History/Nature Enrichment
October in Review

We are heading into the winter months, and I wanted to share with you what we accomplished and learned together in October, the most magical month (in my opinion.) We noticed all the children warming up and being so creative in the  improv games that we play most mornings. They are so creative and intelligent. I can’t even count how many times I laughed out loud with their antics. 

One of our favorite improv games is called Screenshot. I pretend like I’m sharing a picture or video of a historical event we learned about in previous weeks and the kids will act it out on the spot. Amy also introduced us to a game where the kids gather into teams and have an object that they have to pretend does something other than what it “normally” does. They could have done this all day! Their creativity seemed endless! 

History:

Amy once again blew it out of the park (or hit it out of the park?) with her history lessons. The first week of October, we learned about the beginnings of Islam and what life would be like in a Bedouin encampment. I also told a legend about Mohammad and his love for tabby cats. We read about Sinbad and a few of his amazing adventures!

We learned about ancient China and the beginning of dynastic rule. We also learned about ancient Japan and tasted samples of sushi! We practiced using chopsticks in a hilarious relay race where the students had to transfer rice from one bowl into another. Amy also taught the structure of a Haiku and each child had the opportunity to hop out the syllables with several autumnal Haikus we wrote together. The children copied their Haikus into their Main Lesson books along with a beautiful leaf watercolor that Amy led them through painting. 

The following week was my favorite week so far! We learned about Aboriginal Australia and Ancient New Zealand. Amy read a few stories about the Aboriginal people, and drew their symbols on the chalk board. The kids then made their own Aboriginal dot paintings, and they really took their time. Their art this week turned out incredible! All their 2-D art projects are going back into their Main Lesson books and you will be able to see them at our Parent Night sometime in January. 

The fourth week of history we learned about Clovis - the first King of France who united the tribes there. What a guy! We also learned about the structure of a castle and the beginnings of the feudal system. 

Creative Expression:

Our big creative expression project for October was to write, direct, and film our school’s interpretation of Beowulf. It is our first film of the year, and they did such a great job! Their humor and creativity on their first film surprised me. I’m not going to give too much away as you will all see it at our Parent Night, but it was very fun to work with them on developing a script, creating props, and filming the scenes. I did the editing myself after school hours, but I’m hoping to show them more of the ropes of film editing so that by the end of the year, they can create the whole film from start to finish. 

A few other creative expression projects we did that tied into history and nature study were: creating and painting Chinese inspired bowls, learning the Haka dance, Aboriginal dot painting, autumnal leaf watercolor tutorial, botanical calendar for October, sketching a belladonna plant, sketching a flower and labeling its parts, and dipping autumnal leaves in beeswax to preserve their color. Hang the leaves in the sunshine and they will make your whole room smell like honey! 

Nature Study:

For nature study this month, we finished learning about the plant families: mint, parsley, mustard, aster, grasses, fruits, and roses. We learned how to identify plants from each family, and the differences between monocots and dicots. We went on several nature walks and I pointed our examples from a few of each family. The two weeks around Halloween I told them a few “Spooky Plant” stories. We learned about the Gimpy-Gimpy tree in Australia and how the sting feels like electricity and lasts for years. I also told a few stories about the Belladonna plant (which is quite the little troublemaker throughout history) and responsible for a few of the more dramatic deaths in history. Maybe the death of Augustus at the hands of his wife Livia Drusilla? Who knows! That’s the fun part about where history and nature study intersect!

Thank you again for entrusting us with a portion of your children’s education! We feel like we hit the jackpot with this group!