Week 10: Games and Gourds!
We played a lot of games this week (as you see the Oaks participating in a “Make me Laugh” challenge above) and the SEEDS had plenty of time to play and get creative during Studio Time. The kids are loving this time to be in the different stations, exploring and working together on some truly great things. Also, painting pumpkins at the Garden was a great success after a scavenger game of finding the gourds!
SUGGESTED AT-HOME READINGS VARY PER PROGRAM. PLEASE GO TO THE SECTION OF YOUR PROGRAM TO SEE THE SELECTED PAGES.
The Garden
This week in worship we learned that God cares for us. Matthew 6:26 “Look at the birds of the air; they don’t plant or harvest or store food, but God takes care of them. You are more important to God than the birds!
We heard a Bible story about King Ahab, a man who didn’t love or obey God. God sent a man called Elijah to give the King a special message. The king was angry and Elijah had to run away but God promised that he would take care of him. God sent birds with bread and meat for Elijah and provided water for him from a brook. This was amazing. We told the kids that even if God doesn’t send a bird to give them food, he has given us parents that love us and provide for our needs as well. We learned a new song called: “I Have a Friend Who Cares for Me” to go with our theme.
During activity time, we have been learning about different kinds of fruit and this week, we learned about the different types of pumpkins. Pumpkins are fruits that grow on a vine. Just like God is the vine and we are the branches- we grow when we stay close to Him. We also had a lot of fun going to the park for a scavenger hunt to find pumpkins,squash and gourds. Back in the classroom, we got to wash and dry the pumpkins. They are looking forward to opening up the big pumpkin and making something sweet soon.
The kids were also excited to find that we had something different in our classroom! Our sensory table had dry corn kernels to play with, and the kids loved it. On Thursday, we painted one of our favorite gourds or pumpkins to go with our apple paintings in the room. The kids could choose if they wanted to make one or several of them while they carefully observed on the table. At the end of the day, they shared their creations with each other.
This week’s story was Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin.
Amazing!
Finding these beautiful pumpkins hidden around the park was so much fun…for the kids and teachers alike!
The Seeds Program
We have enjoyed so much being able to honor so many kids this month and this week was no different as we celebrated both Estela and Amanda Valentina at SEEDS. One of the things that we love seeing is how excited the kids get to see (and listen to) the birthday books that we give the students. They loved the books “The Leaf Thief’ and “Extraordinary.” Thank you families for being there with us as we honored these girls.
But the most amazing story is the greatest one ever told, the life of Jesus as told in the Gospels. We marveled at how Jesus in this week’s stories performed so many miracles and showed so much love and compassion to people that were rejected in their communities. He healed the sick, helped the lame walk, and most importantly, came to forgive sins. This is why we call it the gospel, or good news. It is good news to share that Jesus came to rescue us from the bad news, as we learned from Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” He is the great rescuer, the Seed, the Messiah. By learning about why He came, we get to enter into true worship.
BIBLE Readings
Bible Time
Luke 4-6
John 2
DK Illustrated Bible
pp. 234-243
SCIENCE
This week we finished our study on the sense of touch by talking about our hair and nails. We learned that hair and nails are like a form of modified skin and that the part that we can see is actually dead as well. We then began to discuss the sense of sight and the different parts of the eyes. We counted the different eye colors in the groups and discovered that brown was the most popular color in Seeds followed by blue, hazel, and green. The kids were very interested in finding out that green is the rarest eye color and that only Mr. Jared and River have green eyes. We will continue to learn about the eye and how we see this week.
SCIENCE Readings
Encyclopedia of the Human Body
pp. 14-19
History
In our history class, we continued learning more about the first five Roman emperors and the lives that people led in ancient Rome. Romans enjoyed attending many festivities and games in the colosseum. Even though many of these games were violent, (especially when they involved exotic animals) some games were played at home and were quite simple and fun. We learned how to play one of these games called Knucklebones. If you’d like to play, there are instructions found in the book The Roman Empire, page listed below.
HISTORY Readings
The Roman Empire
pp. 43
Studio Time
On Wednesday, we put the final touches on our project of the five senses. We colored in the eyes and the skin pieces and glued them to our base. Then, we added the extra sheet with little “windows” that we had begun a few weeks earlier. It was very satisfying to finally finish and see the end result. On Friday, we had open studio time and the highlight was that the wooden blocks were open. Several kids decided to build together and in the older group Alex, Ian, Arielle, and Eli built an elaborate city where the Romans were battling their enemies. Joshua led a drawing challenge where we mashed different animals together. They also enjoyed the corn that replaced the rice in the sensory table.
Birthday Girls
The Oaks Program
Science
In Pre-Physics, the students learned how to calculate the distance in meters traveled by an object in free fall given the time in seconds using the equation: d=1/2g・t ². They also had a chance to make a parachute for a minifigure they brought to class to try to increase the air resistance when accelerating towards the ground due to gravity. We also learned about momentum and how to calculate it with the equation: momentum= mass x velocity. They will get to explore that concept more with their virtual lab.
In Chemistry, the students learned about the Archimedes principle that was discovered by and ancient Greek mathematician and physicist named Archimedes of Syracuse (c. 287-c. 212 BC). This principle is used to find the density of a given object using water displacement to calculate the volume of the object and then using a balance scale to find the mass. From there, he divided the mass by the volume to find the object's density. Olivia did some digging and found a throwback video of an Archimedes play the Oaks students did in their first year of middle school. It was so entertaining to watch that!
History
The Oaks delved deep in learning about the complicated reigns of the Roman Emperors from Augustus to Nero. There was a serious decline in leadership over the course of the first century and this was not good for the growing Christian church. However, we learned that due to the vastness of the Roman Empire, this truly was the perfect time for the gospel to spread. People were speaking the same language, the roads were well-paved and generally safe for travel. This allowed people like the apostle Paul to take the message of Jesus to many places in the Roman world.
HISTORY Readings
Streams of Civilization
pp. 190-192 - Jesus’ Teachings, Death of Jesus
Memory Verse
“Therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. for this is your spiritual act of worship.”
Join us for a Thanksgiving Fundraiser!
We are ao excited to help out with the Iglesia Metodista de Torrimar’s Thanksgiving fundraiser. Every bag we build will contain the amount specified on the picture of each item. I will share a sign-up sheet via this chat tomorrow so you can sign up to donate.