Photos April/May - Part 2

More photos:

students get their button assortments for our 

Button Barter Activity in the Currency block

this is a really easy way to understand the evolution of bartering

and all you need is a dish of vintage buttons

the beginning of our conversation about < con >

see The Prefix Post to see how it all turned out

making a sugar/water density tower in Science Club

we learned about density as a precursor to Black Holes

and floating an egg in water

(add salt to the water to change its density until the egg floats)

and Floating & Sinking Pop Cans

cans of diet soda float and cans of regular soda don't

everyone was fascinated by this experiment

artificial sweetener is sweeter so less is needed... and it's just enough

to change the density of the soda can in relationship to water

my newest Montessori Sensorial early childhood material

Third Box of Color Tablets

Chad brings samples of lampworking millefiori coins

these are handmade glass coins which can actually

be used as currency at glass shows

students share their foreign coin collections with the group

coincidentally, two students bring in Malaysian money! 

so we get to see an older and a newer bill, 

before and after changes made to prevent counterfeiting 

the transparent window is so cool

our pussy willow branches are sprouting shoots

so we go outside on a very rainy morning to plant them

in the mud

starting plant experiments on the Nature table:

avocado seed and sweet potato in the back

celery and bok choy in the front

weaving is all the rage in the Early Childhood group

our Backyard Biome tapestry

using our coffee mill to grind millet for porridge

mmm... we can't wait for

Creamy Millet Porridge with Roasted Strawberries

this child really loves grinding and stays with it for a long time

shadow puppetry of Grimm's Sweet Porridge fairy tale

everyone takes a turn being the storyteller

I simply folded a sheet and placed it over the chalk rail

of our chalkboard, held in place with large playstand clips

starting our second block of Zoology

looking at animals in groups, as representative of 

body systems in Human Physiology

Nervous System - birds, rodents

Cardiovascular System - carnivores

Digestive System - ruminants

working with a partner to read poems for two voices

from I am Phoenix by Paul Fleischman

Truer Words volumes 1, 2, 3

made by Emily O'Connor, a wonderful SWI tutor who made cards 

that match the way she, being dyslexic, sees & thinks about words

using the Dictionary of Word Origins by John Ayto 

to research words

making word sums

reviewing the formation of elements inside stars

giant stars can form many more elements

(even before going supernova)

researching animals for the Zoology MLB

enjoying making porridge with a variety of grains

Coconut Black Rice Breakfast Pudding

with tropical fruits

creating and playing on a seesaw

working as a team, discussing the building process

play evolves at different ages & stages!

we see parallel play in younger children

and in the oldest children, we see hanging out and chatting

walking and talking in happy companionship

using the primary colors to do a wet-on-wet

painting of the Harvest Mouse

Step 1:  a watercolor wash in yellow

Step 2:  brushstrokes of grass in blue

Step 3:  a little mouse in red

this is one of my absolute favorite paintings
I learned it from Jean Miller years ago at Taproot

making clay pots for Mother's Day

pressing shells into the clay to make designs

and experiment with textures

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