October 2023: Celebrating Fall
“As long as autumn lasts, I shall not have hands, canvas, and colors enough to paint the beautiful things I see.”
– Vincent Van Gogh
Mindful Focus: Emotions/Feelings
Explorations: Autumn, Trees, and Pumpkins
We had so much fun in October! The children got to watch nature change with the new season. While looking for signs of fall, we learned about trees and how they adapt, produce, and continually give to us.
Our family volunteer day was a success! Thank you for everyone who took part. It was full of abundance and love. We will be planning another one for spring time!
Books read to enhance learning experiences:
Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn by Kenard Pak
The Tree by Neal Layton
The Seasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree by Gail Gibbons
The Feelings Book by Todd Parr
As An Oak Tree Grows by G. Brian Karas
Quick as a Cricket by Audrey Wood Illustrated by Don Wood
A is for Autumn by Robert Maass
Summer Green to Autumn Gold: Uncovering Leave’s Hidden Colors by Mia Posada
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Pumpkin Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington
Growing Pumpkins by Melvin Berger
New songs we sang this month:
Autumn Leaves are Falling Down
Looking for signs of fall:
Notice the changes around you, what do you see?
The children went on a mindful autumn walk with their class where they looked for signs of fall. Allowing children to use their senses to take in their surroundings, and prompting deep thinking by asking them questions helped them make learning connections. We collected nature items for our art projects and got to see what types of plants and seeds we can find in autumn. We learned about what happens outside in the fall and explored the beauty it brings.
The nuts were ready to be harvested, a sign of fall! We have a walnut and almond tree. We learned about the different parts (husk, shell, nut) and cracked them open! We found out the different ways we can use the nuts we harvested. Some children chose to put a nut on their cookies at our Fall Celebration.
Often the season guides our activities. Some things in the garden needed attention! The children helped us collect the last of our harvest. We clipped our mint and hung it to dry in our classroom spaces. During early childhood, children begin to obtain information and describe patterns of weather and the seasons. It’s crucial to guide children through this natural desire of exploration to help them understand the world.
Emotions:
It’s okay to feel any type of way!
At SimpleLife, we take pride in our everyday efforts to support children through their emotions.
“Children identify and regulate their emotions, manage stress, and show self-discipline as well as recognize the emotional experiences of others..” Utah Early Childhood Core Standards
It’s important that we set children up with a support system and tools to manage their behaviors and big emotions. Not only will this benefit their personal health and well-being, but it will help them succeed in making friends, working as a team, and learning new life skills.
To help children feel comfortable talking about and expressing their emotions we practice them! Normalizing is key. Assuring children that all people feel sad, mad, scared, etc. We practice making different facial expressions, look at pictures of people feeling strong emotions, and discuss situations and how they might make us feel. Some people might feel happy when meeting a new friend, while someone else might feel nervous.
We tell the children it’s okay to feel any type of way! It’s our job to show them how to express their emotions appropriately. This emotional intelligence will have long lasting effects on them and the people around them.
Exploring Trees:
“For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.”
— Martin Luther
When learning about the season changing, discussing trees is a key concept. With books and learning materials the children learned the different parts of a tree and what happens to the tree as the seasons change. Did you know, that in the fall, trees slow down the production of chlorophyll, revealing the leaves true color? As the trees go dormant for the winter, we will soon see them come back to growing in the spring!
A long term activity we partake in is our “Class Sit Tree”. Each class chooses a tree to be their designated sit tree. A sit tree is a specific tree you observe, notice it’s details, and how it changes over time. We notice as many things about the tree as we can and will visit our tree often. A sit tree is also a place of solitude. We can go there for calm, comfort, or insight. It is a place for mindfulness and self-expression. As the school year goes on, we will continue to visit our tree, draw pictures of it, and notice how it has grown and changed, just like us.
What comes from trees? Trees provide us with so much! They are a life force that gives us oxygen. If there were no trees, there would be no us. Trees also give us so much more! Fruit, nuts, wood, paper, and even syrup! Children played a game where they pulled an item out of a bag and determined whether or not it came from a tree.
We learned how trees are used to make something we use everyday, paper! We made our very own special seed paper. Using paper shreds, water, and a blender we made paper pulp. The children got to use a heart shape cookie cutter and a screen to strain the paper pulp. We put echinacea seeds in it. In the Spring, the paper heart can be planted and give us flowers to admire!
When we think of fall time, we think of raking up big piles of leaves and jumping in! The children had so much fun. At SimpleLife, teachers take on an active roll in children’s learning experiences. We are participants and equals. As said by profound child development theorist Lev Vygotsky, “The teacher must adopt the role of facilitator not content provider.”
Fall Celebration:
Celebrating all things this lovely season brings!
We enjoy celebrating the season and events that are happening in our life! We get excited celebrating the feats that nature shares with us. It’s important to celebrate the season because it helps connects us with our world and each other!
Making leaf crowns is a fun way to show children that dress up doesn’t always have to be a character costume. We can express our theatrical self making our own costume!
Outside, the children hunted for a small pumpkin. It’s fun to run around and feel surprised when you finally find the pumpkin you’ve been looking for! We decorated our pumpkins with stickers and paint.
A special aspect of celebrating is sharing a special treat. Each class made their own batch of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies! Yum! Children help us combine and mix ingredients. We discuss the chemical reactions that take place when baking.
Children got to choose if they wanted to wear a costume to school! We loved hearing the children tell us all about their special costume and how much it means to them.
To show off our costumes we marched in a parade for families! The children sang the songs they have been working on since the first day of school. When children are seen for their efforts and participation it creates a sense of comfort and confidence.
Art:
Tree Sculptures, Leaf Rubbings, Abstract Trees, Fall Wreaths, Collaborative Painting, and Glazing Clay Slabs
It was an artistic month! We fit in so many different art projects and mediums. Wire tree sculptures supported fine motor development as the children used their hands to bend the wire and add decorative pieces to it.
Children glued on their own trunk, roots, branches, and leaves to create their own creative abstract tree. Allowing children to have choice and freedom in their artwork is extremely beneficial. Some of the abstract trees might not have looked like an actual tree, but they all looked like creative works of art.
When celebrating, it’s fun to decorate! Children used the nature items they collected on their autumn walk to make a fall wreath. We used tracing paper and the sides of crayons to make leave rubbings. They look so pretty when the light shines through them.
We learned how art can be a group activity. We discussed what it means to collaborate and made some beautiful pieces of artwork. We glazed the clay slabs we created last month and will get to share them with our families in the winter!
