Pumpkin Research Leads to Further Learning

Pumpkin word puzzles greeted the children as they entered the classroom Monday morning. The class organized themselves in small groups and with just a few strategy tips, completed the sentences within a short period of time. The daily Morning Message lessons are beginning to pay off! The children continue to become excited when Nature treasures are shared with the class. Ella brought in two Wooly Bear caterpillars
nestled nicely in leaves, Reily brought a huge dormant paper wasp nest, and Rosemary brought a slithering slug that she found in her garden over the weekend! We spent time this week making patterns with unifix cubes and discussing them with one another. It would be a terrific time to look through the Home Link, Book 1 for interesting math activities to explore as a family. The children painted pumpkins to depict the one part of the life cycle of a pumpkin, but also added a surprise that we think you will enjoy. Our trip to Barthels was GREAT, even though it was truly a blustery afternoon. A big thanks to the parents for helping the children find pumpkins and assisting them in completing the research information they were asked to gather. We returned to school just in time to enjoy Mrs. Camp's pumpkin bread and Reily's hand picked apples, both were delicious. The children were able to tally the research work quickly the next morning and several children referenced the information in their scrapbook entries. It will be your honor to view your child's scrapbook on conference days November 11th and 12th. There was an aire of excitement and anticipation as the class completed a variety of pumpkins experiments for the remainder of the weeek. Of course, the favorite experiment was to determine if pumkins sink or float. Try it at home, it's such fun! Our week concluded with Rosemary's mom joining the class to decorate cute haunted houses, eat delicious "goodies," and hear a delightful Halloween story. Thank you Katie! Once again I request that you and your child share the blog and the accompanying photo albums together; it will be so much more meaningful to hear his/her thoughts as you are viewing it. Make certain your child goes to bed early next week, it promises to be another exciting SK adventure. I continue to celebrate this class each and every day. Enjoy time with your wonderful children and Hip, Hip, Hooray for our SK!