Tasting and Describing Different Apples

We designed the chart... and cut the apples... 

Then we tasted red, green, and pink apples at our group circle.

            

We shared our observations about each color apple and then tallied our votes for our favorites at the bottom. I was surprised to see the majority of children say they liked the "sour" flavor of the green and pink apples we tasted! 

It Was a Painting With Apples Kind of Day

Apple season means apple themed art projects! We sliced apples in half to see the "star", located in the core (where the seeds are). Then we pressed in forks to make a handle for our stamps. A little bit of paint, and time to create our colorful masterpieces!

*Along with other characteristics, we have been discussing the variety of colors apples could be. Hence the red, yellow, and green paint colors.

And a Birthday Celebration Kind of Day

We celebrated a belated 4th birthday of a special member of our iMontessori Family. We are so blessed to have this child's sweet smile and welcoming spirit with us. Which is why we truly enjoyed welcoming him back from vacation and celebrating his life today. Keeping in tradition, the child presented to the class, a homemade poster of yearly photos. And I couldn't help but notice, that over the years, his sweet smile has just gotten bigger and bigger!

The birthday friend was invited to walk around the sun, and the twelve months of the year, 4 times, representing his new age. We had the opportunity to sing the "months of the year" song (the children sounded lovely!) as I pointed out how the 12 months are a cycle that repeat again each year. We counted together and discovered September was the 9 month of the year and even found the number "9" on the back of the September cloud! Such a wonderful moment!

**A special THANKS to Mrs. Mary for lending us the "Celebration of Life" materials she's used in the past!!!

Friday the 13th of September was a Busy Day

We named our fish today! Say hello to "Tinko".

"Tinko" was new to our classroom on Monday of this week. All week we've been asking each other what we thought the fish's name should be. We wrote down the suggestions made throughout the week. And today we took a class vote at circle time. "Tinko" received the highest amount of votes with 7. I feel we are all quite happy with our choice. The children seemed to enjoy the whole process and I got a kick out of the names they came up with! I was also joyful when I noticed one student had voted for every suggested name. <3

We started to plant seeds for winter crops. The broccoli and radish seeds we started today are said to do well in a South Carolina winter. A big "THANKS" to The Rock Hill Farmer's Exchange for the donation of seeds! 

The apple tree in the book corner now bares fruit!

The children, Ms. Lisa, and I used the circle in the "metal inset" work to create apples for our tree. This activity brought some interest to this work and an opportunity to give lessons on the multi-step process. We have been reading about the cycle of an apple tree and are excited for apple picking season. 

Tending to Our Front Garden Beds

Pulling out the weeds.

Cleaning out the dry leaves.

 

Giving our thirsty plants a drink.

The children were very excited to clean up the front garden beds to prepare for more plantings. But we had surprises waiting for us that I think the children enjoyed even more. The more we cleaned up, the more insects we came across. And of course the children loved these sightings! I think the most popular was the many yellow and black ladybugs we saw!

A Rainbow Fruit Tray Can Be a Great Learning Experience!

 

A clever parent brought us a fruit tray for morning snack, so I turned it into an interdisciplinary lesson. The children were invited to use their senses for tasting, smelling, feeling, and viewing characteristics of 7 different pieces of fruit. Of course, sharing their observations with a friend was encouraged!! The children were also exposed to new vocabulary words because the fruit names were labeled on the snack directions. Just look how vibrant the fruit tray looked! We were grateful to have such a pretty and healthy snack these past two days!

Making Playdough!

Ingredients? Check. Recipe? Check. Excitement? Check.

We started with 4 cups of flour. 

We added 1 cup of salt.

 Then 2 Tablespoons of oil.

Then 1 1/2 cups of water.

We mixed ingredients with a spoon.

And then Ms. Leah gave a lesson on kneading dough...

We split the dough into 2 pieces.

And added the coloring.

Now the children's turn to knead!

The Children Learn From One Another

It's so refreshing to see the children learn from observing the work of a classmate. Today I captured instances of this phenomenon- students quietly watching another child at work. This is just one great benefit of a multi-age classroom!