April 2022: We love our Earth!
Building strong children by spreading compassion through our lives and hearts.
This month was all about compassion, caring for our Earth, and learning about birds. We started April with a snow day! Utah weather is always full of surprises. It didn’t take long to turn back into the warmth of spring, and we were able to enjoy many of our snack times outside.
Some of the books we read to support exploration and learning:
5 Little Chicks by Nancy Tafuri
You Nest Here With Me by Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple
Birds by Laura Dronzek
Birdsongs by Betsy Franco & Steve Jenkins
10 Things I Can Do To Help My World by Melanie Walsh
Songs:
This Pretty Planet by Tom Chapin
Little Bird by Elizabeth Mitchell
Compassion:
Let us show our children to have a consciousness on how we treat ourselves, others, Earth, and all living things.
The children have been practicing empathy all school year, this month we introduced compassion. Although the two are similar, compassion includes the motivation to alleviate whatever suffering is being felt. This practice promotes a healthy nervous system; studies show that individuals with a strong vagus nerve experience more daily positivity and have a greater likelihood to help others without any intention of benefitting themselves.
“…there’s evidence that these good feelings promote bonding through social networks, even bridging social divisions. My lab has found that if you can get people to feel compassion, they start to feel deeply connected to very different groups. In particular, they feel like they are similar to and share a common humanity with people who are really in need, who are really vulnerable. Cultivating this feeling of compassion makes people more attuned to who is in need and enables more altruistic behavior toward them.” (Dacher Keltner, Greater Good Magazine: Science-Based Insights For a Meaningful Life, 2012)
Our helping hands: Take a moment to look at your hands. Think about all the things your hands do not only to help you, but to help others, and the collective. Now think about the harm some hands do. We make a conscious choice on whether our hands will be helpful or hurtful. The children mindfully practiced having helpful hands by planting seeds, holding baby chicks, picking up garbage, playing musical instruments, and being kind to themselves and others.
Compassion was spread greatly this month among our SimpleLife community. You all are loved and valued.
Earth Day Celebration:
Everyday is Earth Day!
How grateful we are that we are able to teach children about the beauty of Earth and the importance to care for her. It can be hard for children to truly understand how large our world is. Although we can move across oceans, we cannot move across space. This Earth is our one and only and we will do everything we can to keep it habitable.
“How can you take care of our Earth?”
We got some eye-opening responses when asking the children what they can do to take care of the Earth. The smallest hands make the biggest impact. This month the children took care of our Earth by caring for plants and cultivating a garden, caring for animals, picking up garbage, and openly learn about how they can become environmentalist.
Earth Day Walk: What a fun day we had walking to the nearby park and picking up trash on our way! The children did such a great job following their teacher’s lead to stay safe. We enjoyed having a snack picnic, playing on the playground, and enjoying each other’s company and compassion for our planet.
Nests, Eggs, & Birds:
“Birds seem to be the happiest creatures on earth, yet they have none of what we call the comforts of life.”
~ Olive Thorne Miller
This month our main exploration was birds. We investigated nests, eggs, feathers, bird calls, and egg incubation. The children learned about the many different types of nests and the birds who create them. There were many opportunities for the children to make their own bird nests as well.
Bird World Exploration is a favorite activity among the children. They got to build nests for our toy birds, hatch eggs, and work together to create a play scene. They were engaged in this activity on our exploration table for long periods of time and for multiple days.
We started the incubation of some chicken eggs and also purchased some chicks for our school farm. The children enjoyed holding the chicks and learning how to take care of them. It was good practice for the children to use gentle hands to hold these tiny delicate creatures.
“I can’t really fly, but…” Pretending to be a bird can be freeing and fun! We had a blast using colorful scarves to fly around free as birds! Before we flew around we pretended to hatch from eggs!
Nature & Science Explorations:
Children are fascinated by the experience of the cycle of seasons, growth, and life.
Our nature focus this month has been planting in the school garden. Miss Jenny, Farmer Bob, and other community members have been working hard on planting-season preparation. After seed germination the children participated in transplanting. We reused cartons as pots for our tomatoes. Thank you for sending your cartons and cardboard for us! The children also planted kale and have been observing the growth of the peas and garlic.
Each child has what is called a “Sit Tree” this is a tree in the school yard that they observe throughout the changing seasons. It is also a place they can go to find peace and solitude. It was exciting watching the trees bud and blossom this spring! The children drew their sit trees at the beginning of the school year and again in April.
On top of learning about birds and their eggs we did a science lesson on animals that hatch from eggs. The children excitedly cracked open a plastic egg to be surprised by a small toy animal that was hiding inside. Then they determined whether it hatches from an egg or not.
Art Exploration:
”The world always seems brighter when you’ve just made something that wasn’t there before.”
Neil Gaiman
This month we completed our 3D paintings. The children were very proud of their hard work and were excited to take them home to show their families.
Since this month was all about birds, the children made their very own bird nest! Using shredded paper bags, grass, yarn, and Elmer’s Glue, lots of glue! We put all these items in a plastic bowl and waited for the glue to dry. This was a challenging activity for the children because it was difficult to get the items to stay in the bowl and not stuck on your fingers. Since birds nests are perfectly imperfect the children couldn’t place the items in a specific spot, it was a moment of learning where the children had to understand that some things just have to be. Not everything goes as planned or as we imagine. A nest needs and egg! The children added a colorful egg to rest inside their nest.
Making a flying bird was a fun project where the children got to stand up and walk around. We hung pinecones from the ceiling and the children would pick out feathers to create their unique little bird. Teachers helped them glue on googly eyes and a beak to finish it off. Once the children completed their bird they got to lay on the ground and look up at it “flying around”. This activity required a lot of listening and steps. The children displayed maturity and responsibility following all the expectations to have a fun and orderly art project!
