Autumn Leaves

It is always a joy to get a specific compliment.  Today after teaching Toddler Tales and Trails a mother told me that she will come back and that she especially liked the activity with scarves.  Yeah! It is just a reninder that with 2 year olds- the simplest things bring joy.  I had just taught the song, “Autumn leaves are  falling down, falling down, falling down. Autumn leaves are falling down, red orange yellow and brown…” to the tune of London Bridges.  We then took out scarves and threw them in the air while singing. Smiles and community followed. 

The art of teaching is a dance.   It often is best to work on the simplest level.  Try to develop relationships.  Be playful.  Sing lots!

Here are the stories we read today: The Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Berger, Fall Leaves by Loretta Holland and a book in Haiku One Leaf Rides the Wind by Celeste Davidson Mannis with pictures y Susan Kathleen Hartung.

Toddler Tales and Trails October

Today's focus was: Who lives in the autumn forest and What do they Eat.  We started out with an activity where you glue cut out shapes on paper in the shape of birds.  For the preschool age kids this worked great, for the younger kids it was just an opportunity to chew on markers and paste down shapes.  It is hard to reach the developmental stage of each child, but I call it a success just giving kids access to art materials.  They will develop comfort at their own pace. The activity was also just a time when parents / caregivers could connect.  Then we began our session.

Since it was a rainy day we started with a song called “Pitter Patter, Pitter Patter, The Rain is Coming Down.  Then I shared a poem by Langston Hughes called April Rain Song although today I suggested we call it October Rain Song.  Then we read Bring on the Birds by Susan Stockdale.  Followed by singing Little Bird Come to my window…recalling the birds from the book.   Next we read Earl the Squirrel by Don Freeman and then acted out the Grey Squirrel Song before heading out on our nature hike where we looked for food in the autumn forest.

We found Douglas Fir Cones, lichen, and many insects during our bug hunt.

We played a game of “everybody’s it” but called it squirrel tag and when I said home you had to find a tree to rest on and be safe.

It was a lovely day in the rain. 

Woodpecker Trail

This morning my Toddler group saw this tree with a Pileated Woodpecker in it.   Although the woodpecker was gone by the time I returned to take the picture you can still see the signs of it: missing bark and a pile of wood chips at the base of it.   You often hear the Pileated Woodpecker before seeing it- so listen up.  The woodpecker loves insects and grubs and uses its long sticky tongue to grab insects.  Last week's story was "Peck, Peck, Peck" by Lucy Cousins...there must be other great woodpecker stories.  I will look into it.  For now I can only think of The Busy Tree by Jennifer Ward as having a woodpecker.  The library suggests, Owl and the Woodpecker by Brian Wildsmith and also Woodpecker Wham by April Pulley Sayre. 

A Vision Almost Realized

Today I felt a sigh of relief when the huge rucks came and lowered gravel and stepping stones onto the Orca Playground- more tangible signs the nature council ring and our rain garden will be built at tomorrow’s work party. There have been three years of playground meetings and emails trying to organize a vision, get grants, and finally build this first phase of the playground. Finally phase one is almost achieved, including some naturalization.

When the building began this summer I still felt a bit concerned that the fruits of our labor had mostly yielded more concrete and a small new play structure; however today I realized it has been and will be much more than that.  First of all, the meetings have built community, trust, and friendships that otherwise would not be cultivated. Secondly, the added concrete which has included a path around the field has meant that the playground is much more accessible to all people, including our students in wheel chairs, our neighborhood kids on bikes and scooters kickball and foursquare players and even pedestrians.  The work has actually activated the playground just by giving access and safe passage.  Finally with the green plantings and rain garden going in and an added outdoor council ring there will be more opportunities for learning in nature.  The council will be a wonderful place for classrooms to go out and explore and write.  It will be a place for families to gather as they watch their children play.  It is will be a connection to the land and community and it has added to our play field's own ecological story by sourcing local logs and boulders. 

The research continues to be sound that time in nature is beneficial to student learning. I believe it will be beneficial to our community's future.  Thank you to all of the people and companies who have helped get us this far including but not limited to the Department of Neighborhoods, Seattle Schools and WA Green Schools.  I am looking forward to tomorrow's work party!

Apple Season

The other day we had a glorious day trying to pick the apples that were way up high in our apple tree so we could make a pie.  A friend came over and the kids invented an apple picker, using a window washing stick, a stick, a colander, coat hanger, and tape.  Then one of the boys got his baseball mits and the real fun began as they worked together to bring down the apples.   I finally found the words to a poem I remember teaching my students:

Two Red Apples
Way up high, in an apple tree (raise hands over head)
Two red apples smiled at me (smile)
So I shook that tree as har-r-d as I could (Pretend to shake tree)
Down came the apples, M-m-m-m, they were good! (Rub tummy)

Family Nature Class

It is so fun to be leading parent/ nature hikes again.  I love the opportunity to be out in the woods connecting children and their parents to their local park.

This week we started class with three station activities:
Books on a blanket
Making Nature Crowns
Mystery Bags with (acorns, an apple, rocks, )

Then on our hike we find three different types of trees:  Can you tell them by their bark? It was a tactile investigation search. This is an activity to work on observation skills and develop language.

We also did a Bingo game where we found different plants and animals along our trail.

We stopped in a grassy grove for Story Time and Snack.  I read Subway Sparrow by Leyla Torres  a book in three languages and a story about how a community can come together to rescue a bird.  A resource on what to do if you actually find a baby bird is on the Portland Audubon's website.

I also read Birds by Kevin Henkes....a natural followup activity art activity to this story would be to actually draw a picture of what the flight of birds would look like if their flight pattern actually left "tracks across a sky." It is a simple story, but with bright and vivid pictures it is great for sharing with groups.

Songs we did included:

Cheep, Cheep Little Bird will you tell your name to me? an intro song...

Little Bird Little Bird Fly to my Window as learned from Elizabeth Mitchell.

A Poem: Five Feathered Birds

Five Feathered birds sitting by the door;
One flew away and then there were four.
Four feathered friends singing in the tree,
One flew away and then there were three
Three feathered birds looking at you,
one flew away and then there were two
Two feathered birds sitting in the sun
One flew away and then there was one.
One feathered bird looking like a hero
He flew away and now there are zero.

A song about the Birds sung to the tune of the Mulberry Bush.
This is the way we fly like birds. (pretend to fly around).

An Extra Week of Summer

This fall the students in Seattle did not go back to school in early September- as our teachers and the school district worked on a contract.  We have made the best of it: The boys played with friends. They rode scooters and biked.  We relished the beginning of autumn by hiking and picnicking in the forest, identifying new birds in our backyard- a Western Scrub Jay, and playing baseball.  We baked bread.   We picked apples and  made fresh pies and crisp to share with friends and neighbors.  Now that school will start again in a day we must make the most of our last day of extended summer:  The boys will help me with my Family Nature Program at the Audubon where I lead the Tiny Trips for Tots program:  More practicing the art of wandering, noticing, & feeling the fall air. 

Two years ago I wrote these words about September and it is still true. 

I want my children to learn fall by the light of it.  We look out in the morning before we are even dressed.  We eat a hot breakfast outside in the crisp cold morning and we play outside until the sunset.  We walk to market through the wild gusts that blow clouds and occasional storms overhead.  The leaves and seed pods twirl down from trees.  We watch squirrels gathering seeds, the chickadees and sparrows flocking to feeders, and the crows heading home to roost at the end of day. 

Fall is child sized.  Days can truly be experienced by children from sunset to sundown.