Dear Cedar Families,
April was an exciting month in the Cedar Class, beginning with Materials Night on the 3rd, followed by Spring Break and then a glorious Earth Day celebration with many exciting activities. The filling of the planter boxes with soil was a favorite for many Cedar children on Earth Day. The warmer weather in April encouraged us to get busy outside, including transplanting our pea, bean, sunflower, and cosmos starts from the classroom. We also worked together to build a trellis for our peas, and looked for the tiny tendrils the plants use to climb the trellis for support.
We added clothes washing work on the patio, and practiced using an old fashioned washboard and clothespins to wash our dirty laundry. We continued to roll paper cups for our seed starts before transplanting in the new planter boxes as well. We added water works to the patio, exploring funnels, handheld mixers, ladles and sieves, much to the delight of some of our budding bakers and cooks.
Painting at the easel was a highlight for many this month, with lively paintings of gardens, planes, rain, and unicorns. We practiced using glue sticks and scissors making our own paper butterfly collages. We also made many “Types of” books, ranging from vegetables to dinosaurs, favorite animals to favorite fruits, providing an engaging way to practice initial letter sounds, labeling, and brainstorming.
Our botany studies included discussions about some of the seeds, leaves, roots, and leaves we can eat and where we can find these foods in the garden. Our studies also included a virtual look at Mary’s wild baby birds recently hatched in a nest in her home garden. We are quite certain that they are baby robins, and will continue to look at short video clips and photos as they grow and change.
In the classroom kitchen, we baked banana bread and discovered that everybody in Cedar this year loves banana bread. Many children suggested we make more this year. We also made “Parts of the Plant” Salad together and our own homemade dressing.
Our Kinders began sewing their “Continent Pillows” out of felt, a longstanding MCS tradition, with a special visit from former Teacher Shirley guiding the start of this multi-week project.
We will be spending the next few weeks learning more about the garden, including a close look at worms (thank you to Cheryl for loaning us her live worm bin) and other critters found in and around our gardens.
Happy May!
Mary
