As our new school year began, the PreK A/B classes at our Harbor Town child care center began exploring different areas within the classroom along with new provocations and experiences outside. We have been fortunate to enjoy beautiful weather here in Toledo this season and have taken advantage of many warm and sunny days as we near late summer/early fall.

On our walks, we were able to collect many natural materials that we would later explore further in the classroom. The children would sort, count, chart, compare and contrast characteristics and more. They began to ask questions such as: How do trees drink water? How do you plant a tree? Where do seeds come from? How do trees move?

As we began making new discoveries about trees, our teachers listened closely and continued to take daily walks outside to learn more about the trees in the nature surrounding us. This allowed children to use all five senses while interacting with trees.

Our project came to life in order to provide a hands-on learning experience in the classroom, using real materials found outdoors to learn more and engage with our environment. Even better, we got to use the real green house on our property to explore and learn about trees and their attributes.

Our class is eager to continue using natural materials to compare/contrast, count, draw and more. We are also looking forward to planting a tree on the property for the whole center to enjoy and continue to learn more.

Given that families aren’t currently allowed in our building due to COVID-19, we have been documenting progress throughout our project in informative panel work. These panels contain pictures, quotes, conversations from the children, their artwork and writing examples. This allows the parents to learn how a project starts and how it progresses and transforms into new discoveries over time.

We are excited to showcase our learning journey and give parents and friends a peek into our classrooms and all that we have been learning.