An Incubator Full of Eggs ~ Experiencing the Life Cycle of a Chicken

At our little yellow school, our students are fortunate to be able to experience the life cycle of plants in our very own pumpkin patch and vegetable garden.  This academic term, the children will also be experiencing the life cycle of a chicken.

During the last weeks of January, we received an incubator full of chicken eggs from a local farm.

The automatic turner (the black box visible in the picture) turns the eggs five times per day.

The children enjoy monitoring the daily progress of the eggs daily.

The children are keeping track of the days until the eggs hatch on a calendar.

We will stop turning the eggs on February 5.  The eggs are set to hatch during the week of February 6.  We will post pictures of the baby chicks when they hatch.

Gung Hay Fat Choy ~ A Chinese New Year Presentation by One of Our Students and Her Siblings



Earlier this month, E.'s family asked if E. and her siblings could come in to school and do a Chinese New Year presentation for the children.  We were absolutely thrilled by this and said yes immediately!  Parents had come in to do presentations for us, but never children.  This would be a very special treat indeed!

E. is 4 1/2, B. is 7 and J. is 10.  All have attended Montessori schools. B. and J. wrote the presentation and we were given daily updates as to how things were going as they busily practiced it each night at home.  As the day approached, E. was so excited and so were her classmates.

Here are some highlights of the informative and delightful presentation that kept us all mesmerized.

J. and B. are introducing themselves and telling the children a little about Chinese New Year.

 

J. is reading a book about Chinese New Year to the children.

E. joins the presentation to wake up the sleeping lion (her brother B.) while J. plays the drums.  They did not bring in the actual drum as it would have been too loud for the children.  J. played her program on padded stools.

These pictures show B.,  the lion, dancing.



E. feeds the lion some lettuce.

 

Here B. and J. demonstrate Shaolin Wushu Kung Fu, an artform that is over a millenium old.

E. hands out lucky money envelopes to all of the children at school.

We were all so impressed by the flow of the presentation and in J.'s and B.'s ability to keep the attention of so many children. It was a lovely presentation and one we won't soon forget.