Pumpkin Patch

Wow!  The Pumpkin Patch at our farm, Major Produce, is over, and I feel like I can think straight again!  The weather was great on both weekends, and we had lots of families who came to have fun.

In between the two weekends of Pumpkin Patch, we host school groups on field trips. This year, the kindergarten class and the first/second grade class from Covenant Christian School came on Wednesday.  The kids had a great time! (This was the first time in many years that I was able to come with a school group, because I am now teaching the right grade level. - Somehow, high school math classes can't justify a field trip to a pumpkin patch! It just doesn't fit in with the Michigan Merit Curriculum!)

First, we went on a hay ride along the north branch of the Pentwater River. There were various scenes set up along the hay ride. Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf; Hansel and Gretel; Dorothy (and Toto), the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, the Wicked Witch of the West and three flying monkeys; and a spaceship with four aliens were able to keep the kids' interest as they rode along the river.

Lincoln inspects the gourds with Carol Switkovitz

Rachel is hurrying to find as many as she can!

Here comes Ben with his treasure.

Next, we went on a Gourd Hunt. There were gourds hidden at the base of a hill, and the children had to find them all, and bring them back to the starting place. They made short work of that, and had fun running all over the grass to search for them.

After the Gourd Hunt, we played in the Hay Fort. The children ran and jumped in the hay, tossed the hay around, and scrambled up the bales to jump off again! This was a big hit, and I think the kids could have played there for hours without any problem! I got tired just watching them.

Our next activity was a bean bag toss, and a snack. We enjoyed doughnut holes and a drink of lemonade. Everyone was glad for the drink after their romp in the hay!

After our snack, we went into another greenhouse and played a pumpkin roll game. The students were paired up and had to roll a pumpkin across the greenhouse to their partner. The partner then rolled it back to the starting place. Somehow, pumpkins aren't exactly round, and don't roll as easily as a ball - so they had fun chasing them from one side of the greenhouse to the next.

Our next stop was to pick out a pumpkin. Each child picked out a Baby Pam pumpkin to bring home. Hopefully, the pumpkins all made it home in one piece! 

Before we left the farm for the day, all of the students gathered together and listened to a story about a farmer who grows pumpkins every year and picks out the best one to carve and set on his porch with a candle in it.  

Then, it was time to leave. The students returned to school happy, but very tired! I'm guessing that they all slept well on Wednesday night! I know that I did!

I will post this tonight, but the website is doing some maintenance, and I can not upload any of the pictures I took on the field trip.  I'll do that tomorrow when the web site is able to accept the images.

Show and Tell Day

On Wednesday, September 29, we had 'Show and Tell'.  The students brought in their treasures and we put them into a special Show and Tell box until it was time to share.

What a great variety of things the children brought! One student brought an alligator head and a starfish from Florida. Another brought a puppet of Pirate Bert!  Pirate Bert had a hook for one hand and a periscope in the other. We also had a stuffed 'Yoshi' critter visit us from Mario Brother's Nintendo fame. One of our students just visited Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and brought us a stuffed stingray. He also told us about the dolphins he saw at the aquarium. One student brought her 'Dora the Explorer' purse and showed us the wallet and change purse she carried inside of it, complete with play money! We also have a budding young scientist who brought in both a magnifying glass and a megaphone. He wanted to enlarge both visual and auditory modalities!

When the children presented their Show and Tell item, they had to tell us what it was they were showing, and why it was important to them. Some of the children struggled to express their thoughts as complete sentences, so we will be doing more oral expression exercises to improve on that skill. Other children were fluent and spoke in virtual paragraphs!


I am enjoying teaching your children. They are delightfully creative! 

I am also so happy to be working with such supportive parents. What a big difference it is compared with the support I received from parents when I taught in the public school system. Parents, thank you - you are great!


Karen

Berlioz the Bear and Banana Pudding

On Wednesday, September 22, we had a fun, but messy day!  

First, we enjoyed listening to some classical music performed by Yo Yo Ma. We listened for the low sound made by the double bass instrument.

Yo Yo Ma

Then, we read the story Berlioz the Bear, by Jan Brett. While we read the story, we listened for words that made the /b/ sound. 

In the story, Berlioz and the orchestra are to play at a dance in the town. (Berlioz plays a double bass in the orchestra.) They ride in a wagon pulled by a mule. The wagon wheel gets stuck in a hole, and the mule won't pull it out. Animals on their way to the dance come by and try to help, but they can't get the wagon to budge. Ask your child what gets the mule to move again!

We are concentrating on the sounds of the letter /b/ this week, and also on writing a lower case b. We practiced forming the letter 'b' with sky-writing, and then we wrote it with our fingers in banana pudding on our tables. (They had a place mat on the table, and a piece of foil to write it on!) The students had a fun time smearing the pudding all over the foil, and then practicing writing b. Some of the students delighted in having their hands all gooey and covered with pudding, others wanted to wash up immediately! It's interesting to see their personalities emerge during this kind of a task!

In our Bible lesson for Wednesday, we read a story about some children who found a castle and the king said they could stay there, but they had to follow one rule! We made a booklet about it that they brought home in their folders. Have them tell you the story from their booklet.

Tomorrow is chapel, and the students need to know their Bible verse.  "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 6:23.

Have a blessed day!

 

Mission Mike Sends a Letter!

Hello Parents,

Today we received a letter from Mission Mike all the way from South Africa where he is helping the Xhosa (pronounced Kosa) people.  During class, we prayed that Mission Mike would be able to teach the people about Jesus' love, and that he would help them however he could. 

Mission Mike's First Letter

Here is Mission Mike's letter:

This Week's Bible Verse

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23

Friday Fun

Today, we learned about Day 6 of Creation.  God made all of the animals, and He made man in His own image!  Wow!  The preschool kids join us on Friday, so we had a big group of children today. The children made islands with play dough and added 5 animals to each of their islands. Then, each group had to tell the class about their play dough creations. The islands were populated with everything from dinosaurs to hippopotamuses. (Is that a real word?) 

Today was my birthday, and Ms. Scholtens brought in a Rice Krispie treat for all of us - and all of the students sang Happy Birthday to me! I enjoyed that more than I can tell you! I also received a lovely bouquet of yellow chrysanthemums, and a card. Thanks!


In the afternoon, after the DK children had gone home, the kindergarten students practiced their Zoo Phonics alphabet, learned about how salmon head back to the stream where they were born, and worked on the concepts of above and below.  If you have a chance to use direction words with your student, please do - they can always use more practice. On Monday, I will be sending home a game for you to play with them, using direction words. The direction words are:  inside, outside, above, below, over, under, top, middle, bottom, before, after, between, right and left.


On Monday, we will learn about Adam and Eve and how sin entered the world. We should also be receiving some mail from Mission Mike, so be sure to ask your child about how he is doing in South Africa!


I hope all of you have a wonderful, restful weekend.

Left and Right

On Wednesday, we learned about left and right.  If you hold up your hands and point your thumbs at each other, your left hand forms an 'L'.  

We practiced making an 'L' with our left hand and then we did the "Hokey Pokey" to practice.  The "Hokey Pokey" was fun. When we put our "whole body" in, there was a pile up of children on the rug - laughing! Oh, to be 5 years old!

At the end of the day, I was tying a shoe for a little boy, and reminded him that I was tying the left shoe - he made the 'L' with his hand and told me it was his 'L' foot!  

Please practice left and right with your student. It is not always an easy thing to keep straight for little ones!

Our Bible verse for this week comes from the book of John, Chapter 1, Verse 1.  

'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.' John 1:1 

The children learned that when the Bible talks about "the Word", it means Jesus.  This passage teaches us that Jesus was there at the beginning of the world, that He was with God, and that He was God. The children are doing a great job of learning this verse!