up their student parking. They have asked us to drive slowly and watch out for the young people “racing in there” that are late for classes. Please drive super slowly and be careful as it is tight and there are many pedestrians. PLEASE DO NOT DRIVE DOWN THE GRAVEL ROAD AT CONCORDE COLLEGE. There is no access for parents on the gravel road even though our OMF bus will drive on it. If parents drive on the gravel road, we may lose this parking privilege at Concorde. (The bus is too tall to fit under the buildings.)

Thank you to the kind folks at Concorde Career College for this!

FAQ

Tentative Schedule for the Summer Program

07:50 Bus Pick Up (We do not transport on Monday mornings. See you out at the Farm. To find directions click here.)
08:30 Good Morning Gab (Build communication and listening skills, play get-to-know you games to build group cohesiveness and discuss expectations of the day.)
09:00 With Rotating Small Groups:

  • Hands On Horse Time (Children will learn skills in how to appropriately groom a horse, how to safely mount and dismount and lastly children will be taught the basics of how to ride a horse or improve on their existing skills. Children will gain a sense of accomplishment through working with horses.)
  • Good Morning Games (Children will learn farm skills such as roping a stationary (model) cow or tossing horse shoes or playing on a tractor. This will encourage imagination and physical activity and foster cooperative play.)
  • What about that Animal? (At this time, new and special information will be taught about each of the theme animals during each week.)

10:50 Morning Chores (While doing daily chores, nurturing, respect, health care and feeding needs of animals will be taught. Students will participate in cooperative learning activities as they do chores.)
11:45 Get To Know Your Garden (Children will gain skills in composting, planting, weeding, watering and harvesting a garden. Lifecycles and interconnectedness within nature will be introduced.)
12:00 Soup’s on Lunch Time (Students will be instructed in hygiene and manners as well as, how to recycle and compost the waste from their lunches. Students need to bring their own healthy lunch.)
12:30 Pick-A-Pet (Students will pick a favorite animal to spend quality time. They will learn to bond with and nurture an animal while learning to appreciate that animal and learn to appropriately handle it.)
01:00 Time for Project Particulars (With the help of OMF staff, students will work independently and collectively to develop and create a special project. Given instruction, students will brain-storm, research and design an inquiry-based learning project that they will present orally on Friday of the Summer Program. Friends and family are invited from 2:00 to 3:30.)
02:00 Cool Cooperative Games (Children will be taught techniques in cooperative learning, problem solving, and will develop group cohesion while they stretch their legs and have fun.)
02:30 Highs/Lows (Wrap up and evaluation of the day through group discussion. The focus will be on celebrating personal successes and (with guidance) giving and receiving compliments.)
02:50 Good Bye!
***The class ends at 2:50; supervision will not be available past that time unless we are transporting your child. We thank you.***
03:30 Bus Drop Off (Mon-Thu only. We do not transport children on Friday afternoons.)

Are Scholarships Available?

We will try to offer scholarships to children in need if we can. Please call the office at 503/695-3316.

What Else is Going On?

And more, please see this web site or give us a call.

Need Help with Transportation?

PLEASE NOTE: WE DO NOT TRANSPORT STUDENTS ON MONDAY MORNINGS OR THURSDAYDAY AFTERNOONS!
Carpooling with friends is welcomed and encouraged. Click Here for directions.

Do you need help with transportation for any of our week-long programs this summer? We have our OMF, Inc. bus that transports 20 students. Transportation is on a ‘first come-first served’ basis.

All six Summer Program sessions and our Jr. Vet. Program of that year run from 8:30-2:50 Mon.-Thur. The bus times for parents are 7:50 a.m. to drop students and 3:30 p.m. to pick up students.

Join us out at the Farm Program at 8:30 Monday mornings for the beginning of all of our week-long programs this summer! Click Here for directions. We do not transport students on Monday mornings.

On Thursdays throughout the summer for The Summer Programs and the Jr. Vet. Program week, please join us in Corbett at our Farm Program at 2:00 sharp. Students will share their oral presentations that they have prepared all week and share the animals with you also. Please do not be late.

All friends and family are invited. (Please no pets allowed.) Please join us at 2:00 sharp. Plan to join us from 2:00 to 3:00 on those Thursdays.

Our Bus for Old McDonald’s Farm, Inc. (OMF) parking is at Concorde Career College, 1425 NE Irving St, Portland OR 97232. You can enter on NE 15th/Irving where it is paved. Head north under the building and then turn right. Head east to the back of the property away from all of those buildings. Look for our bus and the really, really, big, old Crimson tree in the middle. Concorde Career College has kindly offered this drop off/pick up space to us but please be respectful and do not linger there because we do not want to take up their student parking. They have asked us to drive slowly and watch out for the young people “racing in there” that are late for classes. Please drive super slowly and be careful as it is tight and there are many pedestrians. PLEASE DO NOT DRIVE DOWN THE GRAVEL ROAD AT CONCORDE COLLEGE. There is no access for parents on the gravel road even though our OMF bus will drive on it. If parents drive on the gravel road, we may lose this parking privilege at Concorde. They have asked us to tell parents to not drive on that gravel road. (The bus is too tall to fit under the buildings.)

Thank you to the kind folks at Concorde Career College for allowing us a safe and secure place to pick up and drop off students. We are really grateful to them!

What to bring?

Please send your child with these items below each and every day:

  • A hardy and healthy, cold lunch
  • Tight and well-fitting, work gloves (Look at Fred Meyer, Bi-Mart, feed or garden stores, etc.)
  • Bike or riding helmet that fits well and that you adjusted snugly in advance
  • Slathering of sunscreen. (Please slather them prior to camp and send extra; we cannot apply it.)
  • Wear long pants. Shorts or Capri pants are not allowed.
  • Tied-on, sturdy shoes with socks (Open-toed, open-healed, “vented” or loosely-fitted shoes are not safe, “yucky” and not allowed.)
  • The farm is always cooler in the mornings and cooler than in town. Your student will get cold, even on hot days, so please pack a sweatshirt for them.
  • Please have their hair tied back. Girls and boys too must have their bangs tightly clipped back and the long part of their hair must be in pony tails or pinned back. (For safety with big, 1,000 pound horses for example, student’s hair must not flop in front of their eyes or be on their face ever.)

Thanks for your understanding with the importance of these daily and safety rules!

Who can attend?

For the Summer Program, students who are going into second grade through sixth grade in the fall. (If an older student is really interested, then let us know.)

For the Jr. Vet. Program (week-long program) of that year, students who are going into 4th grade through 9th grade in the fall.