It was the much-anticipated milking day this week! We began with a sign-in activity to explore the sounds of our favorite animals, including both the associated letter and animal sounds (“Goat” starts with the hard /g/ sound and say “maa.”) We continued to explore animal feet and tracks by working with play dough and rubber track molds.
During our large group gathering, we read the book, “An Earthworm’s Life,” by John Himmelman, which took us through the story of the life cycle of a worm. How do worms help a garden grow? We handled red wigglers as we listened, noticing newly hatched worms and even an egg among the newspaper and castings.
Examining a Red Wiggler Egg Case
Reading “An Earthworm’s Life” by John Himmelman
In the Children’s Garden, we worked as a team to a mural depicting life above and below a garden. The murals of the two groups showcase many features of a healthy garden we have explored over the past weeks, from sun, rain, soil, worms, burrows, flowers, roots, shoots, and even a grill to cook up the harvest! We also made predictions on whether natural objects, like various seeds, sticks, and stones, would sink or float. Some objects surprised us!
Working on a Garden Mural
Working on a Garden Mural
Working on a Garden Mural
Working on a Garden Mural
Working on a Garden Mural
Will it sink or float?
During snack, we ate bell peppers in a rainbow of colors. Some who don’t normally eat bell peppers even gave them a try! We shared our favorite color along with a favorite fruit or vegetable of the same color, leading us to list produce such as pink watermelon, purple grapes, blueberries, red raspberries, green bell peppers, and orange carrots.
Next we headed to the animal barn for our biggest chore yet, milking Jenna, one of our Toggenburg dairy goats! On the way to the barn we sang, “A-milking we will go, a-milking we will go, hi-ho the dairy-o a-milking we will go.” We learned the word “udder” and everyone took turns milking her. We talked about products that come from milk, like cheese and yogurt. We made some observations about her, including how she has hooves. We also visited the chickens and goat kids while we were in the barn. Upon leaving the barn we sang, “This is the way we milk a goat, milk a goat, milk a goat, that is the way we milk a goat at Tollgate Farm!”
Time for Animal Chores
Milking Jenna
Milking Jenna
Preparing for Milking
Time for Animal Chores
Milking Jenna
Milking Jenna
Milking Jenna
After milking, the morning group transplanted their sunflowers from the greenhouse to the garden while the afternoon group planted herbs, beans, and flowers in a garden bed outside of the classroom.
Noticing the Seed Coats on our Sunflower Sprouts
Transplanting Sunflowers to the Garden
Transplanting Sunflowers to the Garden
John Dewey wrote, “Give the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking; learning naturally results.”