Themes and Plans for August

It's been a LONG time since I did this. I got the idea and some of the items from By Sun and Candlelight (Dawn is my semi-hero.)

August:
* Named for Julius Caesar's adopted nephew and heir Augustus.
* Flower: Poppy
* Birthstone: Peridot
* Zodiac Sign:
Leo (July 23-August 22. Leos are proud, risk takers, with lots of self-confidence.)
Virgo (August 23 - September 22. Virgos are great thinkers, organized, and problem solvers.)

Nature:
* Sunflowers
* Corn growing SO high
* Fireflies
* Crickets
* Big, Loud, Short Thunderstorms
* The Full Green Corn Moon (8/05 - Last Night. Did you see it? We did, when we were coming home from the garden, which seemed like the right time to be seeing it.)

Provident Living:
Home Storage - Baking Powder, can some fruit, can some tomatoes, and can some vegetables.
Emergency Preparedness - Gather certificates, photos, etc. and place in a secure location away from home.
Resource Management - Copy important financial papers and place in a secure location away from home.
Education and Literacy - Read one non fiction and one fiction book.
Physical Health - Use more herbs
Employment - Try and find one more daycare child to watch (age 2-5).
Humanitarian Aid - Make School Kits

Food:

Growing in the Garden
* Green Beans
* Butternut Squash
* Zucchini
* Tomatoes
* Yellow Onions
* Peppers
* Basil
* Parsley
* Oregano
* Cilantro

Picking Up at Farmers Market:
* Berries
* Melons
* CORN
* Peas
* Kale

Home:
* Clean the learning roomS; refresh supplies.
* Order winter outerwear.
* Make appointment for individual pictures of kids.
* Plan for Super and Flower's birthdays.
* Start planning for Christmas.

Calendar:
* First US Mailboxes installed in 1858 (2)
* National Watermelon Day (3)
* Birthdate of Barack Obama in 1961 (4)
* Birthdate of Neil Armstrong in 1930 (5)
* Gertrude Ederle becomes first women to swim the English Channel in 1926 (6)
* International Art Appreciation Day (9)
* NFL Preseason begins (9)
* Birthdate of Herbert Hoover in 1874 (10)
* International Left Handed Day (13)
* Birthdate of Benjamin Harrison in 1833 (20)
* Waffle Iron Patented in 1869 (24)
* Amelia Earhart Completes Non-Stop Transatlantic Flight in 1932 (25)
* Wizard of Oz released in 1839 (25)
* Krakatoa Erupted in 1883 (27)
* Birthdate of Lyndon Johnson in 1908 (27)
*Birthdate of ME in 1966 (27)
* Motion-picture camera patented by Thomas Edison in 1897 (31)
* Birthdate of Maria Montessori in 1870 (31)

Stories: (Themes: blueberries, watermelon, corn, country fair )
* Peter in Blueberry Land
* Blueberries for Sal
* Watermelon Day
* The Little Red Hen
* Raccoons and Ripe Corn
* Corgiville Fair

Field Trips:
* the farmer's market
* the Lake
* blueberry picking
* corn husking

Crafts/activities:
* work in the garden
* watermelon seed-spitting contest
* make corn husk folk
* hang sunflower heads for birds
* gaze at the stars
* canning - tomato sauce, salsa, veggie relish, green beans, blueberry and strawberry jam

November Themes

November isn't my favorite month (that has to be October I think) but I'm starting to enjoy it more. The weather is getting cool, but not as cold as winter yet, and there is so much good food to be eaten in November. I always have a big Thanksgiving feast for preschool, and I look forward to it all year. We even sometimes get "alumni" that come and it is wonderful to see children from years past. We have a pear tree out in front and we still have many leaves left on the tree, but they are finally turning colors. I'm sure that all the leaves will be off by the end of the month, or even more likely, by the end of next week. Anyway, here are the themes and activities that I have planned for the month.

NOVEMBER

From the Latin word, novum, meaning “nine”. November was the 9th month of the Roman calendar.
Flower: Chrysanthemum
Birthstone: Topaz
Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius (November 22-December 21); Sagittarians are good-natured and friendly. They are interested in everything and everybody.
Weather Report: On November 20, 1979, a blizzard struck Cheyenne, WY, producing 19.8 inches of snow in 24 hours.

Iroquois Prayer
We return thanks to our mother, the earth
Which sustains us.
We return thanks to the rivers and streams,
Which supply us with water.
We return thanks to all herbs,
which furnish medicines for the cure of our diseases.
We return thanks to the bushes and trees,
Which provide us with fruit.
We return thanks to the wind,
Which, moving the air, has banished diseases.
We return thanks to the moon and stars,
Which have given to us their light
When the sun was gone.
We return thanks to our grandfather He-no,
That he has protected his grandchildren from
Witches and reptiles, and has given to us his rain.
We return thanks to the sun,
that he has looked upon the earth with a beneficent eye.
Lastly, we return thanks to the Great Spirit,
In whom is embodied all goodness, and who
Directs all things for the good of his children.


Nature:

• grey skies
• frosty, brown grass
• bare trees
• rabbits
• geese
• crows
• cut cornfields
• squirrels
• mice
• wind
• dark afternoons
• turkeys
• the Full Beaver Moon (13)
  

Food:

• apples
• winter squash
• pears
• oatmeal
• hot cider
• hot chocolate
• pies - apple, cherry, pumpkin, berry
• turkey and all the trimmings
• homemade cranberry relish

Special Days:

• National American Indian Heritage Month
• Daylight Savings Day Ends (2)
• Election Day (4)
• Martinmas (11)
• Veterans Day (11)
• National Homemade Bread Day (17)
• World Hello Day (21)
• National Game and Puzzle Week (23)
• Thanksgiving Day (27)
  

Home:

• verify that the pantry and 3 month supply of food/supplies are stocked
• verify that there is an adequate (perhaps 3 month! LOL) of Swiss Miss Milk Chocolate with Mini-Marshmellows Hot Chocolate
• prepare the car for winter and holiday travel
• inspect/replace holiday decorations
• finish Christmas gifts
• clean carpets
• write/assemble Christmas cards
• clean dining room and clean crystal, silver and table linens
• stock medicine cabinet with cold and flu medications

Stories:

• In November by Cynthia Rylant
• Apple cider making days by Ann Purmell
• My goose Betsy by Trudi Braun
• Squawk to the moon, little goose by Edna Mitchell Preston
• The way home by Nan Parson Rossiter
• Catching the wind by Joanne Ryder
• Black crow, black crow by Ginger Guy
• Mousekin's Thanksgiving by Edna Miller
• The Turkey Girl : a Zuni Cinderella story by Penny Polluck

Field Trips:

• nature center
• polling center

Crafts/activities:

• sewing
• crocheting
• paper weaving
• lanterns for Martinmas
• pinecone people
• clearing out the garden and planting fall/winter plants
• a grateful tree

Themes and Plans for October

I think October is my favorite month. There is a crispness to the air, but a sweater is enough to keep you warm, and everybody is back in the school routine, and there is still time to make presents for Christmas. Plus, I love all the colors of Autumn – the oranges, deep reds, browns, dark greens and the smells – apples, pumpkins and berries.


In the Moon of the Falling Leaves

Joseph Bruchac
I was born in the Moon of Falling Leaves,
that time when summer’s harvest
falls from every maple tree,
painting the forest trails
golden as sunlight
and crimson as Great Bear’s blood.

Each October brings back the scent
of fires burning on the hills,
the first etchings of frost
on my bedroom windows,
the departing wings
of a thousand geese
cutting the clear cold sky.

There is no time closer to my heart,
than this season of changes
when the balance tips between
darkness and light,
when the last flowers
nod in our garden,
when so many things
are about to end,
so many about to begin.

So here are our themes and plans for October (from the Latin word octo, meaning “eight”. October was the 8th month of the Roman calendar.):

• Birthstone - Opal
• Flower of the month - Marigold
• The full moon of October is the Full Hunter’s Moon. With the leaves falling and the deer fattened, it is time to hunt. Since the fields have been reaped, hunters can easily see fox and the animals which have come out to glean.

Nature:

• withered cornfields
• pumpkins on the vine
• chrysanthemums in gold, russet and magenta
• acorns underfoot
• National Squirrel Awareness Week (7-13)
• geese flying in V's
• The Full Hunter's Moon (26)
• falling leaves
• the first frost
• Weather Report: On October 3, 1912, the longest dry spell of record in the U.S. began as Bagdad, California, went 767 days without a drop of rain

Food:

• National Taco Day (4)
• National Dessert Day (9)
• World Food Day (16)
• National Chocolate Cupcake Day (18)
• National Nut Day (22)
• National Potato Day (27)
• National Candy Corn Day (30)
• casseroles
• crockpot meals
• chili and cornbread
• baked beans, brown bread and ham
• pumpkin soup
• pumpkin bread
• maple leaf cookies
• popcorn balls
• cinnamon sugar toast
• homemade pretzels
• hot apple cider
• apple butter
• apple crisp
• baked apples
• caramel apples
• cider donuts
• winter squash soup
  

Home & Garden:

• deep clean of family room
• stock up on baking essentials
• rotate mattresses
• change over to flannel bedding
• clean out and restock medicine chest
• put up storm windows
• rake and clean out garden beds
• store outdoor toys and furniture
• organize board games and puzzles
• buy Christmas stamps
• continue working on Christmas gifts
• organize Christmas cards
  

Life:

• Columbus Day (13)
• All Hallow's Eve (31)
• The World Series
• Football games

Stories:

• Nuts to You!
• The Little Scarecrow Boy
• The Night The Scarecrow Walked
• I Spy A Pumpkin
• The Pumpkin Book
• Pumpkin Soup
• Apples and Pumpkins
• Chipmunk at Holow Tree Lane
• Every Autumn Comes the Bear
• Around the Year
• A Picnic In October

Field Trips:

• an autumn hike on the Trail
• Autumnal Festival at the Horticulture Center (4)
• Fire Station (17
• Autumnal Festival at the Nature Center (18)
• Pumpkin Patch (24)

Crafts/activities:

• twig frames
• leaf rubbing
• acorn hunting
• leaf crafts
• homemade seed and suet cakes
• roasting pumpkin seeds
• carving pumpkins

Themes for September

I saw this idea at By Sun and Candlelight, and I used many of her ideas, and then added my own to suit our family. (And yes, I know . . . it's already half way through September. Oh well. I'll get October's themes up at the beginning of the month, all right?) I'm sure I won't get to all of these ideas, but it is nice to be able to have choices.

Themes for September

• Birthstone - Sapphire, for wisdom
• Flower of the month - Aster, for memories
• The full moon of September is the Wine Moon, symbolic of grape and fruit harvest, protection, confidence, strength, and life's blood. It is also known as the Harvest Moon

Nature: Lingering summer, a first taste of fall ...

• goldenrod ~ appearing alongside the road, a sure sign of summer's end
• seeds ~ in so many forms - bristles, burrs, whirring helicopters, bursting wildflowers
• milkweed pods ~ soft white fluff floating by
• apples ~ ripe in the orchard at last
• honey ~ It's National Honey Month!
• bees ~ busily gathering the last bits of summer
• cool misty mornings, hot afternoons ...
• a first tinge of color in the foliage
• at the doorstep: chrysanthemums, cornstalks, and kale
• Michaelmas daisies ~ tiny wild asters at the end of the month
• The Full Harvest Moon (15)
• Visit Autumn on the Prarie at Nachusa Grasslands (20) to see fame flower, Hill’s thistle, kittentails and forked aster. It is also home to the gorgone checkerspot butterfly, grasshopper sparrows, dickcissels, and Henslow’s sparrows, badgers and other wildlife.
• The Autumnal Equinox (22)

Food:

• applesauce ~ homemade, with just a touch of cinnamon
• granola ~ homemade, for cereal or bars
• blackberry jam tarts ~ before Michaelmas, not after
• baked apples ~ a cozy breakfast on a chilly fall morn
• pies filled with the last fruits of the season
• National Cherry Popover Day (1)
• National Date Nut Bread Day (8)
• National Hot Cross Bun Day (11)
• International Chocolate Day (13)
• National Apple Dumpling Day (17)
• National Pancake Day (26)
• National Mulled Cider Day (30)
  

Home:

• clean the kitchen thoroughly (well ahead of holiday baking)
• organize art materials
• work on September food storage items
• buy new shoes, and make slippers and pajamas for the fall
• put fall/winter clothes in closets/drawers and pack up spring/summer clothes
• review chores
• work on homemade Christmas gifts
• decorate the home with colors of the harvest: Orange, Dark Red, Yellow, Indigo, and Brown
• review harvest and decide what to plant for next year
• move fall in season produce lists to front in food management journal
• reflect on life and the “seeds” of thoughts/actions that you “planted” in the Spring

Family Life:

• Labor Day (1)
• Gramma Susan’s Birthday (1)
• Aunt Nancy’s Birthday (2)
• New academic year kicks off! (4)
• New NFL season kicks off - Go Bears! (7)
• Grandparents Day (9)
• Lisa’s Birthday (18)
• Flower’s Birthday (22)
• Super’s Birthday (26)
• Michaelmas (29)

Stories: (Themes ~ harvest, seeds, bees, apples)

• Hello, Harvest Moon!
• The Magic School Bus Inside a Beehive
• The Life and Times of the Apple
• Apple Picking Time
• Johnny Appleseed

Crafts/activities:

• make leaf crowns and name the Autumn King!
• make a Harvest Queen
• dry apples and hang on a string
• tell apple stories (find the stars inside)
• plant spring bulbs in the garden
• make up a fresh batch of homemade play dough
• make blackberry jam
• bake homemade pretzels
• make harvest “stone” soup