It's Sunday and I'm writing. I'm still trying to take care of myself and whip this cold! I have had a lot of rest this weekend- and vitamin C and tea. I hope I'll have more energy next week! There are a few things going around, so take care. I really appreciate the families who have taken a precausionary day at home when they can so the sicknesses don't spread and also the children who are not feeling their best are at home resting, where we all want to be when we feel like that!
I wanted to let you know that one of our fish died on Friday. The children were mostly curious about this and came up with many ideas on what could have caused it's death. There were suggestions that it got into some cold water, it hit it's head on a rock, it ate too much and it drank too much. (That last one tickled me a bit!) We agreed we may never know how it died and we talked about how we are feeling. Many friends took the opportunity to share their thoughts on death, what happends after death, and others in their lives that have died in the past.
This topic is very interesting to children and may be something that they will be talking about for a while. I think at this age, what seems so fantastic is that the dead don't come back. Friends were suggesting that maybe if I just put it back in the water, the fish would come back alive. This is a hard concept for this age: the idea that something is truely done, and there isn't a way to change this situation. I just wanted to let you know so that you may support your child and share your family's beliefs on how all this works.
We didn't look at many internet sites this week, instead we continued our investigation of letters found in nature. The children are using this opportunity to talk about the shapes that make up letters- connecting to them more. I think describing the shapes help them when they want to begin writing these. The children are also talking a lot about the differences we are seeing between the lower case and the upper case of each letter.
We also had some interesting discussions about the differences between a narwal and a swordfish. The practice of sharing our ideas and also describing nuances has really empowered the children to use more descriptive words to explain what they mean. They are seeing that they have the power to share verbally what sometimes they want to just show someone. It is neat to hear how they each describe something. It shows more of their own personal perspective on the world.
I hope you feel better, and thank you so much for the open house on Thursday. We feel very connected with the information you provide:) ty a million.
ReplyDeleteHi Jennifer...your posts mean a ton. Without it we would miss out on a lot...boy gives us info sporadically and on a piecemeal basis...:)..thank u!
ReplyDeleteDeath is a hard topic..infact its one of the greatest fear triggering words even for adults :)... we try to steer away just yet to keep them from growing up n maturing too fast! In the same breath, i see kids at parks use "kill bugs" so loosely..:(..RIP fish...was it Hidey?? Is it a guppy or goldfish?? cheers!
It was NOT Hidey! And yes, I hear children use these important words so easily. They seem to pick up that there is power in these words and that they trigger a lot, so want to seem big enough to use them too, often then coming across as using them in odd situations.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments, it feels nice to hear others' thoughts on these important things. I love sharing and exchange, so thanks!