OneWomansMind.net
September 2007 Education Newsletter
Welcome to the inaugural addition of the OneWomansMind.net Education Newsletter. September is a wonderful time to start any endeavor - the seasons are beginning to change, the lighting in the sky is higher and brighter and there are subtle hints of Autumn everywhere. The in-between times during changes from one season to another are exciting, inspiring phases that promote and enliven us as we instinctively prepare for the colder weather that lies ahead.
September heralds the migration of birds, butterflies and mammals, offering a fantastic time to enjoy the outdoors with children and observe new additions to your backyard wildlife. Nature walks, fruit picking and baking are sweet memories to share with small ones who will bask in the joy the Autumn season brings.
Thank you for choosing to explore the OneWomansMind.net Education Newsletter. As each newsletter is written the form, content and feeling will be improved to best communicate and educate subscribers.
Please find to follow creative ideas and resources for sharing the coming of Autumn with children.
Please Note
All exploration ideas and discussion suggestions can be tailored to fit the age and needs of your child or group. Ages given are guidelines only. For children who are not yet reading, adults can listen, record and transcribe their thoughts. Children love to see their words on paper and hear them read aloud. Having their efforts validated by an adult inspires them to read.
Drawing is an excellent way for children to express their feelings and thoughts about stories they hear. Consider keeping markers, crayons, colored pencils and blank notebooks available. Ask children to draw their favorite part of a story or what meant the most to them. Let them use any colors or medium available with no boundaries. When a child begins to draw, they are expressing their vision and understanding. You will be delighted and amazed at childrens' inherent brilliance and what they can teach you as well.
Children's Picture Books Reviews and Exploration Ideas: Autumn
Wild Child by Lynne Plourde, illustrated by Greg Couch - all ages
Wild Child is our family's favorite book to welcome Autumn. Painted in beautiful, soft, Fall colors of red, gold, brown and green, Wild Child mesmorizes with Greg Couch's signature ethereal images that bring the seasons to living form. Lynne Plourde's Wild Child is Autumn herself, playful, busy and happy, and unable to go to sleep. Mother Earth soothes her Wild Child through her bedtime routine by introducing the reader to the familiar and wonderful Autumn tastes, sounds, sights and changes. Employing poetic verse and clever spatterings of onomatopoeia, Plourde spins a tale that engages all the senses and sounds of Autumn, making Wild Child a sincere delight to hear and read-aloud.
Exploration Ideas
Have fun with children by going on a Nature walk and listening to the sounds of Autumn. Find a cozy spot to sit and listen to the sounds then work together to create a sentence or so describing the sounds using poetic, description words that mimic the sounds you here.
Visit the first page of Wild Child where Greg Couch describes how he created the artwork. Like Couch, provide watercolors, colored pencils and possibly acrylic paints to create a mixed media painting about Autumn.
If possible bake some apple or pumpkin goods or bring some from home to share with children. Here's a recipe for Pumpkin-Apple Muffins with Streusel Topping - baking these will make any home smell like Autumn!!
Discuss how Greg Couch brings Mother Earth and Autumn to life as charcters in Lynn Plourde's story. Enjoy talking with and listening to children discuss the Earth as a living system.
Discuss Wild Child illustrations that depict Autumnal natural events including bird migrations, apple and pumpkin ripening, leaves changing colors and the weather turning colder.
Invite the reader to compare their bedtime rituals and traditions with those of Mother Earth's Wild Child.
Invite the reader draw and/or discuss his/her favorite aspect of the story and what they love about Autumn.
Please visit The Seasons in Story at OneWomansMind.net for children's picture books about each season and their changing.
Children's Picture Books Reviews and Exploration Ideas: Migration
The Journey: Stories Of Migration by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Lambert Davis - ages 5+
During September as the sun changes position in the sky, birds, butterflies and some mammals begin their annual migrations across the globe. Cynthia Rylant, a premier children's author and storyteller, does a masterful job communicating the annual passionate yet treacherous commitment of migratory animals. Rylant details the migration journeys of locusts, gray whales, eels, Monarch butterflies, caribou, and terns each of whom crosses the globe called forth by biology, genetics, and sometimes, forces not completely understood. Lambert Davis, a gifted fine artist, provides full-page, exceptional paintings of these migratory wonders, bringing to life their beauty and majesty. The design of The Journey: Stories Of Migration is stunning in layout, theme and text size which compliment and support Rylant and Davis' amazing work.
Exploration Ideas
Create a Naturalist Journal using blank recycled paper and a notebook or folder with prongs, or purchase a journal with blank pages. Invite children to record birds, butterflies and mammals they see and discover if these are native to your area or migratory. Draw, paint, photograph, and/or cut pictures from magazines then help children describe their journal entries.
Migratory species you may encounter in your backyard include (but are not limited to) Monarch butterflies, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Northern Orioles, various kinds of Ducks, Wood thrushes, and Goldfinches.
Learn about the birds in your area - what type of food they eat (seed, nuts, insects, nectar and/or berries), what shelter they require, nesting preference (tree cavity, house or dense shrubbery)
Learn about the butterflies in your area - type of butterfly (monarch, swallowtail, etc) and their host plants (milkweed, dill, parsley, etc) and nectar preferences
Learn about the mammals in your area - type of mammal, food consumed, shelter required, area preferred
Based upon the research you've done about native backyard wildlife and migrations in your area, invite and support wildlife with appropriate food, shelter, water and places to raise their young.
Consider purchasing milkweed seeds ($16) from and joining the Monarch Waystation Program dedicated to creating Monarch habitats across migratory routes.
Depending the age of the reader, choose one animal or several from The Journey: Stories Of Migration and trace their migration route on a globe or world map. Help them visualize the immense distances some migratory animals make.
Discuss how some animals such as Monarch butterflies and gray whales travel thousands of miles and what it must be like for them to make that tremendous journey. Discuss the perils they may face including inclement weather, predators, lack of food resources and exhaustion and how they overcome these problems.
Compare and contrast the migration journeys discussed in The Journey: Stories Of Migration considering distance, animal species, herd or solitary travel, and impetus for their journey including food, water, mating and related reasons. Make a bar graph expressing the data you uncover.
Discuss the Sargasso Sea eels and how their unique life cycle takes place in both fresh and salt water.
Invite children to dream and wonder about the journeys migratory animals take and what it must be like. Invite them to discuss their ideas and feelings by drawing about the animal about which they most enjoyed hearing.
When you buy a new or used hardcover book (can be for any age including adult) that has a dust jacket (removable outer cover), use the dust jacket as a cover for a book your child can create. Invite the child to explore the images on the dust jacket and write or dictate a story and draw pictures to support their text. Then, collect all the pages and place them inside the dust jacket. Staple the outside spine. Your child now has a book created by him/herself to enjoy!
Each September OneWomansMind.net posts a Top Ten List of children's picture books that include Authors, Illustrators, Author-Illustrators (those talented who do both), Author-Illustrator Teams, Pure Soul Books, Children's Chosen Stories and Best of the Best. Take a look and see what you think! It was really fun creating these links. What is your family's favorite picture book? Email me and let me know.
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Would you like to share your favorite children's picture book or review? Would you like to share a great creative writing suggestion? Please email me. I'd love to hear from you.
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Honoring the seasons allows us to honor ourselves - body and soul - moving through periods of rest, renewal and rebirth.
- Paula Vaughan
The OneWomansMind.net Education Newsletter and all its contents are copyrighted by Paula Vaughan and not to be reprinted without permission. Please email me with any questions, suggestions or concerns.
for wonderful craft ideas.
