Falling in Love with Autumn

My favorite season starts this week... FALL!  Creative writing assignments and crafts just dance around my mind when I think of this time of year.  Maybe it is because fall is the prelude to many fun occasions and holidays.  Maybe it is the yummy food that is harvested this time of year.  Perhaps it is my dream of being a farmer and pulling in the harvest, canning (a favorite activity of mine) and settling down for the winter.  It could be the colors of all those trees or the crisp cool air that settles around us after a hot summer.  The most likely reason is all of the above because Fall is a season of senses.

An early childhood educator's dream is the season of fall.  What can we hear, see, smell, taste and feel that we can not quite experience all at once with any other season?  An elementary educator's heaven exists within all the decomposition experiments happening before our very eyes.  Upper elementary and high school can even be inspired by this season's life cycles and microscopic happenings!

Fall is back to school, it is autumn, it is harvest, it is cool outside and warm inside, it is family at Thanksgiving and it is memories.  Warm, cozy, childhood memories of a season where nature is going to sleep and our senses are coming alive.  I LOVE FALL!

I know I sound like a crazy woman!  But there you have it!  As I prepare for spelling lists and writing assignments this week, I was researching a good fall poem.  I stumbled upon this website,

An absolutely adorable website!  Click here.

 Teaching Heart is put together by an elementary school teacher.  Not only does it have a lot of great do-dads, but it has a wonderful and welcoming 'atmosphere' (those who know me, know I LOVE atmosphere!).  I could sit and go through her site alllllll day and feel just marvelous for it!

What especially drew me to Teaching Heart today was her section on Autumn.  There are a lot of cute crafts, language arts ideas, bulletin board inspiration, and math.  She also has a wonderful book list to get those creative juices flowing in you and your kids!  If I could, I would vote this site, "Site of the Year"!  Visit it when you get a chance :-)