April 2014

In the month of March we learned about the continent of South America. We began by revisiting the continent globe to help the children better understand South America in relation to where we live.  A few children were inspired to trace and label the continent of South America and the countries that make it up. At circle we also looked at various pictures of typical South American life (e.g. a girl at school, people at the beach, people at a festival, Amazonians in the forest, etc). We compared what we saw in the pictures to how we know life in North America to be either similar or different.  I observed a number of children independently looking at these pictures during work time. We spoke a bit about animals that live in South America. A number of children practiced handwriting by choosing an animal in a South American Animal Book, and then writing various facts about the animal along with an illustration. We read a couple of South American folk tales/realistic non-fiction that the children really enjoyed and repeatedly requested. In addition to this, Jenelle (Julianna's mom) came in to make Brazilian Cheese Bread Balls. They were so yummy!  In addition to South America, we also touched on various aspects of self-esteem, including the importance of loving yourself and advocating for yourself. 

In the month of April we will be focusing on weather and the water cycle. I have a fun science experiment planned to show what happens when the clouds cannot hold any more moisture. We'll learn to identify different types of weather, storms, and clouds. We also have a fun weather-related cooking project planned.