lifecycle

lifecycle
www.butterflyschool.net visit shininghours.com Pick up Activity Sheets

Welcome to Butterfly School

original air date: Autumn 2002

Creativity basket tips for the week:
Watch things grow and change:
   put an ice cube in a bowl & watch it melt
   dry out a sponge -- watch it expand in water
   bean seeds can sprout within two weeks!

Print our lifecycle poster & lifecycle Activity Sheet.

Butterfly School Lifecycle

Spring has sprung! A spring walk shows us so many signs of change and growth. The weather warms, leaves open, sprouts poke up through the soil and flowers bloom. It is a great time to discuss change and growth in ourselves, and of course, in our butterfly friends! Enjoy this week's Activity Sheets and share the magical stages in a butterfly's lifecycle.

From my kitchen table to yours . . . quick tips to celebrate change in your Butterfly School.

	Measure your child's height! Compare with any earlier measurements you have taken.
	Look at baby pictures: his, hers & yours. Any photographs that capture the way someone in the family has changed and grown.
	Discuss ways that adults continue to change and grow, even if they aren't getting taller. Discuss the ways our attitudes and ideas continue to change as we learn more, meet new people and share experiences.
	Trace-a-kid: use any large plain paper (I like to recycle paper shopping bags -- just trim off the handles & cut sides open so you have a large rectangle). Trace your whole child and use a ruler to measure arms, legs & fingers. Write down the measurements. Decorate the tracing.
	Trace yourself too! Make a great set of traces of your whole family for a very special time capsule. Or, send a traced "snapshot" to a special relative or friend. Great gift for a grandparent. We have sent them & also received a batch from 3 treasured cousins. On either side, they're great fun to share!

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You are ready for the Activity Sheets now; you can print them from here (Get Sheets), or go back to the Butterfly School home page.

From Butterfly Central,

-- Jessie Steigerwald

For more great ideas, check out the activities at our parent site www.shininghours.com.

Growing & Changing

Teacher Tips
from Corinne Steigerwald

Your child's development is a bit like New England -- stick around 15 minutes and it will change!

One of the most challenging things about helping a child learn, is keeping pace with these rapid changes and development. It can be overwhelming -- the more you explain, the more she learns. The more she learns, the more new questions she has & the more you need to explain!

Use the Butterfly School lifecycle materials to help your child understand that life presents new challenges at every stage. The caterpillar needs to learn one set of things -- which leaves to eat, how to crawl and climb. As a grown butterfly, the same creature has a different set of challenges: flying, learning to drink nectar, finding dry places to rest during a rainstorm.

Here are some tips to help you stay on your toes:

Expect change & set aside time to reflect on (or record) your child's changes each month. Ask yourself what she has grown comfortable with, and what seems challenging? What ideas has she seemed most interested in exploring this week?
Anticipate the need to update your ideas, approaches and resources. Once you have identified an area that your child seems curious about, pick one new activity, library book or project that will respond to his curiosity!

Questions for Corinne: corinne@shininghours.com

Coordinated resources: