Monday, April 16, 2012

The calendar says Spring begins in March but I believe today must be the first TRUE day of Spring. I can tell by the interest children suddenly have in the maple seeds and blossoms flying around the playground. They have collected several dozen maple seeds, with and without their arils (seed coverings). Sharon and I had already planned an Eric Carle unit beginning with the story "The Little Seed" so today was the perfect day to plant two maple seeds, two black walnuts they saved all winter and choose which other seeds to plant. Tomatoes, carrots, a flower and sunflowers were selected by these young gardeners and I am suddenly very thankful for the large supply of seeds, pots, compost and soil in my garage! The children are so excited about their new gardening efforts they have decided we not only need a daily class leader but a class plant water-er too.

Speaking of leaders, no one yet has an April leader calender. Your next calendar will have the remainder of April, May and June on it. In other words, the remainder of the year has so few days you will have it all on one sheet! How did that happen so fast???

As you have probably guessed, our Eric Carle unit will contain mini units such as butterflies, color, strawberries and young animals. He is not only a gifted illustrator and author but also a preschool teacher's dream. We will also look at "how" he creates the look of his beautiful art and try our hands using his techniques. Our Arts Festival project will emerge from this unit but please no questions. We like surprises here.

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