Thank you for coming to the FamiLEE Open House on March 13th! It was a wonderful opportunity to meet and talk with many learners and their parents.

I look forward to meeting you all at the FamiLEE STEAM Night on April 24th and Coppell Earthfest on April 26th!

Y2, G1, B4, and B2 on 3/5,6,7

I am grateful for the teachers' support as we work on this month-long project focused on growing radishes from seed to harvest.

The Yellow 2, Green 1, Blue 4, and Blue 2 learners have planted the seeds and will observe their plants weekly until harvest.

Each week, they will take pictures of their plants and upload them to the "My Radish March 2025" journal on Canva. They will also check the soil and water their plants as needed.

Additionally, each learner has named their radish. I am excited to see how their radishes grow and how the learners interact with their plants!

Y2 learners returned to the garden to check their radishes during recess the day after planting!

G1 learners observed radish seeds under a microscope and created drawings of what they saw!

B4 learners took pictures of their classmates planting!

B2 learners observed the seeds under a microscope on the large screen and planted them in the garden!

Y2, G1, and B2 on 3/13,14

The learners planted radish seeds on March 5th, 6th, or 7th. One week later, they were excited to see that their radish seeds had sprouted!

Which is mine? It was hard to take a picture of the right one!

Y2, G1, B4, and B2 on 3/24,25,26

After spring break, their radishes grew large! They planted three seeds in each spot, resulting in multiple plants. To ensure healthy growth, we selected the best plant and thinned out the others. The learners tasted the thinned radish leaves with crackers, and to their surprise, they loved the samples!

Some learners would like to take the radishes home when they harvest them, as they want to show them to their moms. How cute! They can do this in the next few weeks!

Stay Tuned! - Their journey with radishes continues...

"My Radish March 2025" Journal Template

YK, R5, Al, and PA on 3/24, 25, 27

The Yellow K, Red 5, Active Learning, and Practical Academics learners planted bean seeds! They also took pictures of the vegetables growing in our garden to upload to the digital journal "Days In Our Garden" or "Plant Explorer Journal."

YK planted beans and harvested mint, which was served with ice water to the Y2 and R5 learners the next day in the hot afternoon!

R5 took pictures of our garden vegetables to upload to the Canva presentation, "Plant Explorer Journal." They also enjoyed some refreshing "Mint Water" during the hot afternoon. Thank you to the YK learners for providing the mint!!

AL planted beans, watered the bed, and looked for their key tags!

PA planted bean seeds and watered the bed, taking turns!

Y3 on 3/5

Harvesting Basil and Planting Lettuce Seeds and Mint Transplants

Six learners from Yellow 3 harvested indoor-grown basil, planted lettuce seeds, and transplanted mint from the garden.

Thank you to Ms. Suzi, the cafeteria manager, for creating the sign to showcase the tasting of our garden harvest in the cafeteria! Our learners contributed with some charming drawings. During lunch, the cafeteria staff served the basil with pizza!

The learners were curious about the roots of the mint and smelled them!

Since only a limited number of classes can work in the garden each week, I created a garden workbook template to encourage more classes to visit.

Learners can take pictures of each vegetable and upload them to a presentation. When they visit the garden again, they can add new photos to observe the changes in each plant.

I hope this opportunity enhances their understanding of life sciences and provides learners and teachers with a refreshing experience.

"Days in Our Garden" journal template for K-2 grade learners. Uploading photos may be difficult for young children...so, I will create a more user-friendly template next time!

"Plant Explorer Journal" template for 3-5 grade learners. It also includes pages for writing about their wonders, likes, and wishes for the garden.

Monarch Quiz

This week, Purple 3 and Yellow 3 learners participated for the final time in the Monarch Waystation Project as part of their STEAM curriculum. They took the same Monarch quiz composed of 14 comprehensive questions they completed in January at the start of the project.

Unfortunately, a technical issue prevented the results of the Purple 3 learners' quiz from being recorded, while the Yellow 3 learners successfully completed theirs. Overall, the average correct answer rate greatly improved, rising from 48% to 69%.

Notably, the percentage of correct answers to the question about what monarch caterpillars eat increased from 14% before the learning session to 50% afterward. This was a tricky multiple-choice question.

Similarly, the percentage of correct responses to the question regarding the timing of monarch migration from north to south rose from 20% to 64%. Mrs. Shaner emphasized this topic during the reading sessions, helping more learners grasp the concept of migration.

Additionally, the percentage of correct answers related to the threats to monarchs jumped from 24% to 82%, indicating that many more learners selected all the right answers following their lessons.

Monarch Waystation Sign

Did you know that our garden is officially registered as a Monarch Waystation with Monarch Watch, an organization dedicated to Monarch conservation? Our learners installed signs in our Monarch garden near the Eco Pond, as well as in the pollinator garden close to the vegetable garden!

P3 has installed a Monarch Waystation sign in our Monarch garden!

Y3 has installed a Monarch Waystation sign in our pollinator garden!

Monarch Alphabet Book

The learners have completed the Monarch Alphabet book. Each learner created a page representing information associated with a letter of the alphabet. Great job, P3 and Y3 learners!

I am grateful to have worked with Mrs. Shaner to make a positive impact on our learners!

Monarch Alphabet Book by P3

Monarch Alphabet Book by Y3

Since we introduced an ultrasonic device and coyote urine to the garden, we have not experienced any significant rodent issues.

A big thank you to Mice Busters and everyone who has supported our garden; our crops are thriving. I didn't expect our vegetables to grow this spring, so it was a wonderful surprise!

Additionally, we plan to install an owl nest box to attract barn owls, which will help control the rat population. Some members have worked on the barn owl project and created presentations.

Others are working on the website and an infomercial video to promote Mice Busters and gather input from learners school-wide. The Garden Patrol Team will regularly check the garden and provide updates on its status soon!

While we mostly communicate online, many members would like to meet other House members in person. That totally makes sense and I'm glad to hear that. How can we find time for that?

Owl Nest Box Caution Sign

A learner developed a Barn Owl Project Handy Book and asked for collaboration to add more information.

Flyer to ask for input.

Sentence Stems for the discussion board.

Infomercial Video Script Created by Members

We have 17 members from Red 3 now, and many have formed groups to work on a Minecraft project featuring Monarch butterflies. One group is creating a Monarch Haunted House that includes questions about Monarchs.

Another group has started a game in which players must escape jail to save Monarch butterflies. Additionally, some members are building a beautiful Monarch garden in their world.

There is also a group focused on preparing a presentation about our garden for Monarchs and other pollinators.

The members ask me every day, "Do we have garden club tomorrow?"

The members work on their projects during recess.

Monarch Sunset Garden's Website is making progress.

Planting seeds!

Weeding and watering!

The microscope is in use!

Thank you for composting!

Check out my blog, "Unlock Our Life" , to discover more about our garden education!

Thank you to the teachers for collaborating and bringing their learners to the outdoor learning!

I appreciate the used coffee grounds Mrs. Hoffman brought for our garden. We used them to make compost!

In this newsletter, I used the pictures and videos taken by the teachers.