An Ebb and Flow of Sightings
After an initial flurry of posts by children, families, and faculty, there was a noticeable drop-off in activity on the data collection boards.
To maintain interest in the count, I posted questions, such as“ Last week Jenna and Silas saw a downy woodpecker, and Phillip saw a red-tailed hawk. What will we see this week?” I also sent letters to children who posted on the boards to acknowledge their sightings, and I shared new species sightings in our family newsletter.
A pattern emerged: A handful of families from each classroom incorporated the count into their family culture and routines. They posted on the data collection boards during drop-off; on weekends and vacations, they had family critter counts.
Ariel’ s family is a prime example. Ariel, who is in the Blue Otter classroom, and her parents looked for animals on their walk to school. Her parents then helped Ariel share sightings on the data collection boards( a great literacy activity).
New to Cambridge, they were genuinely curious about the birds they were seeing and would ask me about them. Ariel’ s mom was keen on seeing a cardinal, which she had heard was striking in appearance. On April 1, the family posted their most playful sighting of the year:
54 Young Children
Winter 2025