Growing Dendrites

We have been busy studying about the ocean and the animals that live in and around the ocean.  While living in Florida and vacationing there for the past five years, I have collected so many beautiful seashells to share with the students.  Last week, we spent time looking at shell pictures and identifying the shells we have.  The students lined up the shells that looked the same, but were different in size.  This helped them to see how the shell grows over time.  We learned why some shells have holes and that inside is an animal.  One of our students was quite scared once she found out an animal lived in the shell.  We sorted, weighed and counted shells.   Now they are sitting in the back sensory table area for the children to observe during free choice time.  The students played a counting and probability game too!  Which shell does the crab like best?  We rolled the die 20 times to see which number came up the most.  The children practiced recognizing numbers 1-6 and counting. 

Thanks again to Fred Meyer for helping us with our science lessons.  They gave me half off on a full crab!  I used the crab to show the children the different parts.  They had a chance to touch the crab and see how the pinchers work.  This week we are learning about sharks, whales and manatees. 

We are borrowing a lizard from outside to observe it for a few days.  It's the Northern alligator lizard.  The students have been searching for bugs to feed it.  On Wednesday, we'll release it back to the playarea.  Today we looked at a dead garter snake that was found outside.  We didn't look at it for too long because it already had a rotten stench.  It fell out of the container when Ms. Lindsay was carrying it back outside.  She screamed and the kids laughed.  Also, we have noticed a baby eagle flying with it's parents in the late morning. 

Last week, I read Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle.  The story sparked so much conversations about dads.  That entire morning Ms. Brianna and I got an earful about the dads.  Maybe just a bit too much info.  LOL LOL.  The beauty of books, they strike up all kinds of conversations. 

I love all the feedback I receive from parents.  To know the children are sharing what they have learned at school with their parents is AWESOME!  Even my little Savas has learned so much in school.  Last week, he sat in the back of the car adding numbers.  All on his own.  Our balanced, child-centered program encourages children to be curious and seek knowledge.  Each day they are growing more dendrites, making more connections with prior knowledge from the moment they wake until they fall asleep.


Just a reminder, I will be out  for the next week and a half.  I will probably blog along the way.   If you have any questions or concerns you can phone Ms. Lindsay at the school or my cell phone at 425-269-3184.

websites I love for ordering educational and themed items.
http://www.schoolspecialty.com/
discountschoolsupply.com
orientaltrading.com

OPERATION CHICKADEE

A nice gentleman stopped by the school today to tell us a baby bird was lying in the middle of the parking lot. Not sure why he picked us, maybe the word Garden and butterfly pics on the wall lead him over. Anyway, Lindsay and I went out to see.....

So Ms. Lindsay and I went out and saw the baby lying on the pavement.  One of our lovely parents noticed us and came over to see what was going on.  The mom had some experience with birds since her dad raised abandoned birds.  The myth is if the bird or egg is touched the parents will not come back.  I didn't know much about my favorite birds, chickadees.  The kind mom brought the baby bird back to the school, her child was already forming a bond with the bird.  We found a box and placed it on some tissues.  Thank goodness for Internet access on phones and Google!  The dad suggested we Google what to do.  I did.  I read that parents abandoning the baby is a myth.  So, we took the baby back out to the shrubbery and found out there was another chick lying on the ground in its nest.  It was such a tiny nest too!  It barely fit the two chicks.  The nest was about the size of my palm  We were back in forth about where to lay the nest.  While all this was going on, the birds' parents were hustling about trying to find their babies.  We found a safe branch that wouldn't allow too much rain to fall through and laid the nest on top.  We waited a few minutes and sure enough the parents found their babies and resumed feeding them.  All was well, except for our little student who was sad to leave the chick :-(  

What a great learning experience.  Chickadee parents do not abandon their babies after being touched by humans.  Preschool Mythbusters, perhaps?  LOL  Funny thing, last week a parent mentioned something about never seeing bird nests around.  My response, "They're hiding in trees."  It would be easy to miss a nest like the one we found today. What a wonderful experience.  Pretty soon we'll be an animal rescue school. 

I heard there are some baby snakes that just hatched in the complex.  Looks like we'll be having a look.  That little spot that we are in is thriving with wildlife.  This week we have seen three bald eagles (baby included), a long red lizard(we got our field guide out to check), and an array of ant species. 

I love nature!

The nest and chick we found.

The nest.

chicks

mama bird looking for food after she located the new nest spot.

papa bird keeping watch

mama bird feeding the babies