I have vivid memories of the seasonal bulletin board in Mrs. Collins’ kindergarten classroom at Merriewood Elementary School. Fall leaves, winter snowmen, spring flowers, summer suns – that’s some of the important stuff you learn about when you’re five.

My neighbor Vicki’s shipment arrived a couple of weeks ago.  She teaches kindergarten, and some of her boxes contained teaching materials from the US.  Those materials look a lot like Mrs. Collins’.

“Miss Vicki! Is that supposed to be a mongoose?”
Just kidding. This is neither Vicki’s nor Mrs. Collins’s bulletin board – it belongs to a Kayla Johnson in Ohio. http://bulletinboardideas.org/295/we-are-jumping-into-fall/

Vicki is wondering now what to do about her seasons unit.  We are still in the northern hemisphere but the bulletin board cut-outs don’t match the local reality. Here in Ethiopia the seasons go like this:

• Kremt (Summer) – June, July and August are the summer season. The heavy rains – what in some places they call the monsoon – come at this time of year.
• Tseday (Spring) – September, October and November are the spring season, sometimes known as the harvest season.  It is pleasantly warm and sunny.
• Bega (Winter) – December, January and February are the dry season; sunny days with cool nights and occasional morning frost.
• Belg (Autumn) – March, April and May are the fall season, also known as the “small rains.”  May is the hottest month in Ethiopia.

For a slightly different interpretation, you can look at the Visual Geography website, which describes three seasons: http://www.visualgeography.com/categories/ethiopia/climate.html

What to do about those bulletin boards?  Fortunately I don’t teach kindergarten. I think I will go outside and enjoy a gorgeous November spring day.