There was a distinct feel of autumn/fall time in the playground yesterday. Over our half term break, the leathery leaves of our almond tree have started to turn red and brown and many have fallen to the ground. There are very few deciduous trees here in the Turks and Caicos and so this was an exciting rare experience to enjoy on our return back to school. Read on and see photos of the children enjoying the leaves.
The spectacular sight naturally resulted in many children being drawn to the leaves, playing with them and asking questions. Mrs. Myrna and Miss Tracy seized the opportunity for an impromptu lesson with the Junior and Senior Kindergarten children about trees and seasons. The children then had a chance to have some fun with the leaves. They enjoyed walking through them, collecting them in wheelbarrows and buckets, throwing them high into the air, feeling and crunching them in their hands and feet and making crayon rubbings and drawings.
So why have our almond tree leaves starting falling? Mrs. Myrna scribed the children’s thoughts down onto a big piece of card. The children said that the leaves were falling because… they are brown; it is fall; they’re too brown; the wind is coming; they’re rotten. They also said: the green one’s are falling because they are good; they make sounds; caterpillars and ladybugs make the holes.
Lots of children in other classes came up to read the children’s comments while they too frolicked in the leaves – even our Year 6/7s were seen raking and scooping up the leaves and joining in the fun! It’s great also to see more and more children added their leaf comments to our board, too. It’s often the simple things that inspire greatness and this is a wonderful example of this.