Seeds and Fruits

Originally published October 1st

Hello everyone,

We had a really fun week talking about seeds and fruits. On Monday we read The Reason for a Flower and went on a wild and rainy seed hunt. On Tuesday we read A Fruit is a Suitcase for Seeds and we cut up some fruits and "vegetables" to find the seeds inside, and noted whether there is a pit (a plum), or just a few seeds (an apple), or lots of seeds like a ground cherry. The pomegranate was a favorite. On Wednesday we were invited to visit the community garden next to the rec center. We had a nice visit, we had a good discussion about being good guests, and the garden coordinator was kind enough to show us around and let us taste lots of seeds and fruits and interesting things. (Note the face below while tasting rhubarb) After our community garden visit we went to the garden at school and read The Carrot Seed, and planted carrot seeds in the greenhouse. We also picked beans, made apple prints and read Apple by Nikki McLure. On Friday we shucked dried dent corn from the school garden and ground it up in the food processor to make cornmeal. Then we made the cornmeal into cornbread. We read The Watermelon Seed and Plant the Tiny Seed. We talked a little bit about how plants like corn and milkweed use the wind for moving pollen and seeds. We made windy seed process art using glue, paper and handfuls of cornmeal sprinkled in front of a fan.

We had our first real rainy day on Monday and have been noticing a lot of changes in the weather and the vegetation around us. Every morning when we sit down for snack together we practice using our senses and observe about 30 seconds of silent awareness. We then share and talk about what we have noticed. Lots of yellow leaves and dramatic, changing skies this past week.
Thank you for dressing your child appropriately and sending plenty of masks. As we head into cooler and maybe stormier weather please ensure that they continue to be geared up and equipped with extra clothes, socks etc. If your child likes to wear slippers it is not a bad idea to have a pair of warm socks or slippers at school for wearing during inside play. Just fyi I am investing in an air filter this month for the classroom as an added precaution to help keep us healthy during indoor time.

We have a new friend joining us next week! He is just moving here from Connecticut. Monday will be his first day. We talked on Friday about how to be good friends and help him feel welcome and comfortable at school. The children all had lovely suggestions for welcoming him and are excited about having a new friend.

Have a great weekend everyone. May you be happy, may you be healthy, may you be peaceful, may you be filled with joy.