This is so true with our smallest students. The world is ripe with discovery and when an observant and willing teacher is ready to answer questions, spur thought, and capture wonder, the world is a limitless educator. In this week's study we have taken to the outdoors and gathered, observed, hypothesized, and questioned our surroundings. The result? S.T.E.M. through play....just as it was meant to be. What lays an egg?![]() Last week we studied, "Animals of the Savannah," using our Mother Goose Time curriculum. With the heat coming on full blast it was a perfect time to discuss animals that live in hot, dusty, sandy terrains. We observed camels, lions, zebras, and elephants while we played in the sand, added water to see what would happen and how the sand absorbed it readily. We reviewed the letters E, Z, L, C and S (sand), their sounds and we practiced finding the letters at the beginning, middle, and end of the words and books. This week, we again took to the outdoors with one question. "What do you see?" The results were instant. (Small beginnings....major progress...) "EGGS!!" squealed two children almost simultaneously. They were standing atop of our swing set fort searching the leaves and all the children excitedly joined them. The great thing about children is that one answer is never enough. There is always another, "Why?" or "How?" These are called "Teachable moments." My favorite kind of moments of the day...![]() We discussed eggs, animals and insects that laid eggs and the vocabulary word, "Oviparous." We discovered that "oviarous" creatures all have the same thing in common, they lay eggs. That spawned more questions... "Are puppies "obipus" (yes I know the spelling is wrong :)) Ms. Donna?" "No...puppies, kitties, and people are "mammals" because they have live babies, not eggs." "Oooohhhhh!!!" You can literally see their little brains churning as they raced around grabbing toy animals and bugs while asking if they were mammals or "obipus!" Once it was time to return indoors the play continued with our dough. They made dough leaves and eggs. They counted the eggs, hatched the eggs, and added and subtracted the eggs (no papers required). This is math and science at play! We decided we needed an egg song so we looked up our Mother Goose Time Dancing Beats videos on Youtube and learned this song and dance! |
Life is made of moments..."There isn't anything more full of hope, joy and peace than a child's smile... It captures the mundane and makes it extraordinary." - LaDonna Woolsey I am a www.prekwithme.com blogger. I decided to become one after trying their products because I they are comprehensive and serve my mixed age group well. I do receive products to review from www.prekwithme.com and do so with my own honest and thorough opinions. For more information, please contact me at [email protected]
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