Our food study has been deliciously successful this year. In speaking with various teachers, several themes have been present across grade levels: learning about foods by color and what they do for our bodies inviting parents/grandparents to come in and share favorite or traditional foods of their families/culture making a connection to gardening and our . . . Read More
For eleven years I taught first and second graders. I believe it was some of my best work as a teacher that ultimately resulted with years of memorable teaching. In fact, I’m still friends with many of my students and their families from that era. Looking back, it was my most prolific time as a . . . Read More
You might notice a large very hungry caterpillar hanging above the Toddler 1s door. The paper was painted by our littlest toddlers, then cut and shaped by a teacher to make the caterpillar. It’s a wonderful introduction to our annual food study, using Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Each year we devote the two . . . Read More
Last Friday the Seed was inundated with collard greens. Cases of greens arrived along with bags of ingredients to prepare the greens for eating. The collard greens were part of a program called The Blue Watermelon Project. Their website describes the project in this way: “Inspired and led by the efforts of Chef Charleen Badman of . . . Read More
I write this week’s blog from rural Nebraska, where I’m staying for a few days, helping out with my parents. I collected classroom stories about our nutrition study before I left, and lots of wonderful food experiences have happened since I left. My intention in writing about the study is to give you a bit . . . Read More
Healthy food has always been a priority at the Seed. Over the years it’s taken on different expressions as we’ve responded to trends in nutrition. Our current practices have been highly influenced by this article. Another influence related to food is our dedication to planetary stewardship. During the first few weeks of school, I . . . Read More
It was a plane that derailed my plans for this week’s blog. I fully intended to describe the many wonderful food experiences happening around the Seed as part of our school-wide nutrition study. I was going to write about the incredible smells, the scent of pizza, beans, and pesto that permeated the hallway. I aimed . . . Read More
In honor of our all-school nutrition study, this week’s blog will be a tour of our seedfood website. The site came into being several years ago when the lead teachers gathered for a discussion about developmentally appropriate food practices. Starting with an article on this topic, we talked about how much children should be expected . . . Read More
This photo may seem familiar to some of you. It’s a closeup of one week’s lunch trash we collected last spring. I thought it was worth revisiting. Each September of a new school year, we devote two weeks to our all-school nutrition study. What started as a teacher conversation about developmentally appropriate food practices with . . . Read More
I always appreciate how things come together here at the Seed. Sometimes we call it the Seed magic. This week was no exception. As we kicked off the final week of our nutrition study, we also held our first grandparent gathering on Monday. Grandparents appeared from the Phoenix area, as well as San Diego, South . . . Read More
In case you thought Wednesday was a bad diaper day for the toddlers, you can be rest assured, it was merely the PreK’s batch of brussels sprouts baking in the oven. We take our nutrition study seriously and that means stepping out of our comfort zone from time to time to try new tastes . . . Read More
Often a study begins with a question. “Where does hummus come from?” “What does candy do for your body?” “How can we turn into food detectives?” Questions like these are surfacing around the Seed as we prepare to embark on our annual school-wide nutrition study. We’ve had many successful studies in the past and expect . . . Read More
Seed teachers are back at it. We started our prep week on Tuesday and it’s been an action packed few days. Currently the hallway is lined with items each teacher no longer needs, including extra random art supplies, puzzles with missing pieces, wrong sized tables or shelves, lost and found clothing, and outdated equipment. My . . . Read More
Now that I’m back from vacation and inspired by all the great food we ate on the east coast, I wanted to experiment with baking vegan bread. The first loaf I made actually turned out pretty well, except the pan was too small. The top crust created an overhang that resembled a breaded version of . . . Read More
Sunday was the perfect day to plant a garden. In the morning it rained and later in the day it happened again. By the time I was ready to plant my seeds, the soil held just the right amount of moisture. The sky was full of dramatic cloud formations and by late afternoon, the light . . . Read More