More Summer Snapshots...

Here are a few more random photos from our summer...

2009 was the summer of slugs...they were everywhere!

If you look closely front and center, you'll see one of our temporary classroom pets. The preschoolers hatched a Praying Mantis egg- technically called an "Oothica"-as a project. Since the hatch resulted in hundreds of baby Mantises, the preschoolers let us keep two in our classroom for a while. The Frogs loved watching the Mantises, especially during Mantis mealtime. Praying Mantises use their long front legs to catch live insects for dinner, which they nibble from side to side like an ear of corn. OK. it was a little bit gross, but utterly fascinating to watch!!!

(Speaking of eggs, remember these (scroll down to see what I'm talking about...)? Unfortunately, nothing came out. Apparently 2009 was not the Summer of chickens. Maybe next year...)

...Oh well, at least the fertility gods were with us on the garden front. Look, wheat!!!

Where the Summer Went...

Wow! We didn't actually mean for the Blog to take a summer vacation, nevertheless, it's been almost two months since our last post. Sorry about the lapse, even if it does serve as an apt metaphor for this summer zipping by in a flash!

Summer at Nonotuck always feels like a strange combination of very busy and very low key, at least from the teacher's perspective. Summertime is when we begin to move children from one classroom to the next. It is also when most families go away on vacation. These two factors combined meant that every week we had a different combination of kids. This made carrying out any long, involved curriculum projects that require continuity difficult. There was, however a theme that emerged from most of the Frog's summer vacation destinations, one which we were happy to pull into the classroom....

Seaweed...

Shells...

Shellfish...

Giant Manta Ray...

Crabs and seals...

more seaweed with paint...

...have you guessed what this years top vacation spot was yet?