"Carrots and cucumbers and pumpkins grow,

carrots and cucumbers and pumpkins grow.

Do you or I or anyone know how carrots and cucumbers and pumpkins grow?"

This question is the beginning of a circle time song, ask your child what the farmer does first.

Seeds were the topic of the week.

Morah Katie: What comes from seeds?

Dena: Trees

Levi: Plants

We began the week with an experiment, planting mystery seeds.

Morah Katie: These seeds are small, what do you think will grow from them?

Daniel: Flowers

Tori: Flowers

Kian: Fruit

Levi: Maybe a tree.

We set some seeds in dirt,

Morah Katie: Now that we have put the seeds in the soil, what else will we need to do to help them grow?

Levi: Water them

Dena: Sun

We will be keeping careful watch on these seeds, and when they have sprouted we will transplant them to planters. We will be planting another group of mystery seeds next week.

While we wait for our real seeds to sprout, we have begun to create a paper garden.

We "planted" seeds, and "watered' them.

Morah Katie: Now that the seed has been planted and watered, what will happen next?

Noah: The Roots!

The seeds have split and roots have taken hold.

Morah Katie: When we are looking at plants do we see the roots?

Tori: No

Morah Katie: What part of the plant do we see stretching up to the sun?

Dena: The stem

Stems have grown and have bloomed with leaves and blossoms.

(collage flowers inspired by Lois Ehlert's book, Planting a Rainbow)

At snack we had apples. We took the opportunity to look inside the cut apple and saw:

Morah Katie: What are these small black things in the apple?

Kids: SEEDS

Morah Katie: What would grow from these seeds if we planted them?

Kids: An apple tree!

Here at The Gan we are cultivating the development of our children by surrounding them in a loving and safe environment.

An emotionally safe and secure environment has many elements. One of these elements is creating a classroom atmosphere which is respectful and encouraging of the child.

Often times children can get "lost" in their emotions and have a challenging time finding their way back.

When we consider what the child may be thinking and feeling, we can help the child make positive choices.

We can help guide them by acknowledging what they may be feeling, "You threw the block, it looks to me like you're angry."

We can offer suggestions, "You can ask your friend to share, you can find a different friend to play with, you can take a break. What would you like to do?"

When we help the child create the solution and support the child in their choice, we demonstrate to them they are capable, and their feelings and opinions are important.

By modeling respect for their feelings and ideas, we in turn help them develop respect for others.