Planting Seeds: An Integrated Learning Experience

This time of year is a perfect time for helping children to understand sequence in a NATURAL way.  Planting seeds lets you use the important words: first, next, then, and finally. Children have a hands-on experience each day with observing their plant sprout and grow along with verbalizing its natural course of development.

First have children plant seeds in cups. * This is a good opportunity to talk about all the natural things a plant needs: air, soil, sunshine, and water.

Next observe the plant. When will it sprout? Have children make predictions. This gives them a real experience with time passage and the meaning of a day and a week. Make a chart of children’s predictions. It helps to let children know it is just fine to have made an incorrect prediction. The important part was taking the guess. This helps children learn an important lesson about how science works. 

Then watch the plant grow. What an opportunity to integrate measurement into this experience! Children can measure their plant using cubes or other handy items. Compare and contrast by stating, “Charlotte’s plant is 3 cubes taller than Elizabeth’s plant.”

Finally watch the plant bloom. Did you plant flowers or vegetables like beans?  Make the connection that bean seeds produce beans. Marigold seeds produce marigolds.

As you observe the plant, encourage children to draw a picture of each stage of development. You can put these together in a sequence book at the end of the experience.

*I always like to plant a few extra seeds.  When I was in kindergarten, my seed never sprouted. I still remember my disappointment. You can always change a cup after the children leave if a seed doesn’t “cooperate.”  

We encourage you to print out our drawings and have children add details like the sun, rain, etc. to show what plants need to grow. You may want to ask them to draw cubes to show the measurement of their own plant.

Standards Alignment:

NAEYC – 2.D.03, 2.D.06, 2.F.05, 2.G.02, 2.G.03, 2.G.05. 
Head Start – VIII.B., X.E., XI.B.

Kids Can Make a Difference!

We hope you will read emphasize to your children that children CAN make a difference in our world. Many children think of ways to raise money or awareness about important issues in our world. We suggest you read the book, Nights of the Pufflings by Bruce McMillan, which is one story that illustrates how children can make a difference in their community. It tells how children in Iceland help young puffins to safely make their way to the sea.

Talk to your children about ways they can help in your community. Involve families in this discussion, too. Often it is easier and faster for adults to just do chores or tasks themselves than to include children. But it is important to allow children to help. They want to do this! It often takes patience on our part but it teaches children the importance of helping others and gives them a sense of pride.  Recently I watched as a parent took the time to explain to his four-year-old son how to roll the paint on a fence and then stood back while the child diligently did this. He cheerfully painted. Then he helped his dad clean up. He took great joy in telling the neighborhood how he painted the fence. I know his dad could have done the job quicker (and likely without as much mess), but he was teaching his son something important – the sense of accomplishment one gets by helping!

If you are a family member, make a list of ways you and your child can help your community. Get the mail for an elderly neighbor. Sweep the sidewalk for someone. Participate in community events like various “Runs for a Cause.” Your child can hand out water or snacks to participants. What else can be done?

Teachers can involve children in cleaning the playground, sorting books in a classroom library, or wiping tables. Children love to help! My own son came home crying from pre-school one day, as he was never asked to clean the tables. When I talked to his teacher she explained that he was always dressed so nicely that she didn’t want him to get dirty. But, soon he was thrilled when he became a table “cleaner.” We need to encourage and build on this natural desire to help others. It builds involved citizens! 

Standards Alignment:

NAEYC - 2. B.02, 2.B.06, 2.B.07.

Head Start -II.A., II. B., IV.C.

Geometry: Exploring 3D Shapes

What do these household items have in common? How can they help your child develop concepts about math?

These simple objects give children a hands-on experience with geometry. We often teach about shapes like circles, squares, rectangles, and squares. Children see them on television shows and use them in art projects. See our post Blast Off to Math Readiness for one idea. But these are 2 dimensional shapes. It is important for children to have early hands-on guided experience with 3 dimensional shapes, too.

Give children a ball. Ask them what they notice about the ball. They may begin by talking about color but will eventually discuss shape. You can ask questions like, "How is the ball different than a circle?" or "What other objects are like this?" "Can you think of food that is like this?" You can tell them that this is called a sphere. Ask children to discuss the ways a circle and sphere are alike and ways they are different.

Show children other objects like a can of food. After they handle this and describe it, share the mathematical term, cylinder. Have them find other examples of cylinders. They can draw these items or just tell about these real-life examples of geometry.

Continue on with using the word, cube, for the toy shown in the photo. You may have dice, blocks, etc. that you can encourage children to touch and then describe. Have them compare cubes to squares.

If children have an understanding of the term rectangle, you can show them a box, as pictured above. This 3D item is a rectangular prism. Children should be encouraged to describe it and find other examples.

Throughout this discovery time, children can be encouraged to use words like edges and faces. They may notice that one of the faces on a rectangular prism looks like a rectangle. The same can be done for other shapes such as square for cube or even circle for the end of a cylinder.

Some children will be able to verbalize more about these 3D shapes than other children. Everyone is at a different stage. The key is that all children have the opportunity to touch and talk about 3D objects!

Standards Alignment:
NAEYC: 2.D.03; 2.D.06; 2.F.03; 2.F.06.
Head Start: VIII.B; X.C.

Earth Day Community Helpers

Community Helpers: an important unit in any preschool program! Put a new twist on this popular theme by asking children to think about those in the community who help the Earth. Invite children to close their eyes and picture the events in their minds* while you tell a story like the one below:

This morning Ian woke up and looked out his window. The birds were chirping and the ground looked clean. Ian stopped to think about this. Who made sure the birds had a good place to live? Who made sure the street was clean?

Ian and his dad walked to a city bus stop to ride to school. As Ian and his dad got on the bus, they said, “Good morning,” to the driver. She smiled at them.

Ian watched the people walking on the sidewalk. He saw some people riding bikes. They were on a special bike path, built just for them. Ian especially liked passing by the community garden. Mrs. Bertrand was standing at the gate, giving people tools to help them care for their plants.

Suddenly Ian saw a fire truck. It was not making a sound but was headed to the park. . He saw many people standing around a tree. A cat was stuck in the high branches. Ian’s dad explained that the firefighters would get out their ladder and help the cat get down.

When the bus stopped in front of Ian’s school, he and his dad waved to the driver. They said hello to the high school students who were picking up trash that had blown onto the playground. Ian took his dad’s hand as they walked into the classroom. He wanted to show him the thank you letter he and his friends made for the shopkeeper who had given the class birdseed for their window birdfeeders. Then Ian was ready to start his day!

After reading this little story (and we hope you will change names, events, etc. to make it more relevant for your area), ask children to retell it to encourage sequential thinking. You can hold up fingers to represent the events. This visual helps children think about the order of Ian’s morning.

Use a chart paper to make a list of the community helpers. Some of these community helpers are implied and you may need to ask leading questions such as the following:

Do you think someone who walks helps the community by not using gas? This keeps the air cleaner.

Do you think someone who drives a bus helps the community? This offers people a chance to ride together and keeps more cars off the roads.

Would people who made a bike path be community helpers? Tell why.

Do you think someone who works at a garden helps the community? Explain.

Were you surprised that firefighters help animals, too?

How are the high school students helping the community?

Do you think the shopkeeper is a community helper? Why?

Do you think Ian is a community helper? Tell why.

This little story gives our children a window into those that might not readily be thought of as community helpers. It shows that everyone, even preschoolers like Ian, can make a difference in the world.  As a follow-up, make a list of those who help around your school and neighborhood.  As you know, anytime we make charts and lists, we are modeling literacy concepts for our children.

*It is important and necessary to tell children to picture a story. I always suggest ‘making’ a movie of it in their minds. Throughout the years many children have told me they did not know they were allowed or supposed to do this!

Standards Alignment:

NAEYC – 2.D.01.; 2.D.03.;  2.D.06.; 2.E.03.

Head Start – V.A.; V.B.;VII.D.; VIII.A.; IX.C.;XI.B.

Earth Day – Keeping It Local

Help your children to look around your town, city, and even neighborhood this Earth Day and see the wonders of the area in which they live.  We like to begin by encouraging children to talk about what they like in your locale. Some children may begin naming stores or restaurants but likely someone will mention a park, body of water, or even an animal recently seen. We like to accept all responses but dramatically congratulate those who begin talking about nature. Saying, “You really have the spirit of Earth Day because you are seeing nature,” will help others to begin thinking about and noticing the beauty of your area.

 Children may name big areas like lakes, ponds, forests, or nearby mountains.

Other children may think about small areas of beauty such as the petals on a blossoming flower.

We suggest providing children with a large sheet of paper, even some from a bulletin board roll or freezer paper to draw a mural of their favorite local natural sights.  Ask children to talk about their drawings, after which you can label them. This helps with sound/symbol relationships and even sight word development.

Make it a part of your morning routine to talk about something special children have noticed in nature. Asking children to describe local natural areas of interest to them, helps develop an appreciation for Mother Earth, especially when they know you value this type of discussion.

And who knows….your eyes may even be opened to a spot, tree, or flower that you had previously taken for granted!

Standards Alignment:

NAEYC – 2.D.03.; 2.D.04.; 2.D.06.; 2.G.03.

Head Start – V.B.; VIII.A. & B.; XI.B.

Layers of the Earth Song!

The ABCs, Days of the Week, Months of the Year - these are examples of ways music helps young children learn. You can make up a song about anything by using easy tunes. This week our activity (available to you FREE when you sign up in the box to the right) focuses on layers of the earth. Here's a fun way to get children excited about this science concept. Sing it to the tune of "The Adams Family."
 

Layers of the earth -
Layers of the earth, layers of the earth, layers of the earth, layers of the earth.
The earth it has 3 layers – 3 layers all around. The core is at the center. It’s way deep underground.

Layers of the earth -

Layers of the earth, layers of the earth, layers of the earth, layers of the earth.

Above it is the mantle; it can get quite hot. It’s filled with miles of magma and lots of igneous rocks.
Layers of the earth -

Layers of the earth, layers of the earth, layers of the earth, layers of the earth.

The part that we can walk on, it is called the crust. It has rocks and mountains and even blowing dust.

Layers of the earth -
Layers of the earth, layers of the earth, layers of the earth, layers of the earth.
Our Earth it has three layers – the core, mantle, and crust. You can see I know them – so I’m a scientist!
Layers of the earth -
Layers of the earth, layers of the earth, layers of the earth, layers of the earth.

And here is your friend, Dr. Kathy, showing you how much fun this song can be:

Remember, when we encourage children to cross the center line (right hand to left side or left hand to right side) we are waking up brains. It's a great way to start the day!

Standards Alignment:
NAYEC: 2.G.02.; 2.G.07.; 2.G.08.; 2.J.
Head Start: III.A.; XI.B

Inquiry - The Great M&M Experiment

Some experiments are favorites of childhood. But the key to doing successful science is to encourage critical thinking on the part of the children. We like the M&M experiment and the many questions and observations it can prompt in a young child’s mind. 

All you need for this inquiry is a shallow bowl, a pack of M&Ms and some water. Show the children the pack of M&Ms first. Ask them what they know about these candies. You may want to make a list of responses to help children see literacy in action.

We like to divide children into groups, let them open a bag of M&Ms, and discuss their observations. During a recent experiment children were heard to name the colors, count the candies, and then divide the M&Ms into colors. They began to wonder if all M&M bags had the same number of colors in them. The groups can compare to see who has the most red, blue, green, etc. This could become a class chart that shows how numeracy is an important part of science.

We then talked about water. We asked children what might happen when water is poured into the bowl. Children discussed it and even thought some colors might “melt” faster than other colors. We took a poll about their predictions. These hypotheses can be charted to recheck later. 

The colors dissolve at different rates, making for interesting discussion and questions.

Children gently poured water to cover the M&Ms. Discussion using vocabulary like float, sink, and dissolve took place. Children noted the change in the M&Ms and began to examine, without prompting, what colors made other colors.  This observation led to valuable inquiry ideas like, “I wonder what would have happened if we had not separated the colors? I wonder what would have happened if there had been more blue M&Ms in the bag? I wonder what would happen if we used Mint M&Ms?” These kinds of child-generated questions are inquiry at its best.

Finally some children used the word, patience, as it related to science. They discussed the idea that sometimes experiments take time and you have to wait. We love when children come up with key concepts like this!

And…just as patience was discussed, the children observed floating white M’s in the water. This observation is very exciting and often elicits squeals of delight. Usually someone will stop and ask, “Wait a minute, are those M’s floating in my tummy, too?” This leads to a good discussion on the food we eat and how our bodies use that food.

The floating M's are always a big hit and a source of many questions!

So…what seems like a simple and easy to do experiment, can become more valuable if you let children pose their own questions, discuss freely, and even answer their own questions

Thanks to my young neighbor, Tim, for taking the photos of our experiment. This is another way to integrate technology with your lesson. And it brings up a good point – this activity is an easy one to share with families to do in their homes over spring break.

Standards Alignment:

NAEYC – 2D.05, 2.D.07, 2.G.- all.

Head Start – IV.A., XI. A. ,XI.B.