Learn · Winnipeg, Manitoba
The next eight weeks
Not a curriculum — a calendar. Acorns are down for about five weeks and the date moves by a fortnight across this province; the first frost near Winnipeg is a real date; the day is losing minutes tonight at a rate that will have halved by December. All of that decides whether a lesson works this Saturday or has to wait a year, so the order below is built from it rather than from a template.
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Week 1 · September 21
this week
Full moon on Friday, September 25. Go out after tea and look at it, and again two nights later.
- Count the petalsShapes and patterns · about 40 minutes outside · Counting small sets accurately, then noticing that a set of counts has a pattern in it.
- How many legs?Living things · about 40 minutes outside · Skip counting and the beginning of multiplication, with a reason to do it.
Week 2 · September 28
The day loses about 22 minutes across this week — 3 a day. Measure a shadow on Monday and again on Sunday.
- Fold a leaf in halfShapes and patterns · about 30 minutes outside · Symmetry, matching, and the idea that two halves can be the same shape and opposite hands.
- Counting down to frostTime and the sky · about 30 minutes outside · Counting down, subtraction as distance, and what an average actually promises.
Week 3 · October 5
The average first frost falls this week (Oct 6). Watch the grass on the first clear still morning — and count what is left on the paper chain.
- A hundred acornsCounting · about 45 minutes outside · Grouping as a counting strategy — the first real step towards place value.
- Getting to a hundredCounting · about 35 minutes outside · Counting past the fingers, and ten tens as a thing you can see.
Week 4 · October 12
The day loses about 22 minutes across this week — 3 a day. Measure a shadow on Monday and again on Sunday.
- Counting mushrooms, hands behind backsLiving things · about 30 minutes outside · Counting things that are scattered rather than lined up, and counting gills in fives.
- The five-minute bird countCounting · about 20 minutes outside · Tallying — counting in fives when the things being counted will not hold still.
Week 5 · October 19
Full moon on Saturday, October 24. Go out after tea and look at it, and again two nights later.
- The shadow clockTime and the sky · about 30 minutes outside · Measuring the same thing repeatedly, comparing lengths, and reading a sequence of numbers as a shape.
- A month of moonsTime and the sky · about 5 minutes outside · Counting a long sequence, keeping a record, and meeting a cycle that is not seven days long.
Week 6 · October 26
The day loses about 20 minutes across this week — 3 a day. Measure a shadow on Monday and again on Sunday.
- Sort the stonesMeasuring · about 40 minutes outside · Sorting by one attribute, then by two at once, which is a grid before it is called one.
- Patterns in bark and stoneShapes and patterns · about 35 minutes outside · Repeating units — AB, ABB, ABC — which is where algebra quietly begins.
Week 7 · November 2
The day loses about 20 minutes across this week — 3 a day. Measure a shadow on Monday and again on Sunday.
- The five-minute bird countCounting · about 20 minutes outside · Tallying — counting in fives when the things being counted will not hold still.Again — same spot, same hour. Put the two counts side by side and ask what changed.
Week 8 · November 9
The day loses about 18 minutes across this week — 3 a day. Measure a shadow on Monday and again on Sunday.
- The shadow clockTime and the sky · about 30 minutes outside · Measuring the same thing repeatedly, comparing lengths, and reading a sequence of numbers as a shape.Again — same spot, same hour. Put the two counts side by side and ask what changed.
- A month of moonsTime and the sky · about 5 minutes outside · Counting a long sequence, keeping a record, and meeting a cycle that is not seven days long.Again — same spot, same hour. Put the two counts side by side and ask what changed.
Built for Winnipeg from its own frost dates, daylight and moon. Ticks are kept in this browser, and the next plan pushes anything already ticked to the back.