Science Sarah Says … Starlight

by Sarah Glassco

Holiday light displays have been getting more extravagant every year it seems to me—but have you ever seen the majestic beauty of the Milky Way sweeping across the night sky? You must go out into the country where the sky is really dark (no city lights) to see this wonder. Once I watched shooting stars and moonrise over the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia. This memory of brightness, glowing and slowly growing in the deep darkness, is an image of stillness and hope that I treasure.

This month as we celebrate the Winter solstice, the longest night of the year, take some time to explore the wonders of night with your child. The moon is a good place to start. In spite of all I learned about the moon while growing up in the space age, I still see the kindly face of “the Man in the Moon” smiling at me. Read Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson, and then watch the moon follow your car as you drive at night. Or read Moondance by Frank Asch, and look for the moon in puddles or a pond.

The moon is just past full (December 10), so watch, as the moon seems to shrink every day until December 24, when it will disappear.  For 4 and 5 year-old children, Allan Fowler has written a series of very simple, well-illustrated factual books about space, stars, the sun and the moon.

This month, look for the bright planets Venus in the southwest sky (5:30 p.m.) and Jupiter in the southeast (6:30 p.m.). Orion is the most prominent constellation in the winter sky. It is so easy to see the broad-shouldered hunter with a dagger at his belt.

There are wonderful constellation stories from many different cultures. These stories gave people ways to remember the patterns of stars and their relationships, an important survival skill when stars were the primary navigation guides. The Hubble website offers a monthly video-tour of things to see in the sky at night. Sky watching can be a family activity that grows with your children. When my daughter went off to college her knowledge of stars made her instantly popular at the Freshman Orientation camp-out!

Please note that a small portion of all proceeds from all purchases made using the above links will go to Frog Pond. We appreciate your support!

This fall season has been a whirl of activity.  Our October theme of preparing for winter was not only for the squirrels and migrating birds!  We prepared for a very successful Fall Festival. In addition we prepared for the upcoming cold by getting our fire pit and fire wood stocked; mulching our paths and gardens; rebuilding the goat pen and applying siding on the barn which sandwiches the new insulation for added warmth.

The funds from the Fall Festival sponsors and donors, led by an early sponsorship from Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Nicholson, helped prepare our classrooms for the cold: we were able to replace our crumbling 60 year old windows.

The new mobile chicken coop, made possible by the generous donation from Marianne and Peter Martz, will keep our chickens warm and safe from predators during the “Hungry Moon” time in February when the predators become quite bold.

Our ducks, who are quite self-insulated have inherited the old chicken coop.  As ”Mother Duck,” I cannot relax until I know everyone is safe and sound for the upcoming cold and wind.  As of this weekend, the goat barn is completed, we stocked 30 bales of hay in the hay barn to last through the winter, and all seems prepared at “the Pond.” I am breathing a sigh of relief as I relieve my car of jigsaw, hammers, wire, nails, and lumber.

As we proceed further into this season of Family Gatherings and celebrate food and family, I would like to say how pleased I was with the Frog Pond Family participation in making the second annual Fall Festival a lovely relaxed day.

Our guests felt welcomed as they enjoyed the activities and refreshments.  The fire and bread and apples on the stones made for a wonderful autumn aroma that goes back to our heritage.  It was a time when many hands made the labor fun and not too overwhelming.  Thanks go out to our guest artists, Gregory Woods, Becca Tinker, Cheryl Sabo, and Herb Tyson who provided the drum circle, music and movement, singing and storytelling.

Now as we proceed toward the Thanksgiving holiday our attention will go to family, as we share food and good times together.  We will be talking about the gathering of relatives and friends to celebrate life in all its dimensions.

I wish all of our Frog Pond Family members a peaceful and relaxed Thanksgiving with family and friends.  Remember to fill the house with hugs and the traditional aromas of your family heritage.  Multisensory memories are the deepest and longest lasting!

Pam Tinker, Mother Duck

Thank you to the following sponsors who contributed to the success of our Second Annual Fall Festival. We simply could not have done it without the support of our Frog Pond families, the communities and the following organizations!

Turtles

• Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Nicholson

Top Toads

• Jill and Jim Hill

Leap Frogs

• Peter and Marianne K. Martz

Crickets

• Gerald and Helen Halpin
• Tom and Kathy Gailliot,
• Pinto Contractors
• Dorothy M. Brandt
• Belle Haven Animal Medical Centre, Inc
• Delegate Mark Sickles
• Supervisor Gerry Hyland
• Richard Diggs, Alexandria Pest Service and Next Door Neighbor

In-Kind Sponsors

• Chavez Landscaping
• Grounded Coffee
• Hollin Hall Pastry
• Rorer’s Produce
• Woodbine Farm Market

The following is an excerpt from our September newsletter by our school founder, Pam. Tinker. Enjoy!

September is always a “coming home” time at Frog Pond.  We have completed our summer adventures and are begining the routines of another year. It is good to have all of our travelers back home and to welcome our new Frog Pond Family members. Our Dragonfly Class is off to a new adventure in Kindergarten. We hope to hear their tales of new experiences when they return for the Fall Festival on October 22nd.

While September is a time for ingathering and developing routines that will give us the foundation for the new year, it is also a time when we observe the end phase of our gardens. We learn about harvest and the ways people and our critter neighbors create seed banks, disburse the seeds, and store and preserve foods to ensure that we have nutrients over the winter and that the cycle can repeat again. We have been observing the seeds and nuts as they mature over the summer. It is important that when Spring planting time arrives, we know that the seeds in those little packages were developed in many miraculous forms by Mother Earth.

September is also the time we prepare for our 2nd Annual Fall Festival.  We try to make the festival as simple and as nature-based as possible. We know that our families are busy with work and raising young children so the festival jobs are designed to be done in shifts that do not require much preparation prior to the day of the festival. The Fall Work Party prepares our land for the Winter and for the guests that will be touring the school and enjoying our grounds at the festival.

Prior to the festival preparations, we mailed requests for sponsors. The sponsorships are an important part of our annual cycle. Sponsorship is a sustaining activity that is vital to our ability to provide rich and varied experiences for our children. Just as we think ahead for future needs with seed banks, the Fall Festival helps to sustain Frog Pond by providing for very important expenditures that keep us safe and enriched.

This year, we have pre-purchased items out of necessity, such as a replacement for a failed air conditioning unit (at a cost of $4,000) and a new goat barn roof that we are certain will not blow off or collapse under the weight of snow and leave our goat friends wet and cold this winter. We have a long wish list of items that are required to maintain the facility in good order. In addition, there are many trainings we would like to send our staff members to so that they can bring back new skills and knowledge to further enrich our program.

I hope that you will consider being a sponsor or arranging for your business to be a sponsor.  Also, if you have friends, relatives, neighbors or colleagues that might like to be acknowledged as a sponsor of our nature-based educational endeavor, please let them know about the opportunity. We had a beautiful day and a very good start at our first annual Frog Pond Fall Festival last year so the foundation has been laid for a ritual that sustains us in our yearly cycle.

Pam Tinker, Mother Duck

It’s true! A mama snapping turtle, who laid and buried a batch of eggs on top of Toad Mountain in our big kid play yard at Frog Pond ~ The Natural Choice for Early Childhood Education, decided to take the express way home. A class of of pre-schoolers cheered her on. Just a small sampling of the neat things kids at Frog Pond experience daily (though is certainly the first time we’ve witnessed a turtle using a slide!)

View the video here! (Be sure to turn your volume up to hear the reaction of the kids.)

Pam Tinker founded Frog Pond ~ The Natural Choice for Early Childhood Education ~ more than 13 years ago. Learn all about the inspiration for Frog Pond and what it took to get off the ground. Read the article here.

Friend of Frog Pond, Tim MacWelch, the Director of The Earth Connection School shared the following tips to creating a complete first aid kit.

A first aid kit is a critical survival tool, but it’s one of the most frequently overlooked categories of survival equipment. Without the kit and its included supplies, many injuries that occur in survival scenarios would be exceedingly difficult to treat.

A first aid kit can be thought of as a survival kit in and of itself. Yes, the medical supplies therein can help you survive, but why stop there? Even the smallest of my first aid kits can fire-starting equipment, like matches and lighters. They can also have shelter items like space blankets or at least garbage bags to improvise shelter. Emergencies come in all shapes and forms. Be prepared!

Supplies for your first aid kit:

• 10 Alcohol swabs – to prevent infection
• 1 Medium tube of antibiotic cream – to prevent infection
• 4 Burn gel packets – for burn relief and to keep bandages from sticking to the burn
• 40 Assorted Band Aids – to bandage wounds
• 2 Small rolls of waterproof tape – to bandage wounds
• 10 Small gauze pads (4″ x 4″) – to bandage wounds
• 8 Small non-stick gauze pads (4″ x 4″) – to bandage wounds, especially burns
• 6 Large gauze pads – to bandage wounds
• 2 Gauze rolls – to bandage wounds
• Ace Bandage – to apply pressure to wounds, and to immobilize joints and limbs
• SAM Splint – to immobilize joints and limbs
• Meds like Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, Aspirin, Anti-diarrhea tablets, Antacid tablets, Antihistamine
• Razor blade – as an emergency cutting tool
• Non-latex gloves – for the prevention of contamination
• Kwik Clot wound dressing – to control severe bleeding
• EMT shears – to cut clothing and bandages
• Wound irrigation device or eye wash – to remove debris from the eyes and rough or deep wounds
• Glass thermometer – to determine body temperature for fever, hypothermia and heat-related illness
• Large needle – to dig out splinters, and to lance boils and other sealed infections
• 1 Book of matches & 2 lighters – for emergency fire starting and heat sanitization of metal equipment
• Tweezers – to remove splinters and foreign objects
• Space Blanket – for emergency shelter and shock management

Stock up and stay safe!

Our 2nd Annual Fall Festival is coming soon … Saturday, October 22nd, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.!

Just as our Work Parties physically maintain our grounds and facility, the Fall Festival supports our financial requirements.  A good fund-raising ritual, helps to keep our tuition rates affordable and keep our facility well-maintained.

Each year there are large items such as air conditioner units that must be replaced. These items are beyond the scope of what our tuition revenue provides.  We have designed an annual event that is simple, low in time commitment and is a fun way to bring the community, including our donors and alumni, together at Frog Pond.

The event is open to the community (so invite extended family, friends and neighbors!)

Thank you to the following sponsors who have already contributed to our fundraising effort:

• Pinto Contractors
• Tom and Katherine Galliot
• John Bryan, Attorney at Law
• Richard Diggs, Next Door Neighbor, Alexandria Pest Service
• Grounded Coffee
• Rorer’s Produce
• Oscar Chavez with Chavez Landscaping

Frog Pond Founder, Pam Tinker, shares the many ways that she and her family top their toast throughout the year. Enjoy!

These are variations on Seasonal Toast that we enjoy usually at breakfast time but they are good any time of day. They are child-friendly, Eco-friendly recipes and use locally grown seasonal fruits and vegetables.

Take a slice of organic whole wheat or other whole grain bread and toast it. We favor Trader Joe’s Organic whole wheat bread or honey wheat bread from Great Harvest Bread Company.

On the toast top it with the following options depending upon the time of year and what is growing in your garden or is at the Farmer’s Market. Our other favorite for local produce is to buy from Rorer’s Produce on Richmond Highway just past the Holly, Woods and Vines nursery and Thai Restaurant. Kenny Rorer knows how to choose ripe, delicious locally grown produce.

Here is the progression of toast toppings as we go through the growing season:

• Butter the toast then top with sliced strawberries and a pinch of sugar sprinkled on top.
• Butter toast then top with sliced strawberries and blueberries with a pinch of sugar sprinkled on top.
• Butter toast then top with fresh blueberries mixed with a sauce of mashed blueberries that have had a little sugar added to them. This keeps the blueberries in place on the toast.
• Butter toast with fresh peach slices. If tart, sprinkle with a little sugar.
• Toast the bread then add a fresh tomato slice. Top with slices of cheddar cheese. Melt cheese in toaster oven or in broiler. Add salt and fresh ground pepper.
• Butter the toast and top with fresh sliced plums or cherries
• On Toast, add a slice of mozzarella cheese, a slice of heirloom tomato, fresh basil cut in strips, and top with a drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette dressing.
• Top toast with thin sliced tart apples, sprinkle cinnamon and sugar. Top with Cheddar or Swiss cheese and melt under the broiler or in toaster oven.
• Top toast with nut butters and honey or jelly.
• On toast add a mixture of nut butter, mixed with honey, sliced almonds, raisins, cranberries, or other dried fruit and nuts of your choice.

Have a great recipe to share? Tell us about it in the comments.

Currently enrolled families are invited to join us for our next Becky Bailey video viewing and discussion on the topic of encouragement on Thursday, July 14th at 5 p.m.

You will learn:

• Effective ways to praise and encourage children
• How to notice instead of judge children so that every child feels seen
• Ways to teach children how to be helpful, contributing, valuable members of a group
• The power of “You did it!”

Extensive resources about the Conscious Discipline approach are available on Dr. Becky Bailey’s website.

You can also purchase her books:

• Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline: The 7 Basic Skills for Turning Conflict into Cooperation
• I Love You Rituals

Please note that a small portion of all proceeds from all purchases made using the above links will go to Frog Pond.

We appreciate your support!