October was a great month at ACS.  The colors are turning around campus and it is a joy to watch the change. I love watching the seasons change and being able to see God’s faithfulness and creativity in the seasons. I am so grateful to live in a place where we can experience the changes of the seasons and see God at work in this way.  Fall is just the greatest time to be outside for so many reasons and we have a lot of fun in OE.  We’re harvesting squash and gourds, preparing the gardens for winter, planting in the greenhouse, picking apples and making cider, and so much more. 

Kindergarten - In kindergarten we spent some time reviewing shapes in the woods. We looked for shapes and made our own.  We helped plant our class tree near the track as well as some vegetables that will grow in the hoop house this winter.  The class tree will get a plaque and will be fun to watch grow from year to year. We also took time for pumpkin math!

1st - First grade began by just exploring in a nature scavenger hunt.  I love searching and hunting with students as it is a great way for kids to see the little details God has put into creation.  We also took a trip around school to find examples of each of the vertebrate groups.  They had an opportunity to touch one of each of the five groups of vertebrates.  We wrapped the month up with some time thinking about life as a pilgrim and practicing some chores around school.

2nd - Second grade spent time wrapping up some ideas about decomposers and looking for some in the woods.  We took the decomposers to the new compost bin and talked about how they would be putting their plant based lunch scraps in the bin.  As winter approaches the bees need to get bundled up.  We took a quick look at some of the bees in our display case as well as extracted a little honey before we put them away for winter.  Lastly we began planning for our big trip down the Oregon trail. In November we’ll make our way around the woods in an Oregon Trail simulation. 

3rd - We took a deep dive this month into food! The third graders learned all about how to read a recipe. We made sweet zucchini relish from start to finish as we learned about preserving our summer harvest through the winter months. They also learned all the steps to canning. Then we took a field trip to an orchard to pick apples and rounded out the month with cider making. 

4th - The fourth grade students have been exploring all different kinds of decomposers. We spent some time exploring mushrooms as decomposers and the difference between fungi and plants. We also had a big work day harvesting for the market and putting our summer plants and gardens to rest. Lastly, we made some delicious cider and wrote creative stories from an apples perspective. Students shared lots of laughs as we wrote about what it would be like to be an apple getting picked off a tree by an elementary student.

5th - Our Fifth grade chicken crew started off the month by experiencing their chores for the first time. We all got our first chance at handling and caring for our flock. We also practiced writing the steps of their chores to be turned into a video instruction for the families who come on the weekends to help with the animals. We crunched some numbers and played The Price is Right farm style to learn about the costs of caring for our flock. We rounded out the month by doing a chicken anatomy photo scavenger hunt. Students worked in groups to identify the parts of a chicken. 

6th- The sixth graders kicked off the month with chores. They got to experience caring for our sweet goats and the new jobs they would have for the year. Additionally, we practiced filming instructional videos to help those serving our goats on the weekends. We worked through how to calculate expenses of owning a goat farm and what it takes to feed/house them for a year. Lastly, we reviewed breeding behaviors. Our buck from last year Pogo will be making his return soon so we can have kids in spring! We learned about mating behaviors and what to expect to see while he is here. 

7th: The seventh grade focus is in OE has been trees. We have learned about how to identify trees and learned a few specific trees around campus.  Now we are gathering information about our trees so we can make an interactive map showing the memorial trees on campus. 

8th: Eighth grade OE has been focusing on invasive species.  We learn about the impact they have on the ecosystem and learn about which plant species are invasive around our property.  After talking about how to properly remove the invasive species, all the students worked to remove Autumn Olive from our property in an act of restoration for our ecosystem at ACS.