The repetition of scoop and pour.

Scooping and pouring is used as a means to develop fine motor skills associated with practical life skills, not to mention the value of sensory experiences in young childhood education. Fortunately, scooping and pouring activities are easy to incorporate into at-home or preschool education.

 We spend time trying to come up with different ways to present water/movement.  At the moment the weather is cooperating, and when the children get wet at 90 degrees, it is no big deal. but the weather is about to change...

 "look at the curve"

 The exploration around water is a very social activity. I sat watching them negotiate scoopers, remove and replace the funnels in different locations, and continually put the hose inside the water bin and then remove it outside the water bin. 

Tomorrow we will be caring for the garden using water.....

"I am the little acorn that becomes the oak."-John Winger

Water Falls

The children have loved exploring the world of water this year. We can already see their ideas progressing. They are experimenting with new ways of moving the water through the funnels and experimenting with the tubes. 

 Bubbles make a world if difference.

Needless to say, some great f he wet it clth s you pick up today, was actually just us getting wet.

Have a great weekend! 

A TOADally Wonderful Day!

Do you know the difference between a frog and a toad? Thanks to Ms. Katie, the Acorns do!
We have had a couple toad sightings on our playscape recently, so there has been a bit of interest surrounding amphibians.

This morning, we heard a rumor that there were several toads living in a stump in the forest. Since today was Forest Day, we decided that we were going to find them. As soon as we got there, we actually spotted one! Ms. Katie is our resident Toad Catcher, so she picked him up and we had the opportunity to study him. The children always want to call them "frogs," so today we learned about the difference between frogs and toads. "This is a toad because it's bumpy and dry!" T exclaimed. We love to see the Acorns transferring new knowledge and making connections in nature. We are lucky to have the Forest with all of its lessons and gifts such a short distance away!

Garden Growth

When we went to the garden to pick the corn the other day, we found a little surprise-- we have a pumpkin growing! However, we noticed that the leaves were covered in powdery mildew, so we decided to find out how we can help our pumpkin.We discovered that spraying a solution of baking soda, dish soap, and water will remove the mildew, so we mixed some up, put it in spray bottles, and headed out to the garden.

When we got outside, we sat together and looked at the leaves. We talked about how the white parts are hurting the pumpkin, so we have to spray them to help it grow. The Acorns were ready to use the squirt bottles! "I can spray!" said C. "Look, you have to spray the white."
They used their fine motor skills to figure out how to properly hold and squeeze the bottles. The Acorns have also been showing so much progress socially and emotionally. When they were finished with their turn, they were eager to kindly share their bottle and pass it to a friend. "T, now you spray!" H said as he handed him the bottle.
The garden has given us some wonderful opportunities this year. The Acorns have been so engaged and really shown an interest in learning to care for things that grow.

Corny Acorns, continued.

Is the corn ready to pop?! This was the question of the day. We met on the carpet this morning to discuss. As we learned yesterday, in order to pop, the kernels must be hard. We pulled a few kernels off and passed them around. Are they hard? “Yes!”

“It looks like a banana!”

We headed down to the kitchen to do a pop test. We put three kernels into the microwave and heated them up, asking the Acorns if they heard anything happening. They didn’t. After a few minutes, we opened the microwave to see if there were any changes. The kernels were still intact. “They didn’t pop!” T remarked. “They’re not ready.” She was right... our popcorn apparently needs more time to dry out, so we will let it sit longer. We will test it again in a couple days!

Popcorn for Acorns

This morning was exciting-- it was finally time to pick our popcorn! We started by doing a little research. How do you know the popcorn is ready? We read that the husks (and the whole plant) should be brown, so we went out to check. Were they brown? The Acorns took a peek. "YES!" We read that the kernels should be hard and glossy, so we pulled back the husks and silks. They were hard! Our popcorn is ready. We will leave the ears to dry until it's time to pop!

We also planted garlic today. We read the planting instructions, and then sat and looked at the bulbs. The Acorns felt the cloves, passing them back and forth and running their fingers over the ridges. They took turns smelling them. "It smells sweet!" said B. Then, it was time to plant them. The directions said that the cloves must be planted four inches deep, with the pointy side up. We dug out an area and looked to make sure we were putting them in the ground correctly. "Now we need to put dirt on top!" said C, so we covered the cloves, patted the soil, and marked them. Then it was time to  water! These Acorns love gardening and making things grow. They are very excited to see what will come up next!

PS: Potty training is going SO WELL! Seriously, we are blown away and so proud of the success we've seen just on this first day! Great job, Acorns!