Every week seems to be a very busy "bear" week! The Bright-Eyed Bears are busily wrapping up this school year. They have learned so much and they love to share their knowledge. As our Insect unit came to a close this week with fun activities across the curriculum, the children spent a lot of time outside observing, collecting data, and drawing and labeling their observations in their science journals. We took our snack one day to the faculty garden outside the theater where we observed busy bees buzzing around some of the sweet nectar flowers. It was a wonderful experience to watch our friends the bees working so hard to take care of our planet, especially since we celebrated Earth Day this week. The children enjoyed a waste-less lunch on Tuesday and even went around campus collecting garbage to be put in it's proper place. Thanks to our wonderful Maintenance Department there wasn't much trash to be found, but the children looked very hard. They also made a wonderful chart of ideas on how to keep our planet safe and clean. Here are some of their ideas: pick up garbage, make things from garbage, take care of animals when they are hurt and don't feed them people food, plant trees because they let us breathe, make a garden, be respectful. I think they've got something there! :)
We took a little mini field trip to our favorite on-campus spot...the pond. The water was so clear in the pond that we could plainly see the many large and small fish that live there. Tadpoles, turtles, gallinules, egrets, ducks and more greeted us happily on our trek. Some of the children chose to record data in pictures using their science journals, others just explored, asked questions and inquired about the answers. We played another sink and float game using rocks, leaves, sticks, feathers and more. The children made predictions about what they thought would happen when they threw their object into the water and why. It was a beautiful day outside, so we took advantage of the weather and stayed out most of the morning before heading back for a visit to the library and visual arts class. First we had to run the track though, since it's on our way back to the ECC. :)
We embarked upon a woodworking adventure last week as well. The children began sanding and sorting blocks of wood in all different colors and sizes. This week, we will use the wood to create individual sculptures. There is a wonderful process to follow, but the product is really special! Just wait and see. For now, enjoy the pictures from last week's fun! :)
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| Practicing simple addition, ladybug style! |
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| We love waste-less lunches!!! |
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Beautiful bees buzzing around collecting pollen and nectar.
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| We are always interested in what our eagle friends are doing. |
There is always much to see at the pond! The children and teachers alike love to visit this special place on campus.
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| See, I told you that stick would float! Let's try a clamshell. |
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| Look at that BIG fish!!! |
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| Lots of little fish too! |
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Have a great week!
