This week in art, we talked about monograms and made some of our own. We used only our first initials and decorated them. The suggestion was to use overlapping, multi-colored paper strips for decorating. Some of the kids liked that suggestion,
Art: Sowing Native Wildflowers
Stephanie and I combined our classes today for an activity of winter sowing native wildflowers. We teamed up one Muon with two quarks to fill containers with soil and seeds and then covered them with saran wrap to help retain
Nature: Snowflake Design
Today, we read Elizabeth’s very cool books about how snowflakes are made, a book with magnified photographs of snowflakes, and a biography of “Snowflake Man” Wilson Bentley. Then the kids cut out their own paper snowflakes. There were so many
Science: Longest Paper Chains
Today’s challenge was to make the longest paper chain as possible from one piece of paper. They were encouraged to think through their strategy before they cut their paper loops. Each kid had a slightly different cutting and assembling technique.
Math/Science: Clay Moon Phases
We started reading “Moon: Earth’s Best Friend” by Stacy McAnulty. We learned a little about how the moon started and the different phases of the moon. We used air dry clay to make 8 different phases of the moon. In
Writing Workshop + Psychology
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Science: Maple Syrup
The Neutrons did a maple syrup investigation today. First we read/discussed a bit about how syrup is made, and then we examined 3 types of syrup (two made from corn syrup and one pure maple syrup) – many interesting observations
Nature Study: Birdfeeders & Trails
This week the Neutrons very enthusiastically made natural birdfeeders from pine cones, Crisco and bird seed. We had a discussion about what characteristics of birds we can use to identify various species, and a more practical conversation about where everyone
Art: Playing with Foil
As part of my art classes, I like to try to bring different materials for the kids to create with whenever I can. They always seem to like trying different mediums and it keeps the projects new and interesting for them.
Psychology: Erickson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development
Yesterday we looked at Erickson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development, summarized in the chart below. The main idea is that at each stage of development (baby, toddler, preschooler, etc…) there is a central psychological task that needs to be “completed” to