This week, we were lucky enough to have Jackie Perrin deliver a great presentation to the children.  She gave a wonderful presentation on energy conservation, energy efficiency and some tips that children can use at home.  She also provided some background on renewable and nonrenewable resources, as well as origins of where and how energy is created.  The children were engaged and excited to participate in this presentation.  They were also intrigued by the different kinds of light bulbs that Jackie brought with her to share.

We had a lot of fun this Valentine’s Day.  We spent the morning doing some fun math activities with conversation hearts.  We sorted, graphed, answered some number stories, and then played some fun rounds of Conversation Heart Battleship.  The kids had to work on finding coordinates on a grid, as well as strategize their positions.  Later in the afternoon, the children made some play-doh.  They measured, mixed and created play-do.  It was a fun way to talk about mixtures and changing forms.  We ended the day by exchanging valentines.  It was pretty awesome to see the creative boxes the children created.

We spent a little time today, learning about the habitats of groundhogs.  We are about to begin doing some research on different habitats, so this was a fun way to start thinking about this.  We talked about why groundhogs set up their homes, the way that they do.  The children had to turn their thinking caps on to figure out some of the reasons.  I was pretty impressed by the way the children problem solved each of the characteristics.  It was fun to listen to their thinking.  Once we had a good understanding of how hedgehogs  build their homes, we attempted to create of “model” hedgehog habitats.  It was fun to watch the children expand upon their learning, and add some interesting features, like trap doors and extra rooms.  I’m excited to embark on some research with this crew.