A Look Back At The Outdoors During The Fall

The holiday break gave us the opportunity to go through many photos. Here is a collection of outdoor pictures taken during the fall. 

Light jackets or none at all...sunny days and wind enough to float a kite...green grass and leaves on trees.

Nature walks and dirt cities...mud kitchens and wagon rides.

Gathering garbage and golden leaves...wild leaf rumpus and fossil findings.

Fun-filled Fabulous Fall!

As you go through the pictures, talk to your children about their fun in the fall and make memory connections with them. 

What did they like the most?

What do they miss?

What has changed?

Chicken Soup Is So Nice!

In November's gusty gale

I will flop my flippy tail

And spout hot soup

 I'll be a whale

Spouting once, spouting twice

Spouting chicken soup with rice.

~ Maurice Sendak ~ 

 

November's gusty gale blew a community friend into the 

wonderful world of kindergarten.

Dr. Lenna Morgan, who had helped Mrs. Brent tend the roof top garden in the summer time, came by for a visit. She is a paediatrician.

 That means she is a doctor that takes care of children.

Together with the junior chefs, marvelous garden vegetables were used to make chicken soup. All we can say is....

"More please!"

 

The first thing we did was debone the chicken that Mrs. Brent had prepared the evening before.

 

 The children were very interested in the bones. 

 

 Some bones were big and some were small. We touched the hard areas of our bodies to feel our bones beneath our skin. We guessed which chicken bones were for legs or wings.

 

 We rounded our backs and felt the bumps of our spine when we discovered the spine bone of the chicken.

 

 We started to sing about BONES!
Click the link and sing along too.

Now it was time to prepare the vegetables. We peeled the carrots away from ourselves.

The carrots were cut into bite size pieces.

All the vegetables, including celery and onion, were put into a pot to cook and soften up.

While they were cooking, it was time to spice things up!

Thyme and oregano did the trick. The spices were added to the chicken and chicken broth.

At just the right time, the carrots and onion and celery were also added to the chicken and chicken broth.

Whoever made the saying `too many cooks spoil the broth` doesn`t know about teamwork!

Some of our friends know Dr. Morgan from her doctor's office. What fun to make a pot of soup with her!


After all the vegetables and spices were added to the chicken and broth, enough water was added to fill the pot up. 

A secret ingredient was also added.

It rhymes with gemon gest. Can you guess what this yellow ingredient is?The chicken soup simmered and filled the air with a delicious aroma!
Many people visited our room to find out what the delicious smell was!

Our final two ingredients were alphabet noodles and spinach.
The spinach leaves were chopped up. They got added just before the soup was served. 
 
So did the noodles.
The children made sure to add the letters of their names.

There really is nothing like a healthy homemade bowl of chicken soup! It got a great stamp of approval from Dr. Morgan and an even bigger stamp of approval from the children...and the teachers. YUM!

The children loved Dr. Morgan's special touches and helping hand.

She makes soup, "better than even Tim Horton's!"

Click below for a rousing rendition of Maurice Sendak's Chicken Soup With Rice.

Chicken Soup With Rice by Maurice Sendak

Just before Dr. Morgan left, Nathan was exploring the play stethoscope. That gave us a great idea!

Can you guess what Dr. Morgan thought?

 What does your heart sound like when you listen with a stethoscope?

 

Dr. Morgan can't wait to come back and visit again. Next time she is going to bring many of her doctor tools...

...and a new favourite recipe!

A big thank you to Dr. Morgan for a very special visit!

Planting Trees

The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit.

~Nelson Henderson~

 

 

Knowing just the right class to handle such an undertaking, our group was given a great gift of trees.

And we knew just the group to help us plant them!

Mr. Vial and his Grade 5 students worked with the children as they chose the site for each tree.

 



 

The hole had to be deep enough to for the root ball, but not too deep!

Mr. Vial helped the children understand the importance of planting the tree so it had it's best chance to survive and grow. The roots need firm ground.



 

The small shovels were just the right size to check how deep to dig the hole.

Small hands, mighty work.



Clearing the site of weeds will help the tree to grow.

Just the right spot!



Once the tree is planted in the hole, it's time to put all the dirt back and pack it in to give the roots a chance to get a good hold of the soil. Then the roots can get stronger to hold the tree in place.

Teamwork!



The children will be able to watch the trees they planted grow and grow.

We will watch the children grow and grow.