Squirrels, Nuts, and Preparation

Little squirrel living there

In a hollow tree,

I've a pretty cage for you

Come and live with me.

You may turn the little wheel,

That will be great fun?

Slowly round, or very fast,

If you faster run.

Little squirrel, I will bring

In my basket here

Every day a feast of nuts?

Come then, squirrel dear.

But the little squirrel said,

From his hollow tree,

"Oh! No, no! I'd rather far

Live here and be free."

So my cage is empty yet

And the wheel is still

But my little basket here

Oft with nuts I fill.

If you like, I'll crack the nuts,

Some for you and me,

For the squirrel has enough

In his hollow tree.

We have had a wonderful two weeks studying squirrels and nuts!

Our activities have included a daily morning talk about squirrels, looking for and observing squirrels with binoculars, collecting nuts, cracking them open, and making our own nut butter.

The children's nature journals are coming along nicely, we made tree bark rubbings, and played lots of fun games with baskets of acorns, walnuts, almonds, and peanuts.

We also incorporated a new "Mystery Box" game where we knock in different patterns to make the box open, close our eyes, and reach in to pull out one item at a time. This week it was a collection of different art prints that we would then look at and discuss.

This past Friday we played with an anatomy game where the children worked at placing different stickers of body parts on a body outline card.

Our nature walk verse:

The bright eyed squirrels, furry, fleet,

A-gleaming go with puttering feet.

Brown nuts polished by early frost

On the moss below by the winds are tossed.

Some of the book titles we have read this week:

Berries, Nuts, and Seeds by Diane Burns

Rabbits, Squirrels, and Chipmunks by Mel Boring

The Legend of the Kukui Nut by Brandon Henderson

Nuts by Paula Gerritsen (group favorite)

The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri

The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin by Beatrix Potter

Animals in the Fall by Gail Saunders-Smith

All children need to be adequately dressed for the weather. Especially when it is wet and/or rainy, everyone needs to have rain boots and pants to protect clothing. We play in all weather and it is extremely messy when children don't have appropriate footwear or clothing covers. There is only one child who consistently brings rainboots and rainsuit so we really need to work on this! Our new parent guide is coming soon and one of the new requirements will be that every child must have rain boots and rainsuit that stays here at school. New parent handbook will be going into effect starting October 1st. Thanks for your help!!

This week's reflection: Preparation

"If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend the first hour sharpening the ax."

-Abraham Lincoln

"Taking the time to evaluate our current situation and to prepare for upcoming events can save us a lot of time and energy. Our lives are so full it is often hard to find the time to think ahead.

This week spend 5 minutes each day in silence focusing on the present moment. Let your mind be at peace with where you are now. When your time is up, take out a pen and paper and make a simple list of areas of your life that would be wise to prepare for in the upcoming year. Keep this very simple and stay grounded in the present...it is the only moment we ever fully have."

-Little Acorn Learning

Boat trip day success!

Our Friday boat trip adventure was a huge success.
First we all went over to the world map and decided where we were going to sail.
Africa, China, Sweden, Ohio, New Zealand, and "a blue place" were the destinations of the day.
Tickets were made, necessary items packed, and we headed outside for our morning circle time.
Each child had the opportunity to describe the things they brought and why they would be helpful on a boat trip. I then walked over towards the boats and called everyone individually.
"I am looking for a Charlie Harp. Charlie Harp, you may now board your boat." He handed me his ticket, and he was off....
The children played out many different scenarios with all of their equipment and props and had many happy hours of fun.
We also made little wooden boats, painted them, and floated different types of boats in water as well.
Thanks to everyone for bringing in so many extra things to help us create a lively and enriching boating experience!
A special thanks also to Shane Minor for installing our new tree swing on Friday! The children were captivated by the men hanging from the tall tree and of course loved swinging for the rest of the day!!

Boats

We made boats today and discussed many different types including a schooner, sloop, dory, rowboat, skiff, kayak, scow, houseboat, and a tugboat. Each child picked out their favorite and we drew big pictures with chalk, designed our own with flat wooden blocks, and then glued one on paper. We measured the shapes and talked about the benefits and purpose of each kind of boat. It was fun seeing the children work together and independently on these projects of the day!

Thanks!!

Thanks to Banon, Ulysses, and Meredith for bringing such wonderful and delicious veggies from their garden for us to enjoy and for the lacing cards!! The lacing cards are a new interest for many of the children as they learn to string beads, cards, and finger knit and the ocean/sea creatures theme is perfect as we move into our new learning and play adventures this week.
Thank you also to everyone who has brought in old magazines...these help a lot with cutting, pasting, collage projects, and more!
We were so happy about the change in weather today and are looking forward to cooler days ahead.
It was fun having Roman come to play with us today and the children were excited to have him join in our day.

Playing

This week we have been following many of the children's ideas for play.
Wonderful houses, forts, and cities have been built, a little teddy bear playground, lots of water activities including observing the effects of magnets, and even a bit of wishful winter longing complete with blankets and scarves. I think there is a definite sense of the extreme heat as we imagine a variety of ways to deal with it.
Thanks to Charlie and his mom for bringing in lots of paper, puzzles, and books for our classroom and a delicious cantaloupe from the farmer's market yesterday. It is so wonderful to see the children get excited about fresh fruits and vegetables! This was the best and sweetest melon and we could smell it all around the room even before we cut into it. You would have thought we were opening a new toy by the gleeful sounds from everyone when we sliced it and passed it around.

Friday will be a Fairy Fun Day as we search for fairies outside, play games, and have a special tea party to celebrate Genevieve's 3rd birthday.

Next week we will be moving into our new theme of boats, oceans, and sea life.

Frogs and persistence

Persistent Frog
The Moral: Keep Swimming


Two frogs fell into a deep cream bowl.
One was an optimistic soul,
but the other took the gloomy view.
"We'll drown," he lamented without ado.
And with a last despairing cry,
He flung up his legs and said "Goodbye."

Quote the other frog with a steadfast grin,
"I can't get out but I won't give in,
I'll just swim around until my strength is spent,
then I'll die the more content."

Bravely he swam to work his scheme,
and his struggles began to churn the cream
The more he swam, his legs a flutter,
The more the cream turned into butter

On top of the butter at last he stopped.

What is the moral? It's easily found.
If you can't hop out, keep swimming around!

Jumping into our new theme of frogs has kept us fully engaged this past week!

We had a frog hunt, searching for real photos of Missouri's most popular frogs and toads that were hidden around the classroom, acted out stories about frogs, pretended to be frogs, played leap frog, lily pad hop, made thumbprint frog scenes on watery paper lily pads, and painted with green paint.
The children are narrating some of their own stories and "reading" these to their friends, doing many counting activities with little teddy bear counters as they line them up and sort them according to color and size, and learning many new frog fingerplays that have been incorporated into our summer circle time.
Our morning talk sounds something like this:

Monday:
"What color do you think of when you hear about frogs?"
Can you find other items in this room that are green?
This inspired an "I spy green" hunt

Tuesday:
"Do you know where frogs come from?" (eggs)
The mother frog lays eggs in the water.
When the eggs hatch, the baby frogs are first tadpoles!
Have you ever seen a tadpole? (we look at photo)
The frogs do not yet have their legs. Those will grow later. First they look like little fish.

Wednesday:
"Do you know where frogs and tadpoles live?
They live in ponds, lakes, and other bodies of water. (We observe photos)
Would you like to go on a frog hunt?

Thursday:
"Do you know how frogs move?
Do they walk?
Do they crawl?
Do they fly?
They hop!
Let's hop like frogs
Let's catch bugs with our tongue
Let's croak like a frog

Friday:
Listen to actual frog and toad calls to identify the various kinds that live here in Missouri

Yoga Time: Froggy Fun
Tadpole Tugs
Swimming Frogs
Jumping Frogs
Sunning Frogs
Follow up activity:
draw or write in journal or take turns speaking about each other's experience as a frog

Books we are reading about frogs:
All Eyes on the Pond by Michael J. Rosen
From Tadpole to Frog by Wendy Pfeffer
If You Hopped Like a Frog by David Schwart
A Frog Thing by Eric Drachman
Days with Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel
Frog Prince by The Brothers' Grimm
Growing Frogs by Vivian French

We are in need of pond water, tadpoles, a ten gallon fish tank, aquarium gravel, plant life, a large rock, a small can or container with a poked lid to hold eggs, tadpoles, and frogs.
If you would be able to gather any one of these or all of these items, then we will have the chance to put together an indoor tadpole habitat and help the children observe tadpoles growing into frogs to further enrich our studies in the next few weeks.

Last week on Friday we were able to take a field trip to the Art Museum and look for paintings of water...which we found. A whole exhibit called "The beauty of water". We also searched for green in the art and talked about what pieces would most likely be good places for frogs.

This weeks reflection: Persistence

"The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night."
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

When we forge ahead and keep trying, we are able to release our unique gifts and amaze ourselves and others with the results. Keep trying even when it seems too difficult to continue. Keep moving forward, dreaming and creating and watch what the power within you can do. You are meant to do beautiful things. Move forward.

Little Acorn Learning

A special thank you to Grace for the dried lavender which added a peaceful aroma to our room, and to Amy for the huge roll of blank sticker paper that will be used for a long time. The children love to incorporate stickers into their art and this will give us a chance to be creative and make our own to go along with whatever subjects we are studying!

Birthdays, peaches, park, and storytime

Birthday celebrations are very important around here.
All the children make their own coloring page for a unique birthday book to give, we tell a birthday story, make honey muffins together, sing songs and play games. Happy birthday to Sierra and Addi, our most recent 3 year olds.
Thanks to Sierra and Amy for bringing in delicious peaches to share on Friday and a new sand/water table for the children's outdoor play space. The excitement was fun to watch!
Thanks for all the nature magazines from Charlie and Finn's mom, Jennifer. These are always needed and used for many projects we do.
If I have forgotten to thank someone, please forgive me. I am so grateful for each and every one of you and for all the special ways you encourage and support my work and efforts with your children.
Today, we took a joyful walk to the park and flower gardens. We observed the weather, talked about the names and characteristics of various flowers, and played on the playground.
We returned just in time for a snack before the story lady from the library started her songs and books about pirates. Pirate hats, stickers, and finger puppets were the highlights!