Our next Toddler School Unit is about Gardening and Composting. With the weather changing and Spring coming I thought this would be the best idea to get the boys outside and playing in the dirt, which they both love. We just finished our Mini Unit on Rainbows which was the perfect bridge into our Outdoor classroom. We did Rainbows in February when it was rainy and yucky outside, so we couldn’t really go outside. We even made some indoor rainbows with a spray bottle! Now that Spring has sprung, the sun shines a bit more and the gaps in rain showers are wider we can venture out into our Toddler Garden.
After our Rainbow unit we had a few more rainy days to build up to our next big game plan, Gardening. So to get the boys excited and talking about what we might see and do outside, {once we get there} I stocked up at our local Stayton Library with some fun, inspirational picture books.
I went for a wide variety of topics just to provoke some conversations and “scaffold” a few concepts that we would explore later. These books were used for bedtime, under our Literacy Corner and really just for fun. I chose books with BIG pictures and not too many words. I wanted their eyes to explore these books more than their ears… they were about to get plenty of ear-fulls from me in the next few weeks with information overload!
Here is my Inspirational Picture Book List which I’m sure you too can snag at your local library! I’ve included a link to Amazon so you can read up on the details and see more pictures, but seriously, check out your library first!
The Enormous Turnip by Kathy Parkinson. This was a really fun book which leads us to conversations about team work and what a vegetable garden actually is. Cash had actually NEVER seen a vegetable garden before.
Step Gently Out by Helen Frost and Rick Lieder. I loved the big photographic images in this book. Kids can get a magnified view of bugs that they may never even notice!
To Market, To Market by Anne Miranda. A fun and goofy read that has beautiful, detailed pictures to just stare at for a long time, soaking it all in.
The Curious Garden by Pete Brown {and DVD} It was actually very cool for Cash to read a book and then follow along with the DVD, book in lap. Not an experience you get that often so I recommend it.
Counting in the Garden by Kim Parker. Cash is 2.5, so we’re obviously working on counting. This book provided those lesson conversations with some pretty illustrations to emphasize numbers.
If y
ou Plant a Seed by Kadir Nelson. Awesome behavioral lesson here! The back story is actually “If you plant a seed OF KINDNESS” you can get more out of your garden than if you plant a selfish seed. Beautiful story with big, stunning illustrations you can witness the emotions through. Cash learned a lot in this book and made some awesome connections to the content.
I have selected a few more “Textbooks” for the Composting and Gardening unit that are much more informative and structured towards our learning outcomes than these books. I will share those soon!
I also spent this week building the Compost Bin, which the boys will be filling soon!
Welcome to Mom School! This post is one of many Homeschool Preschool Lessons with #MySweetandSticky {Cash & Wyatt} As a former educator, I wanted to give them their best start before heading into public schools. (Which we LOVE!) On occasion, and throughout the summer, we continue our At-Home Learning. Cash is my Science Guy and Wyatt can’t get enough Sensory Play. Join us for every Sweet & Sticky moment.
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[…] things work! The last few weeks we’ve been Building our Compost Bin, getting Inspired by our Library Picture book list, and of course, practicing our new Garden Rules. Now that we have all of this awesome soil in our […]