Pumpkin Visual
Today we took time to look at our pumpkin . We smelled it. We touched it. We talked about it and made a list of all the things we ” know ” about pumpkins.
After making our list we cut open the pumpkin and explored the inside .
We looked up a recipe for roasted pumpkins on the internet and cooked them !
We tasked the pumpkin seeds .
We added to our list of things we ” know ” about pumpkins.
We know a lot !
Many traditional preschools would give student this .
Look at our list about and make off what we CAN NOT learn from a coloring sheet.
Having real experiences while you are little is very important. I am not saying coloring sheets are the devil. Some children enjoy them… as a non-creative art experience but it teaches them nothing . The most a coloring sheet can teach a child is that they are not good enough to color in the lines.
Why would I deprive children of the rich vocabulary and opportunities to be engaged in science and be proud that they can color a pumpkin that looks just like everyone else’s ?
Another thing we re-inrtoduced today is voice levels. Some of our littles are forgetting to use more calm voices inside . A few years ago I was visiting the kindergarten lunch time and noticed the teachers were using a numbered voice system. I thought.. why not. Teaching children to control their voice at appropriate times can’t be bad. It would be incredibly helpful if when asking your children to lower their voices at home you used the same system .
- Whisper
- Quiet table talk — one to one conversation
- Louder – We are talking across a room or needs someone’s attention
- Outside voices
- I am in DANGER – HELP
We have visuals for the table to help us remember what voice is expected during meals etc. We don’t usually pull them out unless it is an abnormally loud day and the children are not eating.
All in a days work.