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Cooking, Gardening, Sewing, Weaving, Pottery...
The Mulberry curriculum is enriched by not just art and music, but also a large variety of skills and crafts that help with fine and gross motor skills, develop character and reinforce reading, writing, math, science, social studies topics.
Cooking
Cooking is a fun way to teach math and science as well as develop fine motor coordination, reading comprehension, listening and following directions. Moreover, cooking with classmates involves lots of teamwork, collaboration, conflict resolution and communication. The Mulberry kitchen provides a great workspace for children to create culinary works of art!
Gardening
Peter Rabbit's blue jacket turned up in the JK garden again. The 3rd graders watched the earthworms and learned how they promote crop growth. The 4th graders estimated the total number of peas that would be harvested from all their plants and then shelled them and gobbled them up...
Planning, planting, maintaining and harvesting gardens fulfill several curriculum areas and the fresh vegetables and herbs harvested enhance cooking activities. Students plan class garden space and practice math skills of estimation, measurement and computation. They figure out the quantity of materials needed and lay out individual plots.
Science components include studying, classifying, planting seeds, observing and recording the growth cycle and learning about the ecology of composting. A good bit of time is spent tracking helpful and harmful insect life cycles. Students also discuss and examine issues related to sustainable living.
The importance of good nutrition is part of our physical education and cooking programs and is reinforced when the students decide what to plant and why.
Students keep journals of their garden work and other creative writing projects arise from different parts of the planting cycle.
Students and parents plan and participate in the fall festival that celebrates the harvest with arts and crafts projects and foods that reflect the growing cycle. Gardens stimulate the imaginations of our students, inspire a sense of pride and strengthen the connection with our surrounding natural environment.
Sewing & Weaving
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Sewing and Weaving help develop fine motor skills and many projects include a math component.
Kindergartners start finger weaving and can be found weaving throughout their day. When first graders study the African Savannah, they sew fleece pillows and paint wildlife like giraffes on them. Second graders make felt self-portraits and sew them onto felt pillows. They also sew felt mice to go with their mouse poems. Third graders are exposed to bead weaving. They sew a patchwork quilt that is then donated to the pediatric oncology ward of a local hospital. Fourth graders continue to learn about bead weaving and creating designs and pieces with greater intricacy. They learn about basket weaving in the tradition of local Native American tribes. By Fifth grade, students have the opportunity to design and create various weaving pieces using yarn.
Caring for Classroom Pets
Children are fascinated by animals and research has found that pets promote a general sense of well being and increase academic achievement. Animals in the classroom like fish, rats, mice, snakes and geckos give students an opportunity to closely observe different species that are part of the life sciences curriculum. Caring for animals also motivates students to think about and respect animal life and they learn about taking responsibility for their pet's welfare.
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In addition to exposure to animals in the classroom, students also go on field trips to the Zoo and birding at Almaden Lake and have a chance to view bees, bats, parrots, eagles, wild cats and other animals brought to school by the community and a variety of Wildlife organizations.
Field Trips
Field trips help to extend the curriculum outside the classroom and offer another avenue to engage children in hands-on and meaningful experiences. The preparation leading up to a field trip and the reflection activities planned afterward make these trips memorable. Examples of field trips include Tall Ships, local theatre performances, the ballet, tide pools, farms and the planetarium. Beginning in 3rd grade, children go on overnight trips: Hidden Villa (3rd grade), Gold Country (4th grade), Marine Headlands Science Camp and Pajaro Dunes (5th grade)
Student Council
At Mulberry, Student Council is viewed as a service and all children have the opportunity to participate. Classes send two reps and all the children take a rotation. Student Council meets with the Head of School and Director of Operations to discuss whatever community issues are sent by the classes and to arrive at solutions. The Student Council also discusses how to use the money which they raise each year through the Fun Run. Past monies have been used to build a ball wall, purchase scooters and wagons and help hurricane victims.
Community Service
Community is emphasized throughout the Mulberry curriculum. Children take on class jobs within their grades, help take care of the school grounds by picking up trash and recycling, attend Student Council meetings to make community decisions. Furthermore, each year children extend themselves to the broader community. One ongoing project involves collecting books for a school in Africa and another involves making quilts for children in hospitals. Other projects are emergent based on student concerns and interests such as a poster campaign to change to fluorescent light bulbs or a sale to collect money for earthquake victims in Peru.
More on Mulberry's 21st Century Curriculum
For a glimpse into each grade, check the preschool and elementary pages, and be sure to visit Mulberry!
