1.1 Curriculum and Instruction: Environmental Issue Instruction
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Journal entries completed by our Kindergarten students as they completed their investigation on the rain garden.
Our rain garden is the centerpiece of our water module focusing on topics such as erosion, the water cycle, and the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.
Ongoing environmental learning
At St. Margaret's Day School all students receive environmental education and participate in activities that are integrated with learning, play, and environmental education.
In all classes and age groups, students participate in recycling (and up-cycling), composting, outdoor education, and wildlife exploration. We encourage self-exploration and allow many of the lessons and explorations to be child led. We want the children to be interested and actively engaged, so our focus is on what the students' are interested in.
All ages are provided a large range of activities and unique opportunities to learn about our environment. In cases where our youngest student aren't quite ready to understand the concepts, the exposure to these ideas and activities is very important at our school.
Each year, we work together to decrease our waste, raise and sustain our monarch environment, improve our garden, and grow and nurture vegetables. We are raising a future of children that will continue to love and want to improve the environment around them.
In the Fall of 2019 we began hydroponics planting as a school! Throughout the month each class is responsible for helping add water to the hydroponics, plant new hydroponics seeds as needed, as well as trim our plants as they are growing. We have been able to grow enough lettuce for our turtles, bearded dragon, and tadpoles to feed them throughout the winter!
In all classes and age groups, students participate in recycling (and up-cycling), composting, outdoor education, and wildlife exploration. We encourage self-exploration and allow many of the lessons and explorations to be child led. We want the children to be interested and actively engaged, so our focus is on what the students' are interested in.
All ages are provided a large range of activities and unique opportunities to learn about our environment. In cases where our youngest student aren't quite ready to understand the concepts, the exposure to these ideas and activities is very important at our school.
Each year, we work together to decrease our waste, raise and sustain our monarch environment, improve our garden, and grow and nurture vegetables. We are raising a future of children that will continue to love and want to improve the environment around them.
In the Fall of 2019 we began hydroponics planting as a school! Throughout the month each class is responsible for helping add water to the hydroponics, plant new hydroponics seeds as needed, as well as trim our plants as they are growing. We have been able to grow enough lettuce for our turtles, bearded dragon, and tadpoles to feed them throughout the winter!
Twos and Threes
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Our Twos and Threes are no strangers to recycling. They have chances each class to learn about and participate in examining and sorting trash, recyclables, and compost properly disposing of snack and lunch items. These important skills start to be taught beginning on the first day of school! It is important that the children learn this skill at an early age and are able to build the skill as they continue to learn and grow.
Our Twos and Threes spend a lot of time outdoors in our newly expanded outdoor learning center. In the outdoor learning center they are able to explore in the garden, learning about different plants, flowers, and herbs. There is a digging box for exploring insects with shovels, buckets, and magnify glasses. Our outdoor learning center is a valued area for enriching our outdoor education.
Our Twos and Threes spend a lot of time outdoors in our newly expanded outdoor learning center. In the outdoor learning center they are able to explore in the garden, learning about different plants, flowers, and herbs. There is a digging box for exploring insects with shovels, buckets, and magnify glasses. Our outdoor learning center is a valued area for enriching our outdoor education.
In Fall 2019, our 3s classes planted grass as part of their curriculum. The children planted their seeds, as well as watered them daily. Once their grass grew, they gave it "hair cuts" and watched it grow back again. They also planted a large pot of grass in their classroom to continue with their cutting skills as well as improve the air quality in their room.
Our 3 year old classes also created succulent planters. Each child has their own succulent and is responsible for watering it. The children learned about the parts of a plant. The children are very proud of their plants and enjoy the responsibility of caring for their succulent. All the plants also improve the air quality in our room.
AM 4s and Stem
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The 4's built a habitat for our praying mantises until they are ready to be released onto our school grounds.
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Our 4's students are extremely excited and engaged in our outdoor learning center. These students show initiative when it comes to composting and recycling. Our 4's students raise praying mantises each Spring to release into our garden.
They create bird feeders out of recycled materials. Using these bird feeders in our garden, we are able to begin learning to identify different types of birds.
Our 4's are also responsible for the care of our red ear slider, Shelly, and caring for our earth worms. Earth worms are an important part of our ecosystem, so raising some in our classroom provides the students with a hands on opportunity to see them breaking down food matter and creating healthy soil. We have a vermicomposter in our classroom. The children study the earthworms and observe them frequently to see the change in soil quality compared to soil from outside or bought from the store.
They create bird feeders out of recycled materials. Using these bird feeders in our garden, we are able to begin learning to identify different types of birds.
Our 4's are also responsible for the care of our red ear slider, Shelly, and caring for our earth worms. Earth worms are an important part of our ecosystem, so raising some in our classroom provides the students with a hands on opportunity to see them breaking down food matter and creating healthy soil. We have a vermicomposter in our classroom. The children study the earthworms and observe them frequently to see the change in soil quality compared to soil from outside or bought from the store.
Hands on exploration with our earth worms.
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Part of our vegetable garden.
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Pre-K
Making our own apple cider! Yummmm
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Our Monarch release at the beginning of the school year.
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Our Pre-K students are very much involved in day-to-day enriching activities and good habit building. Our environmental curriculum includes teaching the students energy and water saving strategies, recycling, composting, and exploring the outdoors.
They grow and release ladybugs each year, as well as planting native flowers and plants in the garden, and helping maintain our vegetable garden.
Our Pre-K students conduct seasonal modules. They learn about climate cycles with emphasis on earth science studies, wildlife, and plant life. In the Fall, they explore apple orchards and learn how leaves change color. In the Winter, they learn about wildlife behavior changes, snow and ice, and where our food comes from. In the Spring, they are able to see how sunlight and warmer weather promote new growth of trees and plants and increase insect and wildlife activity.
As part of our DNR partnership, we have been caring for a terrapin named Rosetta. Rosetta calls the Pre-K classroom home. The students love the responsibility of feeding Rosetta. A terrapin unit is included in the Pre-K curriculum when learning about Marylands native plants and animals.
They grow and release ladybugs each year, as well as planting native flowers and plants in the garden, and helping maintain our vegetable garden.
Our Pre-K students conduct seasonal modules. They learn about climate cycles with emphasis on earth science studies, wildlife, and plant life. In the Fall, they explore apple orchards and learn how leaves change color. In the Winter, they learn about wildlife behavior changes, snow and ice, and where our food comes from. In the Spring, they are able to see how sunlight and warmer weather promote new growth of trees and plants and increase insect and wildlife activity.
As part of our DNR partnership, we have been caring for a terrapin named Rosetta. Rosetta calls the Pre-K classroom home. The students love the responsibility of feeding Rosetta. A terrapin unit is included in the Pre-K curriculum when learning about Marylands native plants and animals.
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One of our Pre-K students with our ladybugs just before release.
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Kindergarten
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Investigating the watershed and runoff.
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Our kindergarten class has the most rigorous environmental course of study. It is a culmination of all of our daily activities and practices, such as recycling and composting, mixed with intensive units of study on insects, food growth, and trees. All of our special units include fun activities to encourage engagement and include student-directed exploration.
One of many subjects our kindergarten class has studied is erosion. The students conduct workshops in class with sand, dirt, clay and gravel on a cookie sheet and used eyedroppers and fans to move the earth materials. Additionally, students were able to see one of the ways we can limit erosion with our own campus rain garden. The rocks slow the water flow and collect it while the plants strengthen the soil structures and absorb and retain much of the water. Students worked together to create examples of water runoff, and brainstormed ways to slow or stop the runoff.
Our kindergarten class also conducts a full program on pumpkin exploration, including how and where they grow, the components of their structure and their uses, and culminated with an informative pumpkin diagram.
The Kindergarten class is also responsible for raising and releasing painted lady butterflies each Spring, planting and caring for plants and flowers in our garden, as well as maintaining our vegetable garden.
One of many subjects our kindergarten class has studied is erosion. The students conduct workshops in class with sand, dirt, clay and gravel on a cookie sheet and used eyedroppers and fans to move the earth materials. Additionally, students were able to see one of the ways we can limit erosion with our own campus rain garden. The rocks slow the water flow and collect it while the plants strengthen the soil structures and absorb and retain much of the water. Students worked together to create examples of water runoff, and brainstormed ways to slow or stop the runoff.
Our kindergarten class also conducts a full program on pumpkin exploration, including how and where they grow, the components of their structure and their uses, and culminated with an informative pumpkin diagram.
The Kindergarten class is also responsible for raising and releasing painted lady butterflies each Spring, planting and caring for plants and flowers in our garden, as well as maintaining our vegetable garden.
Creating erosion models and brainstorming how to eliminate some of the runoff.
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Our Kindergartners release painted lady butterflies each spring after completing a butterfly unit.
Our young scientists elbow deep in pumpkin exploration.
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Our Kindergarten class completes a unit on healthy eating. During this unit they have a taste testing of the rainbow, complete a vegetable and fruit relay race, play healthy living bingo, and complete the my plate learning activities by sorting foods into the correct groups.
NAEYC Accreditation
St. Margaret's Day School received accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) in 2014 and received renewal in 2019. An important part of the accreditation process includes basic requirements for outdoor learning and play facilities, but we are very proud of our environmental accomplishments and are continuing to meet new goals in our outdoor learning center each year.
