Author: Cherie Blessing

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Sweet Summer

We love when you all share bits of your summer news.  Here are some of your classmates having a sweet time.  Yes to the lakes and rivers and mountains!  Yes to fireflies and fire pits and s’mores!  Yes to good books under a shady tree!  Yes to lots and lots of ice cream!

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Weekly Challenge: Play

Teachers spend a lot of time each summer growing in their craft by taking courses, reading professional development books, developing units, and more.  I have been getting a thrill out of the two courses I’ve been taking this summer, as well as some of the books I’ve been studying.  The Playful Classroom shares all kinds of research showing the benefits of play in our lives–brain, academic, creative, and social benefits–as well as tons of ideas to incorporate play in our classrooms.  The authors put out a monthly calendar of play ideas I thought your family might enjoy.

Send a photo of your summer play!  We’d love to see!

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Weekly Challenge: Nature Exploration

There are so many ways to explore as you spend time outdoors.  I have always loved the sea, the woods, the mountains, . . . . , and summer is a perfect time to breathe deep and soak them in.  When I was in fourth grade, I used to roam the woods with a wildflower field guide like this one.

Now there are so many cool apps you can take along on your phone!  Has your family tried any?

During one of my early morning swims at Highland Lake, I got out my Merlin app, and it identified two pages of birds singing in under a minute of recording that day, these plus common loon, wood duck, American goldfinch, gray catbird, and pine warbler.  I never would have been able to identify all of those just by ear.  Using Merlin has helped me learn the calls of many more birds this summer.

So . . . . this week’s challenge is to do some nature exploring and find out something new to you.  Maybe try an old-fashioned rock field guide, an online plant identifier, taking a walk with a NH/VT expert you know, or . . . . Share your discovery in the comments, or have your parents e-mail me anything you’d like me to post.  Happy NH/VT exploring!