Embarking (for real)

We took one day to recover from our vacation and get back into school mode, but this morning we began our day by saying we are getting ready to study the forest, and we talked about what we already know about the forest.

• There's trains.
• Mountain goats live in the forest sometimes.
• There are bikes in the forest.
• There are leaves falling down the trees.
• Red leaves.
• There is nuts.
• There is trees.
• There's mud in the forest.
• The trees have lots of leaves.
• The little house at the trees.
• The birdhouses - birds live in them.

We have the unique situation of our campus backing up against the Sonian Forest, with trailheads that lead us in. Train tracks run through the forest, and we often see older students mountain biking along the same path that we walk along. There are also many man-made birdhouses, which the children often talk about on our walks.

So here we go. I hope that writing about this project and sharing it with you will help in our success. I have yet to aide children in a successful project; I feel more confident this time, though. We have so many hands on opportunities - all of the resources we need really are at our fingertips.

Happy (and hopeful) election day to you all.