| Date |
Place |
Reflections |
| 10/01/05 |
Harvest Festival, Organic Farm |
The children really seemed to enjoy the activities. They were bundles of joy, blazing with energy. |
| 10/05/05 |
Classroom |
Finally, our projects were assigned and I was able to meet and talk with my other project members. We discussed schedules and transportation and established the date and time for our first adventure to the Peterson Garden! |
| 10/07/05 |
Home |
My conversations with volunteer coordinators at various schools were at times interesting and discouraging. |
| 10/09/05 |
Merilee Peterson's Home |
This was our first meeting, as a group, with Merilee Peterson. I will start by saying that Merilee is a very warm and inviting person. She inivted into her home to discuss her plans and visions for her garden. We had a fun and lenghty conversation while sipping on warm tea. Some of the plans included making stepping stones, gathering new seeds/plants, transplanting bear grass, peonies and a very large hydrangia bush. We also discussed ways to find different resources such as mulch. To top off this wonderful meeting Merillee made a delicious egg and cheese omlet! This meeting left me very excited and optomistic about my gardening endevours. |
| 10/10/05 |
Home |
Researching Bear Grass. I need to know space requirements etc... for garden planning. The Bear Grass Merilee currently has planted in her garden is far too close together. |
| 10/11/05 |
Learn and Discover Pre-School |
This was a very exciting meeting. I met with Kathleen Craig, the owner and operator of Learn and Discover Pre-school. We discussed my goals, education and experience with children. We then discussed what my role would be in the classroom and established a schedule. She also spent a lot of time disucssing her philosophy, curriculum and how she approaches early childhood education. I was amazed my knowledge and excited/nervous to get started. |
| 10/18/05 |
Learn and Discover Pre-School |
This was my first day observing and helping with pre-school. What fun I had! The morning began with circle time, which included story telling and music. Then we moved the children into counting with beans and recognizing letters and numbers. The class then ended with an art project that included making apples out of paper plates, construction paper and paint! I was so fun to see the children design and decorate their own apple and then to proudly display it on the wall. |
| 10/19/05 |
Learn and Discover Pre-School |
Today was an especially exciting day for the children, it was field trip day! Destination- Rutledge Corn Maze. The children were especially excited to trot through the fields of corn, examine various insects, discuss the different ways to use corn and just be outside. It is amazing to watch children and listen to what they have to say. At times they seem more in tune with the nature around them than do adults. |
| 10/23/05 |
Merilee's Garden |
It was another rainy day in the Pacific Northwest. We began an enormous task of weeding the entire front section of Merilee's garden. I also learned how to separate and transplant Peonies, not too deep and loose dirt. This was also the first day I took my three-year-old son, Ryan with me. He had fun digging in the dirt and playing in the mud puddles. These tasks definately kept him busy and wore him out. At the end of the day we were sitting in Merilee's kithchen and he crawled up on my lap and passed out. He was actually snoring! Very untypical for my little guy. |
| 10/25/05 |
Learn and Discover Pre-School |
Today I was able to assist Kathleen and the group of children in a lesson on baking pumpkin cookies. The children were thrilled to actually be making something,especially since it was cookies. They were eager to help, taste and touch the batter. At the end of this adventure the children were surprised with a new activity-- making caramel apples! It couldn't get any better. These activites were great! It kept everyone's attention and they loved it. |
| 10/26/05 |
Learn and Discover Pre-School |
Stop, Drop and Roll and other emergency procedures was the them for today. During circle time we talked about fire safety, where to go in case of a fire, what does the fire alarm sound like and what to do if the earth starts shaking. It was a lot of fun having each of the children practice the stop, drop and roll routine. We also set off the fire alarm and had the children do a practice drill. Then to top it off the children collectively made a huge banner of flames, using their hands and a mixture of paints! |
| 10/31/05 |
Merilee's Garden |
Today we worked planting native plants that Merilee placed around the garden. We also continued to define the garden spaces, dig out grass and play in the rain. It has been interesting bringing my three year old son, Ryan, with me to work in the garden. As I worked with the others in my group and Merilee I played a game of peek-a-boo with Ryan. He pretended to hide behind a rather small rock and bush and you could clearly see is butt sticking up. It was cute and it kept him entertained for quite awhile. However, through all of the rain, mudd and hard work we had a great time. Again Merilee treated us to a wonderful batch of homemade chicken noodle soop. She is an absolutely amazing woman. |
| 11/1/05 |
Learn and Discover Pre-School |
I spent most of today helping Kathleen and the children through a fall leaf counting and color lesson. It is amazing to watch children as they feel, touch and practice new things. I had fun playing a game of 'I spy' with colors and objects. Such simple activities reinforce a child's learning while having fun. |
| 11/2/05 |
Learn and Discover Pre-School |
Today I was able to practice story telling. I did my best to memorize stories and fill in what I forgot. What encouraged me to do this was that I distinctly remeber the seminar where the woman from Waldorf came and shared her story telling. I loved the story she told, her enthusiasm and plot details. What kid doesn't love a good story. I was really nervous as I sat in front of this small group of kids and the beginning was a little messed up, but as I got into it and saw the looks from my little audience I was encourage to proceed. It was a hit and the children seemed to have a great time with it. |
| 11/06/05 |
Home |
I spent this time reflecting on my experiences with the children at Learn and Discover Pre-school and narrowed my curriculum plan down to a nature walk and leaf collecting exercise. |
| 11/12/05 |
Evergreen/Lunch |
This was a group meeting to discuss our presentation outline and things that still needed to be done and assign tasks and schedule future meetings. |
| 11/16/05 |
Evergreen Computer lab |
This was a group meeting to put together the slide show for our group presentation. Again, what a challened with a three-year-old. Poor guy has spent more time doing college activities than pre-school activities. |
| 11/17/05 |
Group meeting |
Hannah, Rebecca, Marlene and myself worked on developing our group presentation. We practiced tai-chi, corrdinated music and worked out the order of our presentation. |
| 11/19/05 |
Merilee's Garden |
Ahh, finally a day to peacfully work in the garden without Ryan. Today, Hannah, Marlene and I worked hard at leveling the walking paths, pouring cement molds used for stepping stones and digging in more native plants that Merilee has placed around the garden. We also transplanted strawberries and collected lavendar cuttings that Merliee had snipped off. We finally had some great weather too!! To top this day off Merilee treated us to oyster stew. I couldn't believe that I was eating my first oyster. It was a great experience. I also took in some tastey marrion berries for the first time. |
| 11/22/05 |
Learn and Discover Pre-School |
Today was the first of my two day lesson plan. I began the morning talking about what we were going to do and where. The children absolutely amazed me with their excitement and questions. So, after a few stories/poems we put on our coats and hats, loaded into the van and took a trip to a local park. Along the way we sang 'the leaving on the trees'. As we arrived I handed out individual sacks for the children to carry and collect their natures goods. They were all so excited to show me their findings and ask me what certain things were and if it would be okay to put on their wreath. |
| 11/23/05 |
Learn and Discover Pre-School |
This was the second day of my lesson plan. I began in circle time asking questions about our previous days activities. The children were kind of quite at first, but warmed up and the conversation took off. We then proceeded into our art activity. This was fun and messy! Everyone seemed to have a good time. It was funny to watch the kids place leaves and sticks to their wreath. It is amazing that even at such a young age they can be very particular to where and how things are done. If I were to do this activity again I would find something stronger than a paper wreath to place the items on. |
| 11/30/05 |
Group meeting/Library |
This was a fun group meeting. We rehearsed our tai-chi for the presentation and did a semi-formal run through of the entire presentation. |
| 12/02/05 |
Group Meetin / Hannah's house |
This was our final group meeting to polish off and run through our entire presentation. |
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