Author: Chris Koenig

Last week we started by sorting a mix of five different types of seeds. On a blackboard positioned under each plate, we brainstormed words that described each seed type. Then I pulled out the five seed packets, and the group

In the first period of their nest-themed day, the Quarks took a close look at eggs. We started by comparing eggs to seeds: what’s on the outside for protection, what’s inside for food, and what might begin to grow out

We opened with a brief discussion of shelter: which animals shelter, what do their shelters look like, and why do they take shelter. Then we marched to the edge of the woods to construct our own shelter using a couple

Today, we had two objectives. First: memorize a poem. And second: make it to this river everyone’s talking about! (The kids had all been before, of course, but I hadn’t.) The chosen poem was “Cold”, by Shirley Hughes. We read

We started (as we often do) with some coloring during readaloud. Today it was Little Fox in the Snow by Jonathan London, illustrated by Daniel Miyares. This is a neat, poetic book that does “day in the life of an animal” better

We introduced the theme of hibernation by reading Philip C. Stead’s Bear Has a Story to Tell. The group did some coloring while I read, and afterwards we discussed the picture: the animals it showed, how they were coping with winter, and

We began with a brief discussion of the Mohawk people, and then read a Mohawk story: Sacred Song of the Hermit Thrush, by Tehanetorens. It’s the story of how each bird got its song, the hermit thrush winning the loveliest

To introduce today’s theme of migration, we talked about this poor bird and what it demonstrated. Looking at a globe, we discussed where such storks migrate and what reasons they might have for doing so. Next (while coloring in an image of a kingfisher)