We were so excited to welcome a new morning friend last week, and an afternoon friend this week. Both new students have quickly integrated into the class and we are enjoying getting to know them.
The Autumn Equinox occurred on Sunday the 22nd and was our focus this week. We shared some of our observations about fall and how we know that the season is changing. We took turns being the sun and the Earth to understand how the seasons change. The earth travelled around the sun; passing from winter, to spring, to summer, then fall. We learned that during the Autumn and Vernal (spring) Equinoxes, the day and night are the same length.
At the art table students continued to work on family portraits, as well as creating fabulous artwork using pastels, markers, scissors, and glue. A lot of good creativity, fine motor work, and concentration has been happening at the art table.
We had two visitors from Costa Rica this week, Diego and Daniella. Everyone enjoyed getting to know them and hear them speak Spanish. We saw where Costa Rica is on the map of North America and the path they travelled to get to Lancaster, New Hampshire.
During Spanish we read Pinta Ratones (Mouse Paint) by Ellen Stoll Walsh, and learned the Spanish color names. We also talked about Costa Rica and began to learn about the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus and his voyages from Spain to the Americas.
During Music this week we continued to learn about and play percussion instruments. We were introduced to the rain stick, the xylophone, and the tambourine.
On Thursday morning we had a visit from Olivia with Believe in Books. We enjoyed listening to Olivia Saves the Circus, then giving her big hugs and choosing a book to take home.
Friday students had another visitor in the morning. A beagle puppy came to say hi and was given lots of hugs before she returned home.
During Friday Science we tasted four kinds of apple: honey crisp, mac, gala, and ginger gold. Everyone said that they liked all of them best! We counted and charted the number of seeds in each apple, and recorded our findings on a graph.
