November 2013

October was a fun month in Lila classroom.  Our focus was learning the function of fruit (namely apples) and the function of its parts (e.g. the function of fruit is to carry seeds, the function of the skin is to protect the flesh, etc).  Children enjoyed using an apple spooning and apple sewing works in the Practical Life area.  In Language they practiced visual discrimination and visual tracking with parts of the apple matching cards, and a magnetic apple fraction material was a hit in Math. We had some great Sensorial activities during circle this month. When discussing how all fruit carry seeds, but sometimes in different ways, we cut open a number of pieces of fruit (kiwi, avocado, orange, banana, and apple) to examine their seeds. Another time, I told the story of the little boy in search of a red house with no windows, no doors, and a star inside, and then cut an apple horizontally to reveal the seeds in a star configuration. Lastly, we had a taste test between Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and Granny Smith apples.  Granny Smith and Golden Delicious tied for first with a significant lead over Red Delicious. This month we have been singing "I Like To Eat Apples and Bananas" and a "Go to the Market" song about fruit. The children also really enjoyed cooking Pumpkin (it's a fruit) Muffins with Amiya's mom, Lavanya.

Next month in November we will be focusing on Health and Nutrition.  We will be breaking this down into healthy eating choices, healthy movement choices, and how to stay well. I hope to see a surge in children independently remembering to wash their hands :) I am planning on doing some group and independent yoga as well as some fun gross motor activities. We will also be having at least one cooking project, and hopefully a Thanksgiving Feast.

Best Regards,

Nancy