Autumn is awesome!

Fun Flashlight Friday everyone!!!!  The children enjoyed reading with a stuffie/favourite book and a friend with a flashlight.  It was like we were on a camping trip!  We noticed all the cool reflective materials on the children's coats.  

The seasons are a natural phenomena that children know well living in Canada.   Being at the autumnal equinox our environment is changing, and children are noticing many changes outside.  

Room 2's List
-The leaves are changing colours and falling down 

-It is colder 

-Kids are wearing warmer clothing

-Less daylight
-Different activities (splash pads are closed)

Wednesday we watched a book about a fox named Fletcher who was really worried about the leaves falling off the trees.  As scientists, we recognized these changes are part of a greater pattern of seasonal changes.  To understanding why they happen, today we watched a video of the book by Gail Gibbons:  The Reason for Seasons

The children learned that the tilt of the earth and the rotation of the earth around the sun are the factors that cause the changes in our seasons. We saw that during the Autumnal Equinox, the sun shines between the two hemisphere creating equal amounts of day and night. We did our own experiments with a light source and a globe. 



Each Wednesday our class is examining the amount of daylight and night using a visual pie graph to show the changing amounts of light.  Make observations at home about the amounts of light.  Is it darker now when you wake up.  Is it still light when you have dinner?  Discuss the changes you notice about the light you see.

These discussions got us talking about the word equals and what it means.  We experimented with our class balances and talked about the concept of equals in equations. Aha! .... another word with equ- in it.   We played with the idea that in an equation, say, 2+2=4 . The equal sign does not mean put the answer here, but that both sides of the equal sign are the same. 

So...  2+2=4    then   4=2+2  or   3+1=1+3   or   1+1+1= 4-1  Try making balanced equations at home!

Next, we set learning goals for these materials during Montessori Work Period.

We discovered that the prefix equ- is also found in equator (the line separating our globe into two equal hemispheres).

Today we celebrated our first birthday of the year.  Autumn (very aptly named), had a birthday on September one.  She shared photos and milestones from each of her years traveling around the Earth. 

To help us understand this concept, the children made models of the earth's rotation around the sun.  Look for it in their folders.  

REMEMBER TO REMOVE ALL ITEMS FROM CHILDREN'S FOLDERS EACH NIGHT!