The most important word for any child is his/her own name.  For most children, it is the first word that they learn to read and write.

The children have been doing activities using magnetic letters, stamps, Lego, pattern blocks, paint, and Play-Doh to draw their attention to the letters in their own names.  We have also been using our names in songs and poems.  

Children recognize the letters of the alphabet by attending to their distinctive features; circles, straight lines, crossing lines.  Practicing their names helps them to notice the differences among the letters.  It also helps them to learn the sounds in their names and the names of their friends.

The children have also been learning to print their names starting with a capital letter followed by lower-case ones.  

Ask me to print my name for you.

The ability to use the senses to make exploratory observations is a curricular competency of the science curriculum for kindergarten.  The little scientists of Division 12  practiced this competency by using their five senses to describe the properties of our class pumpkin.

We described what our pumpkin looked like: orange, round, small, short, skin, stem, ribs.  We shook the pumpkin and heard it rattle.  We took off the lid and looked inside: pulp, seeds, stringy goo.  We smelled the pumpkin:  phew!  We touched the pulp and separated the seeds.   Ms. Gourlay baked a snack using pumpkin puree. We tasted the pumpkin cake: delicious!

We were surprised by the number of seeds that were in our small pumpkin.  We found out that if a pumpkin is dark orange and has a lot of ribs, it has been growing longer and will have more seeds.

We wondered if a pumpkin would sink or float in water.  We asked all our friends to make a prediction. Most of us said that the pumpkin would sink because, although it was small, it was pretty heavy.  We conducted our experiment and observed that a pumpkin does indeed float.  We concluded that a pumpkin floats because it is not completely solid inside.  It is hollow.  The pulp and pumpkin seeds have space around them that is full of air.  All that space and air lets the pumpkin float.

We also learned about the life cycle of a pumpkin (seed, seedling, plant, vine, flower, green pumpkin, orange pumpkin), and what pumpkins need in order to grow (soil, sun, water, oxygen).

Ask me to tell you what I know about pumpkins.

We had an exciting day at the Aldor Acres Pumpkin Patch!

It was a typical autumn day . . . rainy and wet . . . but we had lots of fun!

When we first arrived at Aldor Acres, we took a ride on the wagon out to the pumpkin patch.  We got off to pick out our own pumpkin to take home, but . . . which one should we choose? Finally, we picked the perfect one and it was back to the bus.to drop off the pumpkins.

Next we visited the animals and played on the hay bales.  The children were delighted with the animals – horses, goats, lambs, donkeys, baby pigs, baby chicks to name just a few.  They loved touching them, hearing their noises and experiencing all the different smells.  The children were particularly enamored with holding the baby bunnies and petting the puppies.

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The purpose of the trip was so that the children could make exploratory observations about plant and animal life cycles, and experience first-hand the structural features or behaviours that allow plants and animals to survive in the local environment.

We had a wonderful trip.

“I don’t want to leave.” Christian.

Thank you to all the parent volunteers that came with us. We could not have had this experience without your support.