Am I a Teacher?

Well I know that I am to my kids, but to others? The responsibility is huge. Today and last Friday I had the opportunity to teach Aiden's class. It was amazing, the kids are great and loved all the hands on experiences! We are studying and exploring plants and flowers, and yes I did mean to say "we" because I was learning right along side them!

Day 1
Pollination: Geoff caught a real bee for us to bring in then we flew a bee puppet from one flower to the next to pass along this life giving substance. A beautiful thing even though it makes so many people suffer with allergies. Poor Aiden is really having a hard time with it.
Parts of a Flower: We dissected a flower and could see the beginnings of the seeds forming.

Making perfume: They choose two items to add to alcohol then have to wait until it becomes a sweet smelling substance. (Rose, lavender, cinnamon, eucalyptus and a few others)

Photosynthesis: We made terrariums out of a 2 liter bottle

Devotion: We talked about the fruits of the spirit as well as how God created vegetation (Gen 1:11) and then he gave it to us for food (Gen 1:29)
Food Chain: How it all works together. We even got to talk about poo!

Day 2
Today Geoff and I taught together. We really do make a good team, I'm so thankful God brought this wonderful man into my life!
Germination & Seed dispersal: There are many ways a seed spreads itself around, wind, water, animals, humans and explosion (when a pod bursts open). Again they were all ears when we got to talk about two of the ways an animal can disperse seeds by seeds being hitch hikers and by it's poo.

Propagation: Ways a plat can reproduce without seeds. Cuttings and runners!
Spices & Herbs: There was a lot of smelling going on with this one. We smelled and touched fresh and dried ones as well as talked about our favorite foods. We made a lavender sachet so we could keep one of our favorite smells around!
Recess: we played with a stomp rocket to see what wind could do to disperse a seed, this was a HUGE hit!
Trees: Our largest plant. We explored deciduous and evergreens as well as the rings to see how old the the tree was, and learned that in a drought the rings are thinner than when it rained a lot.
Devotion: We talked about how Jesus referred to God's word as a seed to be planted in someones heart and they types of conditions that seed could land on and where it could flourish. (Matt 13)

We ended our day by reading The Big Tree by Bruce Hiscock. I meant to take a group shot but forgot until they were out the door for carpool! Next up we teach planets!