Kindergarteners had a lot of fun carving pumpkins with their reading buddies. These will be placed on Loop Road for family viewing. Happy Halloween!

 Our weekly sightings of red efts during ECO sparked children's curiosity, so over the past several weeks we conducted research as a whole group to learn more about these cute creatures. First we brainstormed a list of questions we had about red efts to help focus our research. We talked about how scientists sometimes gather information from  non-fiction sources such as books and how they gather information by observing. Children were encouraged to observe the efts closely during our forest time to see what questions they could answer this way: red efts are not actually red, in fact their color can vary quite a bit, from orange to greenish, but they always have spots. Red efts have distinct toes that seem to be quite grippy and yes indeed, they can climb trees. We've seen them do it, but when they get to a certain height they almost always gently tumble down! We also read a few books about red efts which answered many of our other questions, such as: What do they eat? What do they do in winter? How do they find their way? and Where do they live? 

After gathering all of this information we synthesized by completing four sentence stems: Red efts can.... Red efts are...  Red efts have...  and Red efts need. We capped our research by completing painted illustrations. These are now hanging in the hall and will be there during conferences.

 More ECO Fun! Some of the activities we have done the last few weeks include finding colors in the forest and engaging in forest art, considering the "ingredients" that make a forest and creating recipes for a forest, forest kitchen, and using peelers to whittle sticks. Every week ends with sit spots and journals, which is a lovely, peaceful way to close out our time in the woods.

Every Friday after lunch we meet with third and fourth grade reading buddies from Mrs. Hale's class. This is  a great opportunity for kindergartners to establish a relationship with older childrenin the school while giving third and fourth graders a chance to be in a mentoring role. We will switch partners throughout the year so children can make multiple connections across grades. Ask your child who their current reading buddy is.

We have had 2 fantastic sessions of ECO so far this year. It is a big deal to spend a few hours away from school in the forest each week, so we spend a lot of time establishing routines and learning clear expectations for each part of our morning. All of our expectations fall under the broad umbrella of the three cares: take care of yourself, take care of each other, and take care of the earth. We also have some very specific expectations including forest boundaries, how to be safe around the safety circle (where we will hopefully someday have a small fire), and how to treat living things in the forest. 

Each week during ECO we follow the same general structure while varying our games and activities. When we first get off the bus we stop in the field where we greet each other, share something we are thankful for, and play an active game. We then make our way to our spot in the forest, paying close attention for Nature Notes along the way. When we arrive in the forest we gather around the safety circle to share these notes and hear a story. This is followed by our guided exploration for the week. Most weeks children also have a little time for forest choice as well. Finally we end our sessions by visiting sit spots, where children can draw or write in journals, drink some tea, and just enjoy the quiet forest for a few mintues.

Last week we focused on building red eft houses, as our space has an abundance of these colorful creatures right now. Their presence has provided a great opportunity for us to talk about being guests in the forest, and how we can visit this site each week while respecting all of the living things that call it home.