Featured Events, Resources, & Opportunities

Montessori School of the Berkshires (MSB) inspires children to develop independent thinking, self-assurance, inner discipline, and a love of learning in an authentic Montessori environment. Serving children aged 15 months through grade 8 on 40 wooded acres, MSB supports each child’s innate curiosity and helps them develop focus and motivation, and embraces collaboration and cooperation. Engaging materials, designed for hands-on learning through all senses, are continually adapted to meet each child’s needs, interests, and development, so they are best prepared for the next level of education. Open 7:30am-3pm; extended coverage until 5:15 pm. Daycare & Preschool ♦ Ages 15mo-8th grade. For more information: info@berkshiremontessori.org; 413-637-3662; www.berkshiremontessori.org.

Hilltown CDC (HCDC) seeks to improve the quality of life for Hilltown residents by addressing economic, housing, education, social, & community needs while preserving the rural character of the area. Thanks to a generous grant from the MGCC, the HCDC offers FREE, confidential business assistance to Hilltown residents! If you’re thinking of starting or growing your business, HCDC can help. They have experts in various areas who can help entrepreneurs get on their feet, including website help, social media marketing, business tax & accounting, legal assistance, & more. Sign up for free virtual classes: hilltowndirectory.com/events. For more info, contact HCDC Economic Development Director Michele Kenney: MicheleK@Hilltowncdc.org; 413-354-1055

List of Weekly Suggested Events

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Self-Directed Learning: Sugar Season

April and May might be filled with the blossoms of spring, but there is no need for flowers when we have sweet maple syrup to enjoy on our pancakes with family and friends! Let sugar season be a time of year to reconnect to the community and strengthen your sense of place through value-based community engagement that supports learning. Maple sugaring is a centuries-old tradition in New England, and the seasonal industry remains an essential part of the foundation upon which local agriculture is built. Additionally, maple sugaring brings opportunities for families to engage in intergenerational community-based learning through visits to farms, community meals, living history, and experiential, hands-on activities. Read more in our thread, “Learning Ahead: Early Spring is Sugar Season.” Explore Native American traditions, New England history, sugar shacks, shared meals, art & literature, and early spring food tradition, all through the lens of the first harvest of the year, maple syrup!

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Self-Directed Learning: Superstition

Step on a crack, break your mother’s back? Who came up with this superstition, and why? Black cats, whistling in a theater, Friday the 13th, knocking on wood, opening an umbrella inside … these are all examples of superstitions, many of which have their origins in coincidences, forgotten religions, or outdated advice. Cultural habits and psychological bias often perpetuate superstitions. Getting curious about the origins of superstition can be a “lucky penny” for self-directed learners. History, psychology, religion, humanities, and more are often supported. With Friday the 13th as your catalyst, ask questions and seek answers to support your learning! (Unless you have friggatriskaidekaphobia. In which case, maybe tomorrow is better?)

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Self-Directed Learning: Skunks

Coyotes and Bobcats add to our soundscape in late winter, while skunks add to our scent-scapes. This time of year is the mating season for all three mammals. While coyotes and bobcats are wrapping up their courtships, the Striped Skunk mating season spans into early spring, with March being the peak of the season. Because they are covering territory to find their mates, crossing paths with other animals that might threaten or scare them, the noxious spray of a skunk tells us that spring is here! This spray is a defense mechanism for the skunk and a lovely, albeit stinky, lens for learning! Using your nose to alter you to their presence, get curious and learn about their mating behavior, the chemistry of their spray, and how skunks  

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Self-Directed Learning: Neuroscience

It’s Brain Awareness Week, a global campaign to foster public enthusiasm and support for brain science. So let’s get curious about the brain and how it works. A few good places to start are looking for answers to questions like how the brain and the senses intersect, how exercise affects the brain, and how scientists study the brain. Read more in our post, Neuroscience for Kids: Understanding the Brain for Deeper Learning. 

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Self-Directed Learning: Purim

Purim is a joyous Jewish holiday in late winter/early spring. The story of Purim comes from the Bible and is set in ancient Persia. Haman, an evil and egotistical minister of the King, concocts a plan to destroy all Jews in the empire because they refuse to bow down to him. Little does Haman know that the new queen, Esther, is herself a Jew. Esther bravely reveals her true identity to the King. The Jews are spared, and Haman is destroyed instead. Purim customs include telling Biblical stories, dressing in costumes, and eating hamantashen. Read more in our post, Purim in Western MA.

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Self-Directed Learning: Saint Patrick’s Day

Corned beef has become synonymous with Saint Patrick’s Day and Irish American culture, but the history of this dish is much more complicated than one might think. First of all, the name “corned beef” refers to preserving beef in coarse salt, known as “corn” in old English. While some versions of salted or “corned” beef can be traced back to 12th century Ireland, any version of the dish that would be recognizable today is derived from a product that originated in the 17th century. Until the late 19th century, Ireland was the world’s largest producer of canned corned beef, which became a major tradeable commodity because it was nonperishable. Irish corned beef was traded across the Atlantic to the French to be used in their sugar plantations in the Caribbean and many other British and French colonies. Despite the considerable amount of corned beef produced in Ireland, the vast majority of the product was exported and not consumed by Irish people. Moreover, the corned beef industry played a role in the Irish Potato Famine. As more and more farmland was taken over for corned beef production, Irish farmers were pushed onto smaller, poorer-quality plots of land, where potatoes became the only sustainable crop. Nevertheless, corned beef has become an essential part of Irish American cultural heritage linked to Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations. In Ireland, to this day, corned beef and cabbage remain the traditional dish eaten on this holiday

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Self-Directed Learning: American Woodcocks

American Woodcocks, also known as Timberdoodles, return their migration north in the early spring, where males perform their mating displays at dusk in open fields. Catching sight of these interesting breeding displays can teach you a lot about woodcocks – how the males attract mates, their ideal habitat, which mating displays seem most effective, and how females react to the displays. Budding birdwatchers can learn how to enter the ideal woodcock habitat in search of these birds to observe their unique behavior. If you’ve never heard the telltale peents of the woodcock looking for a mate to do its early spring sky dance, you’ll fall in love with this ground-nesting, football-sized bird once you do! Get curious and learn about their feeding behavior, diet, eggs, nesting, calls, and young.

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Weekly eNewsletter

Online and in-person events and resources shared above are done so as a courtesy and not as an endorsement. While we do our best to share accurate and up-to-date information, please take the time to confirm information, age appropriateness, registration requirements, safety protocols, and associated costs.

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Hilltown Families’ list of Suggested Events is supported in part by grants from the Agawam, Amherst, Becket, Bernardston, Buckland, Chicopee, Colrain, Cummington, Easthampton, Goshen, Granby, Greenfield, Hadley, Hatfield, Heath, Hinsdale/Peru, Huntington, Leyden, Montgomery, Mount Washington, Northern Berkshire, Orange, Otis, Palmer, Pelham, Rowe, Shelburne, Shutesbury, South Hadley, Tolland, Tyringham, Windsor, and Worthington Cultural Councils, local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.