Action-Packed Weeks!

Time has flown by so quickly since the school year started on September 27! It seems as though October is staring us in the face already. So much has taken place here at Joyful Garden.

We  welcomed new friends: Cole, Phoenix, and Salvador, and their families. Well, we already knew Phoenix’s family; he is Hudson's younger brother.

C. gets to know Banana, the bantam rooster.

We welcomed 26 baby chicks to our classroom.

P. explains the finer points of chick care.

We started a new routine of feeding the chickens every morning. The children scoop feed into a bucket, and I take it into the chicken pen and pour it into the feeders. The children look with their eyes while I do this.

Observing the bantam chickens from scrap lumber benches.

T. scoops feed.

We know it is time to leave the farm and go to the playground when we board the Playground Train. "Chooga chooga chooga..."

We have sprouted seeds to plant in the fall garden.

Lettuce, cabbage, herb, and flower sprouts.

And, we’ve had lots of hours of focused work indoors.

L. introduces the doll baby to Daisy.

H. and P. at work.

Finally, we have had the incredibly good fortune of having a tree fall down on the farm. I know you are wondering: how could this be good fortune? Oh, in so many ways!

Fallen hackberry.

1) It was a hackberry.
2) It was blocking the morning sun from the chicken pen turned garden bed.
3) It fell perfectly, without touching the chicken pen, chicken coop, fence, or even the shade bed.
4)It is now a certainty that this is the year that our first Hugelkultur will be installed!

What’s Hugelkultur, you ask? Here are some links that explain it all for you:
http://www.richsoil.com/hugelkultur/
http://www.nwedible.com/2012/03/half-ass-hugelkultur.html

This is what we will be installing on our work day, October 20. Clear your calendar!

Why hugelkultur? It will create a natural retaining wall for soil and rain water that tend to flow down the slope from the back of the farm to the front. It will absorb rainwater and deliver it to the plants that live in the hugelkultur. It will be a natural raised bed that nourishes the plants it hosts as the trees that make its foundation break down. It's the perfect place to mix butterfly and bee-attracting natives, along with the peach tree that was given to us a year ago (and has been living in a pot ever since), and some food plants.

Here's the rub: after assessing all the materials needed to build a hugelkultur, I determined that Joyful Garden's budget could not accommodate its construction this year. And yet, the tree was ready, and delivered itself to us... Enrolled and alumni families: it and Joyful Garden need your help.

Materials needed:
1) A couple yards of dirt; doesn’t have to be great garden soil, as so many nutrient-rich materials go into the base of the hugelkulture. Who can haunt Craigs List Free Stuff for garden or fill dirt, and mobilize those with pickup trucks to go pick it up? Alternatively, who is very persuasive and could talk one or more of the local garden supply places (Whittlesey, Natural Gardener, Geo Growers, even Lowe’s and Home Depot) to solicit donations or discounted dirt? Another alternative: can anyone afford to be generous and contribute to purchasing this material.
2) Chainsaws and the know-how to use them safely. We have a standard-sized one, and a bitty one. This work will take place on the 20th, before children are present.
3) Wheelbarrows, shovels, and strong backs. Here at Joyful Garden on the 20th.
4) Mulch. I will try to get a free delivery from city contractors. But, it wouldn't hurt to ask about this when talking to garden suppliers.

So, if you have the power of persuasion, please step up. We’ll divide up the local suppliers amongst those who can charm the dirt right out of the garden center. Those with pickup trucks, give us an idea of your general availability, because the free stuff on Craig’s List can go fast and is first come, first served. Let me know if you have a chainsaw to bring on the 20th (protective eyewear and clothing is mandatory, of course). And, please plan to be here on October 20th to make magic!

Thank you so much!

Talking to Young Children About Violence--DON'T

A horribly violent armed attack occurred in Colorado overnight. Parents of young children are going to see and hear a lot of references to resources for talking to kids about what happened. Here is an example, from a source that I trust: http://www.mothering.com/community/t/1358574/resources-for-talking-to-kids-about-colorado-shootings.

My advice to you about talking to your young children (under the age of six) about things like this is: DON'T DO IT. These resource lists and pearls of wisdom are meant for parents of children older than yours. Your young and tender children need and deserve to be protected from the information that such things can even happen. Please follow these guidelines about shielding your young children from news of violence, war and mayhem:
--Protect them from all mention of senseless and random acts of violence. They are unable to process this information, and have no context for the language and imagery that surrounds it. Being exposed to it only breeds disregulation in a young child.
--Obtain your news and media fix when you are absolutely certain that your child(ren) can not see or hear.
--Inform other adults in their world--ahead of time, and out of eye- and ear-shot of your child--that you can not discuss these events in front of your child(ren).

People may say about infants and young children, "They can't understand what we are talking about!" You would be surprised at the early age at which children achieve 100% listening comprehension. And, even if they don't understand every word, they are taking in our tone, our body language, our expressions. Watch the face of a young child as he or she is exposed to intense language about something s/he "doesn't understand" sometime; you will see a change take place there.

Preserve their innocence. Doing so insulates their sense of security and well-being, and provides the groundwork for a mentally healthy outlook. When they come home from school a few years from now, asking about "...that person who killed all those people," or "...the flood where people died," or whatever, that's when you'll need to pull out the list of resources referenced above. For now, shield them from news of this violence as you would from violent acts.

Week of June 11

We have had an awesome, awesome week! Kiddos are really hitting their strides; every day I see growth and change.

Here are some pictures from the week; not as many or as varied as I would like.

Thank you all for sharing your awesome kiddos with me!

Photo backlog revealed!

As promised, here is the first set in a string of backlogged photographs, taken since January 2102, at Joyful Garden. Captions below each one.

 

India reading to the children.

 Alina and Hudson working together.

 Deep in work.

 To each his own.

 Nursing a sick chicken.

 Sandpaper letters.

 Demonstration.

 Writing.

 All together now.

 Enjoyment.

 Attainment.

 No waste here.

Cozy seating.

 Motion.

 Socializing.

 Exploration.

 Sprouting.

 Water colors.

 Meaningful work.

 Sprouts.

Watcha readin'?

The sandpaper letters--a beginning!

Last week, there was a day with just Calvin and Hudson and me! It can be hard to stay occupied with such a small group. I used what felt like extra time to introduce working with sandpaper letters (ours look like this http://www.etsy.com/listing/62740002/lowercase-sandpaper-letters?ref=sr_gallery_1&sref=&ga_search_submit=&ga_search_query=sandpaper+letters&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade). Because the letters A and T can go together with manymany other letters to make lots of English words, I introduced them first.
We sing:
Apple, apple
ah, ah, ah (soft, short A sound; almost an "eh," like the sound at the beginning of "apple")
Apple, apple
ah, ah, ah
Apple, apple
ah, ah, ah
Ah is the sound of A (say letter name)
While looking at cutout and laminated pictures of an apple

For T, we sing:
Tiger, tiger
T, t, t (shortshort "T" sound)
While looking at pictues of tigers

This game is fun for Hudson in the moment, and exposing him to the phonemes, which is awesome! For Calvin, this work is really giving him something to work on for which he is entering the sensitive period.

They wanted more, so we did R
Rat, rat
R, r, r (short "ruh")
While looking at pictures of rats

As soon as I put the tray on the shelf, Calvin had it down to look and sing by himself. I put the three letters together and we sounded out R-A-T, together!

We will all learn the phonemes with this song and with one that is sung to the tune of the ABC song, but which substitutes the letter's SOUND for its NAME. Using the phoneme, or the sound of the letter, rather than the name of the letter, when you point out letters to your child, is a powerful way to encourage pre-literacy, and support this work that we are starting at Community.

For example, when I child says to me, pointing to a letter B, "What's that?," I always answer, "That's Buh," pronouncing it very short--almost clipped. I'll post some recordings of the songs and their tunes. I use the same example no matter which song we are singing; so A is always paired with Apple, for example.

I do NOT encourage purchasing sandpaper letters for home use. The best way to support pre-literacy in young children is to always pronounce the sound, and never the lettername. Easy!