Pick A Pumpkin from the Pumpkin Patch

Have you and your family experienced the fun of picking your own pumpkin? Use Google.com and type in “pick your own pumpkin” or “pick your own pumpkin your (city) and your (state). If you live in Southern California visit the Johnson Brothers Pumpkin Patch. See http://www.johnsonbros.net. This adventure can be used as an exciting family field trip. Each pumpkin patch or pumpkin festival offers something unique. Rural pumpkin festivals may offer a bit more, but city folks are likely to enjoy the outing as well. Once you locate a pumpkin patch or festival close to home, place a call to find out what fun activities, in addition to pumpkin picking, are available.

Once there, just watch as your children classify and categorize the pumpkins. It’s really amazing to see your children, especially the younger ones, carefully pick pumpkins based on size, shape and other individual preferences.

Decisions, Decisions

Once you get your pumpkin home, the real fun begins. Ah, but there are some small things you will need to consider. First, you and your family will need to decide which pumpkins will be used as decorations and which will be used in recipes. Locate the pumpkin planning information you need by visiting http://www.amonco.org/creative01/montessori_fall1.pdf At this link, you will also find information about the following;

Hands-On Autumn Adventures – Autumn Leaves, Pumpkins, and Apple
Classification Harvesting Activities and Unit Studies
Gardens for Schools – Get Ready Now for Your Spring
Frozen Jack-O-Lanterns
Click on AMC Montessori Fall 2008 Newsletter

Now, go ahead and have some real fun this weekend! 🙂

Heidi
http://www.amonco.org

Healthy Nutritional Tips for 21st Century Families

Healthy eating and good nutrition are hallmarks of Maria Montessori’s philosophy In many Montessori schools and homeschool environments, children learn about nutrition and food preparation. Montessorian Kathy O’Reily was one of the first to recognize the need for a classroom based Montessori cooking curriculum Her Cooking With Children Can Be Easy program is used worldwide in countless Montessori schools. Kathy has created a program that is both easy and fun for teachers and students to use. By becoming involved in hands on activities that include the study of food, children learn about the benefits of nutrients found in food and the fundamental relationship to healthy food choices.

Some advertisers try to entice our children with clever gimmicks and colorful commercials which tout the so called benefits of eating junk food. As educators and homemakers, it’s important for us to continue to find new ways to make healthy food appealing to our children. This is not always an easy task, as most of us live a fast paced society which is filled with many demands for our time. Recently, I decided to set aside a few hours to see what new, healthy alternatives are here or on the horizon. I was amazed with what I discovered. 🙂

To learn what I discovered, please visit

Healthy Nutritional Tips for 21st Century Families today!

Heidi

http://www.amonco.org