Weekly Activities

The Earth Group's interest in what pioneer children did for fun led us to explore toys and games.  Having no toy store to shop at, pioneers were resourceful and made their own toys.  We made button whirligigs by threading string through one button hole and then through the hole across.  As simple as the whirligig sounds, using it was a bit more difficult. Concentrating Here are pictures of some of the other activities we had fun exploring. Handkerchief doll Tin cans and string make great stilts! Marble games! Who can keep a feather in the air the longest?

The central idea of this unit is  that there are similarities and differences between the way people lived long ago and the way people live today. The Earth Group is exploring the life of a pioneer and these are the two short videos we watched: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=D59cCTmur_g https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=YkZyejHU5Aw The children noticed how different life was for children in the pioneer times. Sasha said "they had no time to play."  Life was not only different in day to day living but also in the houses they lived in.  We compared our houses to the one room pioneer home.  "There's no toy room" remarked Kamy.  The children were in disbelief when we talked about not having an indoor bathroom or electricity. Our conversation of having no electricity led us to look at how pioneers preserved their food.   One method of preservation was hanging fruit to dry.  The Earth Group has hung apples and are patiently waiting to eat t...

The Earth Group has shown commitment as they enthusiastically worked to complete this project. Once the rooms were painted, the furniture was made. Creativity was needed as they chose recycled materials to make furniture. When looking at the rooms, one can see that each room is a reflection of the child who created it. It is such a wonderful feeling to see the pride in the children’s faces when they showed their room to others.   Equally wonderful was the appreciation that the other children had for one another’s work.  

We expanded our horizons and became bakers!  The children were extremely excited to learn how to make sugar cookies.  Patience and turn taking was tested as we measured and mixed the ingredients.  Choosing a cookie cutter and colour of sprinkles was no easy task. Careful thought when into each choice. The children were very proud with the finished cookies and  took great delight in sharing them with the rest of the class. The recipe is posted at the end of the blog. Done! Ready to share. Ingredients                                        Directions                                            1 cup unsalted butter                         Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees...

We started this unit with a walk outside.   The children had varying points of view as to what a decoration is.   When we looked inside the classroom for decorations, the children also had different ideas.  Some felt a plant was a decoration while others felt a plant was only a decoration if  ornaments were on it.  We began with the empty doll house to help children appreciate each others' perspectives.  They worked together to decorate and furnish the house.  Colour was a large part of the discussion as they felt it was an important aspect of decoration.    To give the children an opportunity to express their own decoration ideas, they have begun to work  with empty shoeboxes to create his/her bedroom.  The first step was to determine the colour of the room and paint it.  Today, the children planned what furniture they want to make, window placement  as well as decorations they wa...

Is a tree a decoration? We Decorate Our World. Transdisciplinary Theme:  Who We Are Central Idea :  People use decoration and this helps us learn about each other.  The lines of inquiry that will guide the inquiry into the central idea are: - exploring a variety of decorations from various cultures - decorations tell human stories and help us know one another - similarities and differences in  ideas about what a decoration is. To gather the children's ideas on what they know about decorations, the Earth Group and Water Group went on a decoration walk together. The children had varying opinions as to what a decoration is: Charlie: a decoration is something you put up and take down. It is not something we see everyday. Sasha: Decorations are shiny.   Olivia: Decorations make things beautiful. Eva: some decorations are colourful and some are not. The ones that are not colourful are not pretty. Eric: Rocks ar...

When we were listening to various music pieces last week, the music evoked more than just feelings in the children. The music triggered their imaginations and they began to tell stories. When listening to Vivaldi, Sasha was very animated and told a story of flowers growing in the sun with princesses in the garden. The music of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue inspired Olivia to tell a story of a “bad guy coming” prompting the children to add their ideas: Kamy – It is dark outside. Andy – Lots of bad guys coming. Aston - I think trains are coming. Connecting to the children’s idea of music and stories, we added sound to the fairytale, Three Billy Goats Gruff.   Each child had a set of rhythm sticks to create the sound effects of the goats trip trapping across the bridge. The children instinctively knew that the smallest goat would have a softer trip trap than the largest goat. Sasha suggested putting on a show. The children enthusiastically went to each group inviting them to...