In the classroom this week we read Ellie Peterson’s book The Reason for the Seasons, which explains that the Earth’s tilt is why we experience differences in temperature, daylight, and the length of our shadows throughout the year.
In the kitchen we celebrated the current season, spring, by making a salad showcasing several local products that are bountiful in the Bay Area at this time of year. The kindergarten chefs first blanched shelling peas and asparagus, then cut up strawberries and made a simple dressing featuring thyme growing in our school garden. In the spring we have access to baby spinach and spring onions, crops that are harvested early in the growing season and have a lighter, less pronounced flavor than if the plants are left to mature into the summer.
Our unit explores not just what makes our bodies healthy (e.g. eating with the seasons helps us stay connected to our local food systems; local produce is fresher, riper, and more nutritious) but also what makes our communities healthy (marking the seasons with traditions and celebrations, in every culture, helps us stay connected and bonded to our communities). Spring has sprung!
