Notes

The first week of March is behind us as we begin to look forward to the onset of spring. Our Robin has just flown over Washington DC and is approaching Philadelphia, flying over Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. We will be talking a little bit about the significance of these structures related to the early days of our country. Philadelphia, as the children can see from our very large US maps made by Sue Valentine, is fairly close to New Jersey, and so hopefully, the Robin’s long journey will be coming to an end this month. One thing that has happened somewhat unexpectedly is that robins already have been spotted by some of us hopping around in the snow. This has to make searching for worms, the staple of their diets, a little difficult, and certainly the latest storm will continue to make it difficult. Over the last few years the robins have shown up earlier than expected. Even though our Parkside robin has yet to appear, it may be that we have to adjust the timeline of the northern journey from Georgia. Perhaps it is global warming! Certainly when the story was written in the 1930’s, it was almost always late March or early April before their return, but each year it seems that it happens earlier and earlier. We are hesitant to start our books earlier (perhaps January), as that would interfere with our study of dinosaurs! One thing is certain, and that is that by October we no longer see robins in our area. Perhaps they leave earlier and therefore return earlier. Who knows, but creating our books is our traditional way of looking forward to and then welcoming spring!

March is the month of the Planets at Parkside. This unit includes the study of the Sun as the center of the solar system and all of the planets which revolve in their orbits around the sun. We will study the individual characteristics of each planet including proximity to the sun, size, weight, temperature and whether it is made of rock or gas. On circle we will talk about the very hot surfaces of Mercury and Venus (due to their proximity to the sun), Earth, the perfect planet which is not to hot, not too cold and the only planet which can support life. We will describe the redness of Mars due to its surface of red dust, the gas planets of Jupiter with its giant red spot, a never-ending storm, as well as Saturn with its icy rings. Other gas planets include Neptune and Uranus, and finally Pluto, a “dwarf” planet made of rock. It is dark, desolate and cold because of how far it is from the sun. We will also talk about other celestial phenomenon such as asteroids and comets. As always, in each classroom will have baskets of accurate reproductions of each planet. We have some fun solar system songs as well as puzzles, matching and counting exercises, planet “punching” and various solar system art projects.

In Practical Life, silver polishing will be added as a natural follow-up to mirror polishing, and we will also introduce shoe polishing which may not be as “practical” a skill as it used to be. Still, the children love to set it up with the basket that contains a small mat, a leather shoe, a brush and a buffer for extra shine! The teacher then gives them the polish (saddle soap) and they polish away. If you have any children’s leather shoes at home that you would like your child to practice on, feel free to send them in as well as pieces of silver that may need an extra shine. Another lost art coming into our classrooms is egg beating which uses water and a few dashes of dish liquid to beat with a special child-sized egg beating tool…always very popular. Again, as with all of our Practical Life activities, these exercises really refine small motor control as they continue to be more challenging, and promote, as always, concentration and order in a task.

Color mixing continues with whisks, eye droppers and toothpicks.

In Sensorial, we will be adding geometric solids to our baskets as well as continuing work with the geometric cabinet and all three sets of cards. In Language the children are really enjoying the picture/ label matching and the solar system three-part cards and matching exercises. We happen to have many bird counting activities created by Mrs. Hasan and Mrs. Davis, and they have been added gradually through February, so some of these will remain on the math shelves during March.

March art activities are reflective of the onset of spring as we wait for the various bulbs to appear. We will be making pussy willow, crocuses, daffodils and forsythia at the art table as they bloom, and several other bushes, flowers and trees as they bloom over the next couple of months.

In March we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by making and sharing Irish soda bread with the children. This year, one of our former teachers, Mary Thornton, who now is at Lacordaire, is coming to make some traditional Irish music with a tin whistle and an accordion. She will also do a little Irish dancing (her son was a competitive Irish dancer when he was a boy), and she will share some stories of Ireland where her parents were born and a place she has visited many many times.

It is hard to believe given this more difficult and cold winter that spring is just around the corner. When March ends we will have welcomed our robin, created spring flowers at the art table, observed (hopefully) true signs of spring and completed our study of the planets. We continue to enjoy watching the children grow socially, emotionally and cognitively as they remain ever-busy and ever-productive in the classrooms.

“The sun, with all those planets revolving around it

and dependent upon it, can still ripen a bunch of

grapes, as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.”

Galileo Galilei