Kindergarten Rocks

Earlier this week, we learned about pomegranates in my class. I wrote to the parents and told them about the experience. I said, "Don't be surprised if your child asks if you can buy pomegranates next time you're at the store." Sure enough, several moms wrote back and said that is exactly what their son or daughter did! I have heard that pomegranates are the "Friendship Fruit." When you want to get to know someone you should share a pomegranate with them. Since they take so long to eat, by the time you are finished eating the pomegranate, you will have learned several new things about that person and you will have made a new friend.  My class was hesitant at first, not knowing quite what to expect from this strange looking fruit. We started by looking at photos of a pomegranate on the tree, and pictures of pomegranate blossoms. Next we looked at and felt a real pomegranate. The colour, the texture, and the place where the blossom died to make way ...

One of the most delicious units in Kindergarten is our Harvest Unit. What a bounty we have in this country. A big part of what we learn during Harvest is all about apples. We had the opportunity to visit the local Apple Barn and try some delicious Jonigold apples there. We had a hay ride and got to learn about the life cycle of the apple tree and, as we left, the Apple Barn gave us a bag full of Gala apples. The first thing we did with these apples was to look at the different colours. Not all apples are pure red, green or yellow. Gala apples are a good example of this.   The Basket of Apples by Paul Cézanne   We looked at the varied colours and then we looked at the paintings of Paul Cézanne . This link will take you to the online story of Cézanne 's apples that I read to my class. After looking at the painting by Cézanne , we made our own still life paintings. Another great thing to do with apples is to make applesauce! Yummy yummy applesauce. The Gala ...

The school year has begun. I have 18 wonderful students that have spent the last two weeks making new friends and getting to know each other. What a great bunch! For the first unit of the year we have been learning about Friendship. Things that go along with this unit are: * God made me special * I can use good manners * I can treat my friends how I want to be treated (Golden Rule) * I can make a new friend * I can be a good friend One activity that I love during this unit is the Friendship Garden. I read the Winnie the Pooh story, "The Friendship Garden" to my class and then we made sunflowers out of torn paper. Every sunflower looks different, but they are all beautiful. This is just like the children in my class. No two children are alike, but they are all very special because they are exactly who God made them to be. We also did a group puzzle activity. Every child got 3-4 pieces of a Winnie the Pooh floor puzzle and we took turns placing our pieces. The stu...