Leaves!

"Come, little leaves," said the wind one day,

"Come o'er the meadows with me and play;

Put on your dresses of red and gold,

For summer is gone and the days grow cold."



Soon the leaves heard the wind's loud call,

Down they came fluttering, one and all;

Over the brown fields they danced and flew,

Singing the glad little songs they knew.

"Cricket, good-by we've been friends so long.

Little brook, sing us your farewell song;

Say you are sorry to see us go;

Ah, you will miss us, right well we know.

"Dear little lambs in your fleecy fold,

Mother will keep you from harm and cold;

Fondly we watched you in vale and glade,

Say, will you dream of your loving shade?"



Dancing and whirling, the little leaves went,

Winter had called them, and they were content;

Soon, fast asleep in their earthy beds,

The snow laid a coverlid over their heads.

-Come Little Leaves by George Cooper

In addition to our Geology studies, we have been doing a seasonal mini-unit on leaves. I have been using the Botany album and nomenclature cards from Montessori R & D to introduce terminology for parts of the leaf, and various leaf shapes. The Little Saints preschool curriculum I am using for Mary Gabriella also included a fall unit, with some great books, poems and crafts about leaves (as well as apples and squirrels!). Here are some of our leafy activities:

We enjoyed reading Read Leaf, Yellow Leaf , Why Do Leaves Change Color? , and Down Come the Leaves.

Reagan made this page for his nature journal. He found a special leaf and made a rubbing and an illustration. Then he labeled the type of venation (reticulate and pinnate).

On our hike at Devil's Lake we collected quite a few leaves, which we pressed. After they were dry, they made for a great sorting activity. The boys sorted the leaves by shape and margin type.

And here is Mary Gabriella painting leaves with watercolors while listening to Autumn from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. Her leaves turned out beautifully, but I can't show you pictures because she is going through a stage where she staples all her art projects in between multiple sheets of paper creating an unrecognizable bundle, and reminding me that preschool art is about the process not the product.