Happy Harvest!

An October Update from Founding Director Adela Martinez Berg

What a bountiful month! The students spent time learning all about the different components of harvest, through exploration in the field, numerous seed-to-table projects, and speciality programming offered by our two program specialists Jan Henley and Martha Carlsen. A few highlights from the classroom included roasting apples harvested from our field trip to Oz Farm to make applesauce, milling wheat berries and various whole grains to bake fresh bread from scratch, and a whole series of pumpkin-specific activities emphasizing various skill groups such as fine-motor, sensory exploration, pre-literacy and creative expression. Thank you to our classroom teachers Jessica and Julianne for helping to create another magical month of learning for our students - and to all the community and parent volunteers that worked in collaboration with our program. 

To culminate our monthly theme, students busily prepared the classroom for a special event in which their families were all invited to attend. With harvest and nature inspired art projects covering every wall, we gathered on the 31st for an interactive fun-house experience inspired by the many elements of learning over the course of the month. It was a more traditional celebration of harvest with activities such as apple-peeling/juicing, a silly sensory table with bowls of hidden and strange sensations (the children began to call them ‘touchy bowls’) and of course, a pumpkin patch in the backyard with live music performed by two parent volunteers. Students also enjoyed a microphone and voice modulator activity in the dress up room. Lastly, we enjoyed a healthy treat made by the students, fresh baked pumpkin muffins and pocorn with nutritional yeast for all!