The Little Acorn Story

This story is from our First Grade Curriculum. Keep a few little acorns nearby and one special one as you tell the children this story.  For an added effect, have a small potted plant or symbol for the oak tree nearby to show at the end.  

Thank you all for being our very own “little acorns” this year!

It was a little acorn that hung on the bough of a tree. It had a tender green cup and a beautifully carved saucer to hold it. The mother oak fed it with sweet sap every day, the birds sang good-night songs above it, and the wind rocked it gently to and fro. The oak leaves made a soft green shade above it, so the sun could not shine too warm on its green cover, and it was as happy as an acorn could be. 

    There were many other acorns on the tree, and I am sure the mother often whispered loving words to all her babies. 

    The summer days were so bright and pleasant that the acorn never thought of anything but sunshine and an occasional shower to wash the dust off the leaves. 

    But you know that summer ends and the autumn days come. The green cup of the acorn turned to a brown cup, and it was well that it grew stiffer and harder, for the cold winds began to blow. 

    The leaves turned from green to golden brown, and some of them were whisked away by the rough wind. The little acorn began to grow uneasy. 

    "Isn't life all summer?" it said.  "No," whispered the mother oak, "the cold days come and the leaves must go and the acorns too. I must soon lose my babies."  "Oh! I could never leave this kind bough," said the frightened acorn. "I should be lost and forgotten if I were to fall." 

    So it tried to cling all the closer to its bough; but at last it was alone there. The leaves were blown away, and some of them had made a blanket for the brown acorns lying on the ground. 

    One night the tree whispered this message to the lonely acorn: "This tree is only your home for a time. This is not your true life. Your brown shell is only the cover for a living plant, which can never be set free until the hard shell drops away, and that can never happen until you are buried in the ground and wait for the spring to call you into life. So let go, little acorn, and fall to the ground, and some day you will wake to a new and glorious life." The acorn listened and believed, for was not the tree its sheltering mother?  

    So it bade her farewell, and, loosing its hold, dropped to the ground. Then, indeed, it seemed as if the acorn were lost. That night a high wind blew and covered it deep under a heap of oak leaves. The next day a cold rain washed the leaves closer together, and trickling streams from the hillside swept some earth over them. The acorn was buried. "But I shall wake again," it said, and so it fell asleep. It might have been cold; but the frost fairies wove a soft, white snow blanket to cover it, and so it was kept warm. 

    If you had walked through the woods that winter, you would have said the acorn was gone, but then you could not have seen the life slumbering within the brown cover. But spring came and called to all the sleeping things underground to waken and come forth. The acorn heard and tried to move, but the brown shell held it fast. Some raindrops trickled through the ground to moisten the shell, and one day the pushing life within was set free. The brown shell was of no more use and was lost in the ground, but the young plant was to live. It heard voices calling it upward. It must arise. "A new and glorious life," the mother oak had said. 

    "I must arise," the acorn said, and up the living plant came, up to the world of sunshine and beauty. It looked around. There was the same green moss in the woods, the same singing brook.  "And I shall live and grow," it said. 

    "Yes," called the mother oak, "you are now an oak tree. This is your real life." 

    And the tiny oak tree was glad and tried to stretch higher towards the sun. 

Apples Lessons for Homeschooling or Afterschooling

I work extremely hard to make sure that my curriculum is created with mixed aged groups and siblings in mind. For this reason, the Kindergarten, First Grade, and Second Grade program follow similar themes when possible and incorporate many activities that can be done together as a family. I really hope this helps my customers as I know firsthand how very difficult it can be raising multiple children while working in any capacity at home - and homeschooling and parenting COUNT as work! 

This past month one of our themes was Apples, Patience. Not only are there fun activities for the children included but I also focused on the caregiver. There is a meditation on patience as well as a caregiver focus on trying to do more activities that require you to slow down, take your time, and be patient. 

Here are a few fun things you can try at home like we did! 

Make Apple Birdfeeders

Supplies Needed:

Apples

Spoon or Knife

Package of Gelatin or Peanut Butter

Birdseed

Baking Sheet 

Twine or String

Yarn Needle

 

Using the instructions on your gelatin packet, boil the water and when gelatin is dissolved mix the birdseed into this mixture. Alternatively, mix peanut butter and birdseed together.

 

Cut your apples in half. Using a spoon or knife, hollow the center out. Place your apple halves on a baking sheet and carefully fill the insides with your birdseed mixture. 

Use a yarn needle to thread twine or yarn through the back of your apple to the front for hanging outside for the birds to enjoy. Allow to cool in refrigerator for two hours.  

Dissect an Apple

Begin by looking at the apple together as a whole. What does it look like? What color is it? What shape? Can you find the stem? 

 

Next, carefully peel some of the skin off the apple. What does it look like underneath? Does the skin taste differently that the inside does? 

 

Cut the apple in half. Let children do this on their own, but with supervision. What do you see inside? Go back to the songs of this week and sing the Treasure Box song again. Do you see the seeds inside? Taste the apple. 

 

Take out some of the seeds. Talk about how inside that tiny seed is the recipe for growing a big apple tree. All it needs is water and sunshine and to be planted deep in the ground.  

It takes a very long time for an apple tree to grow from a tiny seed in the ground.  Have you ever had to wait your turn for something?  Was it hard for you to wait? 

Play Apple Math Hide & Seek

Supplies Needed:

Construction Paper

Scissors 

Marker  

Have the children cut out apple shapes from construction paper. Paper cutting is a big part of our curriculum and helps children with their fine motor skills. On each apple write a math equation. On other apples in a pile, have the answers. Tell your children they will be going on an apple hide and seek game. Hide all of the apples when they are not looking in one room. When they find an apple, they must go back to their pile of answers and pull out the correct one. 

I hope you enjoy these fun lessons have a better idea of what Little Acorn Learning is all about.

With love,

Eileen

Tree of Thanks and Gratitude Caregiver Meditation

Tree of Thanks

Supplies Needed: 

Vase

Branches

Construction Paper

Scissors

String

Hole Punch

Crayon or Marker

This is a favorite tradition among so many of our "Little Acorn Learners"! 

Place branches that you find with the children outdoors into a vase.  The branches should be large enough and have smaller branches to hang your Leaves of Gratitude on.  When you have completed, place your tree in your nature place.  You may wish to label your vase ‘Tree of Thanks’.

Next, cut leaf shapes out of various colored construction paper.  Punch a hole in each leaf and have children help you tie string to each one for hanging.  Make enough leaves to use until it is time to put Autumn behind and prepare your Winter nature place.

Each day, beginning with today, ask each person that enters your home to write one thing they are thankful for on a leaf and hang it on the tree.  For young children, they can draw a picture on a leaf or you can write the word for them.  Putting the person’s name and date on the back of the leaf is a good idea for future reference.  Extra leaves and a marker can be left in a basket near your tree.

When it is time to take your tree down, consider saving the leaves of this year to reflect upon years ahead.  You can even paste them into your nature notebooks or make a special scrapbook.  If you are a daycare provider, you can create a book out of each child’s leaves this season and send them home for parents to see.

Caregiver Meditation:  Gratitude

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.” ― Melody Beattie

How often do you look at your life and all of the things in it with gratitude?  Often, we find ourselves focusing on how things could be better in our lives or on what we are lacking rather than the good that is surrounding us.  What an amazing purpose you have in this world!  It is no mistake that these little souls have been placed gently in your care.  They were led to you for guidance.  You are here to show them all the beauty and good the world has to offer.  You were chosen to be their guide.  Be grateful for this wonderful responsibility and remind yourself daily how special the work you do truly is.

Shrunken Apple Heads

Shrunken Apple Heads 

This is a very fun activity to do right around Halloween time or as All Souls Day approaches on November 2nd.  While they come out a bit freaky looking, the children absolutely LOVE the idea than an apple can dry out so much that it can last and be turned into a toy.

To begin you will need to peel apples leaving a bit of skin only on the top and bottom.  It is said that green apples work best.  After your apples are peeled, place them inside a container mixed with one part water and one part lemon juice.  This will prevent the apple from turning brown.  Some people want their apples to turn a bit brown for different skin tones.  This is up to you.

Using a utensil of some sort (we used a cheese spreading knife), carve out facial features.  Remember that the apple is going to dry out and shrink inward.  Plan your face accordingly.  Eyes are best done carved out and cheeks are best done left intact with the rest of the face carved out around them.  You can carve out ears and nose as well.  

The next part takes a lot of patience!  We dried our apples out very very slowly over a period of days on a cookie sheet in our oven on very low, approximately 150 degrees.  In the evening, I turned the over off and let the apples air dry and then I turned the oven back on in the morning.  Apples can also be dried out slowly outdoors but molding may occur if the temperature is not just right.

After two or three days of drying, your apple should be ready.  Apples are ready when the skin feels rubbery and without much moisture.  

You can leave your apples this way or keep creating by adding color to the face and even by turning it into an All Souls Apple Doll!  

Beware, these doll faces can be a bit scary so use your judgement on whether or not to dress them up too much depending on the age of your child.  Older children will likely LOVE the scary faces this time of year.  We used little beads and pressed them inside the eye sockets for eyes. 

 And we hot glued on some brown and black embroidery floss for hair.  Let the children design the doll however they like. 

Your apple head should stay good for years to come.  

Create Cornhusk Dolls with Your Children

 

​Create Cornhusk Dolls with Your Children 

Supplies Needed:

Cornhusks

String or Yarn

Scissors

Pail of Water

Hot Glue

These cornhusk dolls can take quite some time so be sure to prepare accordingly.

In some Native American traditions, making cornhusk dolls and doing corn dances were a way to give thanks and celebrate harvest time.

Have your child place the cornhusks in the pail of water until they are very soft and easy to bend. Separate the husks. (Each doll requires 10-15 husks to complete.)

Begin with four husks approximately the same size and lay them on top of one another. With your yarn, help your child tie the pointy ends of the husks together to close the top and bottom. This is the body of your doll.

Take two husks in each hand and fold them over the yarn so the string is inside. The fold is the top of the doll’s head. Pull a string around the husks and tie to make the head.

Take another husk and smooth it flat, cut the pointed end straight with a scissors. Roll the husk into a tight tube to make the arm. Do this again for the other arm. Tie each end of the arm tube with string. Put the tube between the body right below the head. Tie a piece of string around the body right below the arms to hold them in place.

Wrap another husk around the back of the neck and crisscross it around the chest to make shoulders. Tie it around the waist to stay on the doll. To make legs, separate the body husks into two equal parts below the waist. Tie each section at the ankle to complete.

These dolls are meant to have no face. Hair for your doll can be made with additional husks, yarn, silk, or twine and added with hot glue. Remember to make clothing for your doll today or on a day this week when you need to engage your child in an extra activity.

 

Upcoming Festivals & Holidays - Autumn 2020

 

Upcoming Festivals & Holidays - Autumn 2020

Posted by Eileen Foley on 28th Oct 2020

~ Upcoming Festivals & Holidays ~

All Hallows Eve/Halloween - October 31st

Full Hunter's Moon - Rare Blue Moon this Halloween - October 31st:

The Full Hunter’s Moon

The Hunter’s Moon is the first full moon after the Harvest Moon. Before the 1700’s, the Feast of The Hunter’s Moon was a time for celebration. Take time to go outdoors with your children on this night. Consider cooking a special meal or inviting friends over to look at the full moon.

All Saints Day - November 1st

All Soul's Day - November 2nd

Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos - November 2nd

Election Day - November 3rd (2020)

Bonfire Night - November 5th

Martinmas - November 11th

Veteran's Day - November 11th

World Kindness Day - November 13th

Diwali - November 14th (2020)

Small Business Saturday - November 28th (2020)

First Sunday of Advent - November 29th (2020)

Thanksgiving - November 26th (2020)

American Indian Heritage Day - November 27th

Full Beaver Moon - November 30th:

The Full Beaver Moon

The Full Beaver Moon signifies a time to go within and find the warmth inside of your own soul. It is a time to create a warm home and nurture those around us. On this evening, take your children outside to see the moon's beauty. Older children can sketch the view of the moon in their Nature Notebooks.

Autumn Leaf Craft

 

What a FUN activity to do with little ones this autumn. Go on a nature walk and find fallen leaves together. Please do not pick leaves off of trees. When you get back home, take out your paints and your imaginations and see what you can create! 

We'd love to see what you come up with. Be sure to share it with us!