Insects and Transformation

Originally Published June 3, 2022

Hello everyone,

We had a short but sweet week talking about bugs! We went to the river on Monday, with our bathing suits on, nets in hand, and cooled off and made some insect discoveries. We began talking about transformations, and we found some discarded exoskeletons from flying insects that had transformed from underwater larval states into aerial lives, like dragonflies and mayflies.

On Tuesday we read How to Build an Insect, and learned about insect anatomy and senses. We "built" some insects using forest materials.

Insects are so different from us, but so relatable, and so ubiquitous. They are so interesting to young children, and many older folks alike. On Thursday we focused quite a bit on dragonflies. We read Are You a Dragonfly, and we went to the pond to observe dragonflies and we scooped through the watery edges until we found dragonfly larvaes.

We also had a visit from Gizelle at the library, who read us the wonderful book Over and Under the Pond, and also that old favorite, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. For our cooking activity, in honor of the many, many leaf and plant eating insects, we gathered salad materials from the wild and from the garden. We picked and assembled red clovers, sorrel, dandelions, wild strawberries, garlic mustard leaves, chive blossoms, kale, lettuce and carrots. It was lovely!

We also discovered a robin's nest in one of the climbing trees in the play yard. They built it in a very easily observable spot, and we could even climb up the center of the tree and look down into the nest. The babies are newly hatched this week, and they are just little half bare balls of fluff. The mama was relatively unperturbed by our observations, and as soon as we climbed down she resumed feeding them. We look forward to checking on them again next week as they grow and change oh so quickly.

We have some painted lady butterfly caterpillars here at school that have been eating their way through their habitat and growing exponentially for the last week or so. These caterpillars are hanging upside down in J shapes tonight (Friday), which means that they are probably about to make chrysalises this evening. They have been a little slower about it than predicted, so I am doubtful that they will be hatched by the end of school next week, but it's possible one or two might. They should take 7-10 days from the time that they enter the chrysalis to be ready to hatch out in their transformed state. We'll see what happens.

We hope to see you all at 5:30 on Thursday for the end of year potluck and celebration. The event will begin at 5:30 with a brief ceremony of recognition for the learning and changes that the children have made this year. We will follow this ceremony by sharing a few of our favorite songs and poems from the spring, and then we'll enjoy a potluck dinner together. Please don't forget to label your food for people with allergies, and if you can bring reusable plates, cups or utensils that is always nice. I will have compostable ones to use though as well. Here is a google doc for organizing our dishes. Please add what you plan to bring if you can, so we don't all bring chocolate cake, (not that that would be soo bad.)

Please keep in mind that the long days and short nights, along with the warm temps and busy days at this time of year make young children very tired. We are seeing a few seriously over-stimulated and over-tired people at school these days, and it is, at times, affecting their ability to focus and interact productively with each other. Get some down time over the weekend and please curtail after school and evening activities as needed so that we can have a grounded and present last week of school with each other. It will mean a lot more to your child to be able to have an emotionally clear ending to the school year than it will to get that extra after school playdate or activity in this week. Summer is coming, there will be plenty of time to fill up with additional activities soon.

Have a great weekend and we will see you next week. May you be happy, may you be healthy, may you be peaceful, may you be filled with joy.