A planter is a farm implement, usually towed behind a tractor, that sows (plants) seeds in rows throughout a field.

It is connected to the tractor with a drawbar or a three-point hitch. Planters lay seeds down in precise manner along rows. Planters vary greatly in size, from 1 row to 54, with the biggest in the world being the 48-row John Deere DB120.

Such larger and newer planters comprise multiple modules called row units. The row units are spaced evenly along the planter at intervals that vary widely by crop and locale.

The most common row spacing in the United States today is 30 inches. Since we are learning all about farm machines this week, we decided to explore the fascinating world of planters.

With this activity, we used tractors to plant a variety of beans. Using clay as their soil, real (and fake) foliage, and their imaginations, students created a variety of different crops!

Early literacy plays a key role in enabling the kind of early learning experiences that research shows are linked with academic achievement, reduced grade retention, higher graduation rates and enhanced productivity in adult life.

Literacy development starts early in life and is highly correlated with school achievement. It is for these reasons that we are constantly exposing your little ones to prints of various kinds.

From writing out names with a pencil, to tracing letters in a sand tray, we are constantly engaging in pre-reading and pre-writing activities.

For this project, we went fishing for magnetic letters. These letters were placed in bins of corn kernels. Students had to dig out these letters with tweezers and place them onto word cards that spelled out the word C-O-R-N. While doing so, they were encouraged to talk about the shapes of the letters and the sounds they make!

Collaborative play, also known as social play and cooperative play, is a type of play that typically begins at around 2 years of age when young children are mature enough to begin taking turns with playmates, sharing playthings, following rules, and negotiating with others — for instance, offering a playmate their Superman toy for their playmate’s Winnie the Pooh toy.

The characteristics of collaborative play aren’t just niceties but those behaviors that show when a child is beginning to realize they aren’t the only person in the world.

This type of play teaches important social skills that help children grow during everyday play. In collaborative play, children solve a problem by working together to reach a common goal. Unlike competitive play that involves clear winners and losers, everybody wins in collaborative play. For this activity, one of your little ones was placed with a partner.

They then worked together to decide upon which “crop” to plant, using their tractors to loosen up the soil. Lastly, they were given seeds and navigated their tractors around their “crops” with their friends!