Weeks 24: March 14-18 - Snakes & Seeds
Snakes & Seeds
A close up of the garter snake.
Sometimes you plan a lesson but other times, the lesson plans YOU…such was the case this week when we met “Leather,” a garter snake that was found by the kids in the grass near the center. He became the subject of everyone’s fascination as we held him, observed him, and drew him in both the Garden and Seeds programs. He eventually found his way back into the wild, but we were thankful for the two days we got to spend with him. Sometimes you just need to delay the planned lesson to marvel in God’s plan and world of creation in nature…its the best textbook you’ll ever find.
THE GARDEN
Insect hunting in the dirt!
This week at the Garden, we learned more about the wonderful world of insects! The children discovered that insects have certain characteristics that separate them from other types of animals. They are symmetrical and have three body parts: the head, thorax and abdomen. Insects also have six legs which differentiate them from spiders that have eight.
In our worship time, we learned about John the Baptist and Jesus. John the baptist had a peculiar clothing style and ate locusts with honey. During class, Mrs.Vivi gave an opportunity for the children to taste honey and imagine what his life was like.
John the Baptist would exhort people to turn their hearts to God because the kingdom of God was at hand. One day, while he was baptizing at the river, Jesus came to him. John did not feel worthy of baptizing Jesus and he told him so, but Jesus told him it had to be done that way. Once he baptized Jesus, the Spirit descended and the heavens opened and God’s voice was heard saying: “This is my son, in whom I am well pleased.”
We learned that a synagogue was the place where the teachers taught the Bible, and Jesus also taught there. People noticed that Jesus’ teachings were different than the rest. Everyone wanted to come and listen to the wonderful and amazing teachings of Jesus. Jesus would get close to the sick and rejected, the poor and forgotten and he enjoyed spending time with children. Not everyone would understand what Jesus was saying, but He invited them to follow Him and told them He would show them the way to God’s Kingdom.
There was a man with an unclean spirit who asked Jesus why he was there teaching, and that man knew that Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus told the unclean spirit to come out of the man and the spirit obeyed and the man was afterwards calm. The people who witnessed this were astonished. The people could notice that Jesus had a different manner of teaching.
The children this week played with insects and dirt. “Me gusta el olor de la tierra”, said one of them. The children got a chance to observe some insects and drew them. In painting, they painted to copy the symmetrical characteristics of insects.
And of course, one of the best moments the kids had this week was meeting Leather, the garter snake that we found on our way back from the park. The children got a chance to hold it and pet it. They were so brave and excited.
SEEDS
MEMORY VERSE FOR SEEDS
“And he is the head of the body, the church...”
Honoring the twins
Olivia and Joshua celebrated their birthdays this week and each received their birthday books.
We are all members of ONE body!
As we said before, nothing could quite compete with our visit from Leather the snake this week, but we did have a wonderful time honoring our resident twins, Olivia and Joshua for their birthday. As with all honored kids, they received their birthday books and we all enjoyed special snacks.
In worship, we continued to understand how Jesus is the head of the church, and we the church, are the body. We have all been made differently, and yet are equally important and useful in God’s eyes. We used scripture in 1 Corithians 12 to understand this concept more deeply. We also introduced our new hymn, “Pon tus ojos en Cristo.”
In History class, we learned much more about the devastating consequences of the French Revolution, not just for the king and queen of France, but for the thousands of people who also died during this reign of terror. But as always, we were able to place it in the context that in all times, God is in control, even in our own, as we see wars happening in the world around us today. We had some great conversations about the situation in Russia and Ukraine and were able to pray for their people. Finally, we continued adding to our timeline and learned about more states that became part of the union at the end of the 18th Century.
Finally, this week in Science we focused on seeds and the process of germination. On Wednesday, we looked at different bean seeds and examined their varied seed coats, or testas. We learned that the testa is there to protect the seed but that once the seed receives the water, warmth, and air necessary for germination, the coat begins to crack and eventually shed as the seed becomes a seedling. We also learned about the different parts of the seed as we dissected a bean seed. When we looked closely, we could see the embryo or baby plant inside. There were squeals of delight from the kids when they discovered the tiny leaves. On Friday, as a review the children created a germination flip book that was quite a hit! If you haven’t seen it yet, ask your children to share it with you. Miss Ana also helped the children prepare cups with seeds to do a germination experiment at home. One cup should be placed by a window and another in a dark place. The children will be able to see how seeds can germinate even without sun. Remember to keep an eye on your seeds and spray some water on them every other day or when the paper seems dry. We will share our observations in class this Wednesday.
Watching seeds grow
Some of them are germinating at the center in small containers, while others were sent home for the kids to observe in dark and light settings and record their findings in their germination books.
Supplemental Readings for SEEDS
Optional readings to reinforce topics that were covered in the classes from last week. Enjoy reading aloud together!
HISTORY
The Last 500 Years (remember to check out some of the Usborne quicklinks for videos connected to the topics)
pp. 42-43
pp. 28-29
