Today we listened to the writing of two authors per group (muons and electrons) & offered feedback ideas for revision. So fun to start this process! In psychology, I subbed for Alicia and talked the kiddos through a discussion and
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
Math: Estimation Games
The Neutrons worked on estimating yesterday. Thanks to all those who participated in our group estimation project…we wanted to see if taking the average of many guesses would get us close to the total number of items in a jar.
Art: Winter Bird Feeders
Kristin planned a great lesson for the Quarks, which Chris and I were able to lead with messy but fun success. We headed into the trees to look through the book Snow Birds about various birds in winter and then
Gym: Memory Exercise Workout
Many thanks to Dan and Judi for getting gym started with a freeze tag relay the Neutrons invented. Thanks to Sabrina for centering the quarks with a freeze dance warm-up. This week we built a workout together with a memory
Science: Winter Bird Study
We studied winter birds with quarks today. We looked at pictures of non-migrating Illinois birds and studied their calls and songs. We played a fun game of matching the sounds to the pictures of the birds. We discussed how the
Art: Apples & Bees
We discovered how well we knew each other with a silly game of Apples to Apples!In the game, the cards have words or phrases. One person picks up a green card. Then, all others anonymously submit a red card they