We went adventuring on Monday. The children were introduced to fairy houses and were each given a nature scavenger hunt sheet. We travelled together across the green, behind the courthouse, and along the river in search of the items on our list while simultaneously collecting bark, dried plants, rocks, flowers, etc. for our fairy houses. We found birds, ants, a body of water, trees, butterflies, leaves, and other natural items before returning to school, running through a sprinkler behind the courthouse to cool off on the way.
Insects were introduced. The children each selected an insect model/toy to study then shared observations about them. We noticed that insects have 6 legs, 3 body parts (head, thorax, abdomen), two antennae, and many have wings, some of which are hidden under wing casings.
We continued to rehearse for Woodland Stone Soup and did a partial dress rehearsal. We are hoping to record it as soon as all of our actresses and actors are feeling better and return to school.
During Sign Language with Rose she told the story Llama, Llama, Time to Share. We learned some new signs, including Llama, gnu, share, doll, castle, and moat. We then took turns signing the alphabet and a corresponding sign, taking turns adding the next letter and sign as we went along. Rose signed “A” is for “apple” then the first child signed “A” is for “apple” and “B” is for “boy” then the next child signed “A” is for “apple” and “B” is for “boy” and “C” is for “cat,” etc.
We celebrated a fourth birthday with a girl born in the month of May in the season of spring, four orbits of the earth around the sun ago! She donated two super fun books that we loved reading and giggling with; Pete the Cat and the Cool Caterpillar, and Impatient Caterpillar, which was about a caterpillar that struggles to be patient metamorphosing into a butterfly.
Susan continued lessons on the musical scale and high and low using bells, the glockenspiel (talking bells), and boom whackers. The children were given instruments in order of the C scale and played them to hear the progression, then Susan pointed at individuals to play their bells in a tune and we guessed what was played. They were then given either a bell or a boom whacker and they used the colors and letters on the instruments to pair up and play their corresponding notes at the same time. It was neat to hear the sounds each instrument made and how they matched.
Everyone gathered under the shade of the apple tree when Zeanny arrived for Spanish. They sang the body movement songs, and moved all around the playground in a line for “La Marcha.” Zeanny then shared a true story about when she was a little girl at her abuela’s house and the time she snuck out to taste the cocoa beans from the chocolate tree in the back yard, after being told “No lo comos!” (don’t eat it).
Kindergarten students painted the fence through 150 days of school. It is hard to believe we have only 4 weeks of school left! They also cut, pasted, and labeled the pictures for their V and W pages of their alphabet books.
We did a bit more work on our house and the children had lots of fun climbing up and enjoying the view from up above everyone else.
Friday students revisited their learning and observations from last week with the bean seeds then did some planting with Michelle. They filled clear containers with soil, soaked them down, and planted some bean seeds that we will observe as they sprout and grow. They also planted some pumpkins and sunflowers in peat pots to transplant in our well tile bollards in front of the fence.
We played a move like an insect game. The children took turns rolling either one or two dice. They then found the card that corresponded with the number or sum of the two numbers, turned it over and read it, and we all did the action on the card. They had fun fluttering like butterflies, crawling like ladybugs, carrying like ants, hopping like grasshoppers, pollinating like bees, and buzzing like flies. We will play again next week with the whole group.
