Dear Families,
It was wonderful to have a full week of school. Everyone is settling in so nicely! There were hot summery days to play at the pond, a cool rainy day to play inside with Pre-k friends, and lots of time to explore our campus and wonder about how clay changes in water, where the water in the stream is rushing to, (“I think he going to he home.“)what’s inside a milkweed pod, why our woods have so many mushrooms growing in them and to figure out the problems of how to turn clay into garbage trucks, snakes, ponds and “hoe-cakes.”
Dissolving clay at the pond.
It was very exciting to finally take turns presenting “secret” items from nature. The idea of keeping a secret is difficult and I was really impressed with how well each child and the group responded to this complex assignment involving going before a group, waiting for guesses, sharing, explaining, calling on others, listening, taking turns, and communicating about why a particular object was special and remembering the story attached to a shell, an acorn, a pebble, a pine cone, etc.
Isabelle shows us how the tiny seed she planted grew so big!
Aidan tells us that he went on a nature walk with Daddy, Biel and Olivia to find his acorn.
“I got them from Ocean City, far, far away from here.”
“I got it with my Mom and Dad and Sadie and Win. Benjy was in Mommy’s tummy. It was a while ago. Then we got married. Then we find them.”
After the presentations I shared something I had collected from nature, milkweed pods, that in themselves were vessels hiding a secret. I asked the children to guess what was inside, “A pine cone.” “A mommy.” “An apple.” We discussed how scientists wonder and make guesses and then find out! “Let’s open and find out!” It was interesting to use magnifying glasses to see the membranes inside the pods and to look closely at what had been hidden. Everyone noticed similarities between the milkweed seeds and pine cones. “So soft!” “It has feathers on it!”
Opening milk weed pods.
In the beginning of the week we put small, hard pieces of clay in the water table. Over the course of the week, the clay got soft and gooshy and disappeared into the cloudy water. One day we decided to take a large block of clay to the pond to see what would happen to it. “I think it’s gonna melt.” What a great guess! I taught everyone the word, ‘dissolve,’ and we watched in amazement as the hard block became milky, smoky swirls in the water. “I’m painting with it!” This discovery inspired us to make our own paint later in the week. I was reminded of early cave drawing as the children squished the most elemental ingredients together, painted their hands and made marks on black paper! “Look what I did!” “I make my hand!”
Water and clay paint.
Hand print.
I wanted to share this quote from The Sense of Wonder by Rachel Carson. It reminded me of why I choose to work with young children and how lucky I feel to be with people who are able to see magic in the mundane every day:
“A child’s world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood. If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantment of later years.”
Lion’s Mane mushrooms growing on a log.
Water.
Earth.
On Thursday we will be going to Windy Hill Orchards on a school bus to pick apples with our friends from Pre-k, kindergarten and 1st grade. We will leave after snack and return for lunch. Please have your child wear long pants and rain boots on that day, as the grass in the orchard will probably be wet. We have been learning songs about apples and adding and subtracting felt apples with ‘Farmer Brown.’ If any of you would like to accompany us on the trip, please let me know!
Collecting apples on the playground.
Counting felt apples in class.
I look forward to getting a chance to talk more at curriculum night, tomorrow!
All the best,
Sarah
Sarah,
Thank you so much for last night and for being so thorough with your blog posts. They truly paint a picture of life in B3’s. Aidan is loving it.
Geoff
Thank you! I enjoyed our time and getting to know all of you. Thank you, too, Geoff for volunteering to be our class parent!
Sarah