November 2022: Gratitude & Giving Thanks
Our changing garden, learning about tools, homes around the world, and thankfulness:
The children have shown confidence in their school setting and curiosity in our new explorations. We had some very exciting nature activities this month. We tried to give all the children an opportunity to jump in the leaves, unfortunately some days were just too frozen! We experienced our first snow day and the children are learning how to put on their winter outdoor play clothing on independently. We planted garlic and prepared the garden for winter.
For movement activities, we sang and danced the hokey pokey and set up an obstacle course!
An entertaining life skill activity; making our own peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! This activity was a little bit sticky and a lot of fun!
Books read to enhance learning experiences:
The Thankful Book By Todd Parr
Thank You for Me by
New songs we sang this month:
Three Little Birds
The Hokey Pokey
Exploring Tools:
What is a tool? Why do we use them?
A tool is an object that helps you do a task. We explored the obvious tools used for building, and went into depth about how tools are also paint brushes, spoons, etc. After the children practiced with toy tools in the classroom they got to to try real tools!
Mr. Scott Rogers (Jenny’s father), came as a special guest and taught us all about tools! He is a skilled carpenter and helped build SimpleLife School! To say the children were excited about his presence is an understatement. They were mesmerized by his teachings and lesson. He taught us about the purpose of different tools and how to safely use them.
The children used deep thinking skills to ponder why we use tools and what is considered a tool. The children understood that a tool is an object we use to help us do something. Everybody uses tools!
Homes Around the World:
Miss Jenny lived in Zambia for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer
What does your home look like? What is it made out of? Do you have running water and electricity? Furniture and a closet of clothes?
These were some of the questions the children thought about to understand that not all homes look like the homes we have here in Utah. During a group activity we talked about some photos of different homes. Hut, teepee, houseboat, apartments, shacks, igloo, and more. It quickly became obvious to the children that some of the homes in the photos are not as comfortable as their own home.
Miss Jenny spent two years living in Zambia, Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer. She shared photos and artifacts with the children and explained how they have to make all of their tools, there is no store to go to to buy them. These visuals helped the children understand that we are very lucky to have our homes and belongings.
Thankful Celebration:
“I am thankful for…”
Gratitude is a very hard concept for children to understand. They don’t know that they should be grateful if they have never seen anything different; they need to be shown the world’s diversity. After the homes around the world activity and Miss Jenny’s lesson on Africa, the children could see that not everyone lives like we do. We also helped the children understand by rephrasing the question. We asked, “What is something that you are really happy that you have? It can be a person, a place, or a belonging.” We got so many sweet responses.
Our Thankful Celebration was a day to acknowledge the things we are grateful for. We had a “feast”, made cards for our loved ones, went on a walk with family, and played a teamwork activity outside.
It was a lovely time with incredible people.
Art & Music Explorations:
Instruments, drums, pinch pots, how to use our art tools
With another ceramics project, the children got to experience what it is like to make a necessary tool. Small pinch pots that can be used for eating, drinking, or carrying goods! This activity helped promote the development of fine motor skills.
SimpleLife is home to some gorgeous African drums. It was only fitting to let the children explore a drum circle. They were very respectful to the artifacts and listened well to their peers and teachers to create lovely drum sounds. We showed the children other handmade instruments, a tool that helps us make music! Using some up-cycled cardboard cylindric containers the children made their very own drum! Music truly is a necessary part of our life, when humans do not have access to it, they find a way to make their own!
On the topic of tools, we discussed how often we use art tools. Some of these tools are new to preschool children and need to be practiced to use correctly. With a cutting and glueing exercise, the children practiced using scissors and glue-sticks in a safe and appropriate way. The children actively listened to teachers explain how to keep our glue-sticks intact and how to use scissors safely. They got to explore different papers to create their own abstract work of art.
