Sunday, April 22, 2007

Celebrating Earth Day

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. ~Native American Proverb

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Emma Sage was very excited about Earth Day.......to her, every day is Earth Day as she truly marvals in all of the wonders of the world. She stops often to point out to me the sounds of different birds, or tree frogs.....she is the first to spot a deer, or fox, or ground hog. So this morning she woke up and told me that she had to 'Plant a Tree'......a Birthday Tree. I knew right away what she meant .
Every other week we go to the library to take out our stash of books for the upcoming weeks......the limit is 50 books per card. Emma Sage always reaches her limit [and sometimes goes over, but she has the librarian's wrapped around her sweet little fingers].
I am always amazed at the recall this child has of the books we read together....she is a sponge.
About two cycles ago we had one book called "Megan's Birthday Tree"....so when she told me this morning that she had to plant a 'Birthday Tree' I knew what she was referring to.
So, I used the moment as a teaching lesson. I started inquiring about the reason for the tree, and she said "It is Earth Day.....and I want a tree just like Megan". She then began to retell me the whole story. That Megan was adopted, that she had a birth Mommy and an adopted Mommy and that she had a special birthday tree that her birth Mommy planted to celebrate who much Megan would grow year after year.
So, the picture above are of Miss Emma Sage Celebrating ~ Earth Day....planting a Birthday Tree. Actually, she planted five Red Maples. We collect the saplings from my In-laws [huge] Red Maple and help them along in containers for a year or two and then plant them on our property. Today we planted five.......and we will now take a picture of Miss Emma Sage in front of her 'Birthday Tree's' each year on May 9th to see how big both have grown in the past year!
The neat thing about Emma Sage and Red Maples as they are both slow growing species!!!!! It won't be until she is close to 20 that these little trees get taller than her.

3 comments:

Michelle said...

Do you have a green thumb, Emma Sage? What a wonderful experience. We planted a tree when each child was born (and became really scared when Elliot's tree seemed to be literally wilting as he laid in the NICU last August). Now, it is budding just beautifully! Hooray! Have any suggestions for a tree for our third child?

Hugs to you sweet, sweet girl and to your momma. You are blessed, Miss Emma Sage!

L. Noelle said...

Good for you for showing her so early all of these things! What a great teacher you are!

jennifergg said...

This is a lovely post...in it, you capture my very favorite reasons for homeschooling, those quiet, simple teaching moments. Thank you for reminding me of them!