At the beginning of the week, I thought I had some amazing plans to teach the Beginners about the fruits that come from trees, and I had planned to culminate the week by baking some delicious banana bread, because bananas grow on trees…right?
Apparently, they do not. As I was reading the children a book, it plainly said, “Fruit that does not grow on trees,” and listed the banana. Thinking it was just an old book with some wrong information, I had to look it up on the internet. Here’s what I learned; “Even though banana plants can grow to be 30 feet in height, they’re not technically trees: their stems are sturdy, but contain no woody tissue. They’re not trunks, but ‘pseudostems,’ made of densely packed leaves. So a banana plant is actually a perennial herb, like a lily or an orchid. Technically, the banana fruit is the berry of the plant.”
When I wrote the morning question asking the Beginners if Bananas grow on trees, many of them were determined that they did not grow on trees, while I was determined that they did, but they were right. Reflecting on it now, it almost humbles me. It makes me remember that children, no matter how young, deserve to be listened to, they deserve to be told “You’re right,” and they can teach us important things if we just spend some time with them.
This week we also did some tree art. We exercised fine motor skills by painting with q-tips. We also used liquid watercolors to make beautiful birch tree paintings.
