Thankful for Books!

Earlier this month, Harmony's House hosted a book fair through Usborne.  Thanks to FIVE FABULOUS FRIENDS of Harmony's House, we got all of the books and games pictured above for FREE!  Wow!  We are so thankful to our friends who ordered books.  Your orders helped us earn over $300 to buy books for the classroom.  And, boy do our friends LOVE to read!

We read inside, we read outside, we read alone and with a buddy, we read on our teacher's lap and on the couch and on the rocking chair.  We read fairy tales, we read non-fiction, we read about animals and space, we read about Pinkalicious and Pete the Cat.  We read A LOT.  If you were one of the friends who ordered books through our book fair, please know how grateful the children are here for the new books.  We have already started putting our new reads to use.  <3

Fun on the Playground

The weather has been wild this month, but we've made the most of it anyways!  Did you know that for young children, 90% of verbs are learned while actively participating in action?  This is only one benefit of outdoor play.

We received a donation of these wonderful log stumps that have been used to make climbing structures, gates barring the "big bad wolf," drum sets, and even a campfire.  It's likely the imaginative plans will continue to grow as the children use their big muscle groups and their creativity together.

The large stumps have been fun, but small tree biscuits and small logs have also been used endlessly this month as well.

The playground is also a fantastic place for artistic expression.  Children love to color on walls, and with chalk outside, they CAN!

Probably the best part of the playground is the muddy puddles that form with heavy rain!

No matter the weather, get outside and have some fun.  The vitamin D from the sun will do the body and the mind some good!

Remember, there's no such thing as wrong weather... just wrong clothes.  :)  

Farms to Feast

Farms feed the world.  They are, quite simply, fundamental to our existence.  For some of the children at Harmony's House, farms are also the place that they live.  We have been exploring farming for several weeks this fall in a variety of ways.  This post will explain how the ideas about farming and food culminate in celebrating the harvest at Thanksgiving.

In September, we visited a small farm of one of our families to meet, care for, and understand where food like milk, meat, and eggs come from.

Some farms have only animals, only food, or both.  In October, we "worked" in a Farmer's Market in our House Area.  

The children would come to the market to buy produce that they could "take home" and make supper with.

When they ran out of food, they would go shopping again.  Eventually the food at the store ran out.  The children solved this problem by "calling the farmer" to make a delivery to the store.  

Whoever was pretending to be the farmer would have to check if the hens were laying, if the pumpkins were ripe, and when they'd be able to make a delivery.  We learned that farmers were important people because the stores would run out of food without them!

Now, in November we are preparing for Thanksgiving.  Most people in the U.S. celebrate Thanksgiving by sharing a feast with family and/or friends, just as pilgrims did centuries ago to express gratitude for a plentiful harvest.

The children are demonstrating their knowledge of farming that they have developed during September and October by working with farm animals and barns.  Farmers must take good care of the animals to have enough milk, butter, and eggs for all of the baking that happens during November and December.

They know that turkeys live on farms, and try to "catch a turkey" with these clever scissors in the Explore Table.  Turkey farmers are very busy this time of year getting ready for Thanksgiving!

They create their own miniature farms, deliver hay and water to the animals, and use the tractors to work in the fields with the plants.  It's time to harvest all the corn, apples, pumpkins, potatoes, and squash.

Finally, they use the grain, eggs, and butter from farms to run the Cookie Bakery.

Some friends work the mixers to make cookie dough.  Some bake the cookie dough on sheets.

Some friends work to frost the cookies, and box them up for sale.

This year, for the children at Harmony's House, Thanksgiving will mean being thankful to farmers who bring the meat, produce, and grains to our table for a feast!