Hello, Friendly Fox Families!
What a wonderful week of Ornithology we have had. This is a subject dear to my heart; birds are so lovely and fascinating that I am wondering why we only studied them for one week! We will actually be learning more about other types of birds later in the school year (we will have one whole week dedicated to owls) and will be sprinkling in some other bird lessons here and there, including this week when we will start off our farm unit learning about chickens.
This week we learned a lot about birds that live in our area. We read many books about them, including their diets, behaviors, how they build their nests, and how important they are to our environment. We took time to notice the birds that come to our playground, especially the crows. We talked about how crows can be as intelligent as a seven year-old child, can be taught to follow patterns, can recognize faces, and have been know to bring people gifts. We learned about our state bird, the cardinal. We each made a feeder and hung them outside. We each made our own bird-watching binoculars. We read some wonderful books about nest-building and then made our own nests, eggs, and birds. We played with lots of fun bird-themed sensory materials and manipulatives, and played a fun egg number/shape matching game. We added a sweet crow poem to our special journals, enjoyed reading together in our giant library nest, made beautiful art, and so much more. We also welcomed October by making our own calendar pages, celebrated two birthdays, had a fabulous music class with Marci and a wonderful story time session with Bob. We were even visited by Lilly the giant gentle (real) boa constrictor!
This coming week we will be talking about Farms and how important they are to our communities, harvest time, and Autumn. We have many fun activities planned for this unit and have been busy getting things ready for the next couple of weeks, which will later include apple and pumpkin studies.
We have been enjoying the mild weather, but as it begins to change please make sure that your child has warm clothing to wear for outdoor play. We will all always go outside together, even when it is chilly!
Thank you for sharing your wonderful children with us,Wynne, Nancy, and Christina
Wisdom begins with wonder
