Soup Days are back every Thursday!
Please bring a vegetable to share on Thursdays. The children gain a great sense of satisfaction and joy when they are able to contribute something special to our meal. We all help wash, cut, and chop the vegetables together and participate in the making of a different soup each week. It is fun to see the result of each soup day!
THANK YOU to everyone who has helped out with SAND!!
We are in the process of putting together a nice big sand play area, which will be covered at all times except during our hands on sand time!!
There is a note coming home soon about parent participation.
It is a heavy load of many hours (about 15 every day) to run Apple Blossom Preschool and parent help and participation are vital components of any healthy school community. WE are a small program and requests will be made increasingly for help in a variety of ways as the children are growing and needing developmentally appropriate activities.
Thanks again for all your help and support!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Apple Day!
Apple Day was fun and successful!
The children enjoyed the peeling, slicing, and coring machine and participated joyfully in the making of homemade applesauce. The variety of apples sure made it sweet and delicious!
Thank you for sharing all the apples with us!
We talked about the different names for the apples, drew pictures of them in our nature journals, and learned special poems to go along with our day.
We have found apple stars, examined many seeds, made apple prints, and talked about picking apples at an apple orchard.
The Apple Star
Take an apple round and red.
Don't slice down
Slice through instead.
Right inside it you will see
A star as pretty as can be!
My Treasure Box
This is a little treasure box;
Although it has no keys or locks.
A wondrous treasure does it hold
More precious than a purse of gold
These shining pointed seeds you see,
Each one contains an apple tree.
But every little seed we've found
Must first be hidden in the ground;
And by and by, the fairy elves,
Sunbeam and Raindrop come themselves,
To make each little seed they see
Into a glorious apple tree.
How strong it grows! How green and fair,
Tossing its myriad leaves in air!
In spring, its white and roseate blooms
Scatter a thousand sweet perfumes.
And then, at last, one splendid day
Foretold by all the blooms of May,
A hundred rosy apples swing,
Sweet sequel to the flowers of Spring.
Hundreds of apples from one seed!
Ah! 'Tis a fairy tale indeed!
No wonder, tho' it has no locks,
I call this apple, "treasure box."
The children enjoyed the peeling, slicing, and coring machine and participated joyfully in the making of homemade applesauce. The variety of apples sure made it sweet and delicious!
Thank you for sharing all the apples with us!
We talked about the different names for the apples, drew pictures of them in our nature journals, and learned special poems to go along with our day.
We have found apple stars, examined many seeds, made apple prints, and talked about picking apples at an apple orchard.
The Apple Star
Take an apple round and red.
Don't slice down
Slice through instead.
Right inside it you will see
A star as pretty as can be!
My Treasure Box
This is a little treasure box;
Although it has no keys or locks.
A wondrous treasure does it hold
More precious than a purse of gold
These shining pointed seeds you see,
Each one contains an apple tree.
But every little seed we've found
Must first be hidden in the ground;
And by and by, the fairy elves,
Sunbeam and Raindrop come themselves,
To make each little seed they see
Into a glorious apple tree.
How strong it grows! How green and fair,
Tossing its myriad leaves in air!
In spring, its white and roseate blooms
Scatter a thousand sweet perfumes.
And then, at last, one splendid day
Foretold by all the blooms of May,
A hundred rosy apples swing,
Sweet sequel to the flowers of Spring.
Hundreds of apples from one seed!
Ah! 'Tis a fairy tale indeed!
No wonder, tho' it has no locks,
I call this apple, "treasure box."
We have also heard a sweet German story called The Sleeping Apple which illustrates how we must be patient and wait for some things. When they do arrive, it is at just the right time!
Other books we have read and discussed:
The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree by Gail Gibbons
Share and Take Turns by J. Meiners
How Do Apples Grow? by Betsy Maestro
Autumn is for Apples by Michelle Knudsen
Apple Picking Time by Michele B. Slawson
Applesauce by Shirley Kurtz
Johnny Appleseed by Reeve Lindbergh
Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins
Our Apple Tree by Gorel Kristina Naslund
Out and About at the Apple Orchard by Diane Mayr
We did a floating fruit experiment, observed all the parts of an apple, learned circle time poems and fingerplays about apples, and acted out our apple stories.
Letter and word stamping have been fun ways to play with new words and we have been creating our own word collections in small recipe boxes, making our own poems, and constructing word boards where everyone takes a turn putting together different words to make stories.
This week's reflection: Patience
"Have patience with all things, but first of all with yourself."
-St. Francis de Sales
" We are so very hard on ourselves. We have so many expectations of where we feel we should be or what we think we should be doing differently. Take time this week to stop and focus on totally loving and accepting yourself where you are right now. Forgive yourself for not being perfect. Allow yourself the space to be human. Look back on your life and see where you have come-all in good time. Be proud of the things that you have accomplished in your life. Continue to strive to do better and grow, but be patient with yourself in the process. Never give up and allow yourself the freedom to start over and over again."
-Little Acorn Learning
Other books we have read and discussed:
The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree by Gail Gibbons
Share and Take Turns by J. Meiners
How Do Apples Grow? by Betsy Maestro
Autumn is for Apples by Michelle Knudsen
Apple Picking Time by Michele B. Slawson
Applesauce by Shirley Kurtz
Johnny Appleseed by Reeve Lindbergh
Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins
Our Apple Tree by Gorel Kristina Naslund
Out and About at the Apple Orchard by Diane Mayr
We did a floating fruit experiment, observed all the parts of an apple, learned circle time poems and fingerplays about apples, and acted out our apple stories.
Letter and word stamping have been fun ways to play with new words and we have been creating our own word collections in small recipe boxes, making our own poems, and constructing word boards where everyone takes a turn putting together different words to make stories.
This week's reflection: Patience
"Have patience with all things, but first of all with yourself."
-St. Francis de Sales
" We are so very hard on ourselves. We have so many expectations of where we feel we should be or what we think we should be doing differently. Take time this week to stop and focus on totally loving and accepting yourself where you are right now. Forgive yourself for not being perfect. Allow yourself the space to be human. Look back on your life and see where you have come-all in good time. Be proud of the things that you have accomplished in your life. Continue to strive to do better and grow, but be patient with yourself in the process. Never give up and allow yourself the freedom to start over and over again."
-Little Acorn Learning
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Moon & Stars, Harvesting
The Harvest Moon is the full moon closest to the Autumn Equinox and is often more bright and colorful than other moons. In Chinese culture, the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated at this time as a way to honor the end of the summer harvesting season.
We have been talking a lot about the moon and hopefully you have had a chance to observe the moon with your children over the last two weeks at night.
There was great excitement in putting together a solar system puzzle and we discussed the different characteristics and names of each planet. We made our own moon and stars with watercolor paints and glitter and heard a very special story called "The Star Dollars" by the Brothers Grimm. We gathered on our story circle rug while I told this precious story about a little girl who gave all she had to strangers in need of help. She was rewarded at the end with little star dollars sprinkled around her feet. We used little white felt cut outs of stars and passed them out to each child with a reminder to show kindness and help everyone around us who is in need.
We have been talking a lot about the moon and hopefully you have had a chance to observe the moon with your children over the last two weeks at night.
There was great excitement in putting together a solar system puzzle and we discussed the different characteristics and names of each planet. We made our own moon and stars with watercolor paints and glitter and heard a very special story called "The Star Dollars" by the Brothers Grimm. We gathered on our story circle rug while I told this precious story about a little girl who gave all she had to strangers in need of help. She was rewarded at the end with little star dollars sprinkled around her feet. We used little white felt cut outs of stars and passed them out to each child with a reminder to show kindness and help everyone around us who is in need.
Gathering In
Through the spring and summer hours,
Fed and warmed by rain and sun,
Bud has bloomed and fruit has ripened;
Nature's cared for everyone.
Now her messengers will scatter
Seeds for flowers another year
But with us she shares her bounty,
So our harvest time is here.
See! Our barns are brimming over,
So no winter's cold we'll dread
Let us thank our Heavenly Father,
Who has given us our "daily bread".
Books we have read:
Planets, Moons, and Stars by Laura Evert
Hello, Harvest Moon by Ralph Fletcher
Possum's Harvest Moon by Anne Hunter
When the Moon is Full by Penny Polluck
I Took the Moon for a Walk by Carolyn Curtis
Bunny Lune by Kae Nishimura
This Week's Reflection: Harvesting
"Care for those around you. Look past your differences. Their dreams are no less than yours, their choices no more easily made. And give, give in any way you can, of whatever you posses. To give is to love. To withhold is to wither. Care less for your harvest than for how it is shared and your life will have meaning and your heart will have peace."
-Kent Nerburn
"What do you have right now to give? It may be something simple such as extra tomatoes from your garden...maybe you have knowledge in a specific field or craft...maybe you have patience...or the ability to connect with young children or animals. You may have the ability to show someone else the way to a more simple life. How can you share your gifts with others? Take time this week to think about how you can share your harvest with those around you."
-Little Acorn Learning
Through the spring and summer hours,
Fed and warmed by rain and sun,
Bud has bloomed and fruit has ripened;
Nature's cared for everyone.
Now her messengers will scatter
Seeds for flowers another year
But with us she shares her bounty,
So our harvest time is here.
See! Our barns are brimming over,
So no winter's cold we'll dread
Let us thank our Heavenly Father,
Who has given us our "daily bread".
Books we have read:
Planets, Moons, and Stars by Laura Evert
Hello, Harvest Moon by Ralph Fletcher
Possum's Harvest Moon by Anne Hunter
When the Moon is Full by Penny Polluck
I Took the Moon for a Walk by Carolyn Curtis
Bunny Lune by Kae Nishimura
This Week's Reflection: Harvesting
"Care for those around you. Look past your differences. Their dreams are no less than yours, their choices no more easily made. And give, give in any way you can, of whatever you posses. To give is to love. To withhold is to wither. Care less for your harvest than for how it is shared and your life will have meaning and your heart will have peace."
-Kent Nerburn
"What do you have right now to give? It may be something simple such as extra tomatoes from your garden...maybe you have knowledge in a specific field or craft...maybe you have patience...or the ability to connect with young children or animals. You may have the ability to show someone else the way to a more simple life. How can you share your gifts with others? Take time this week to think about how you can share your harvest with those around you."
-Little Acorn Learning
Sunday, September 19, 2010
The Family, Working Together
We have completed a week focusing on our families.
Activities included:
Nature Journals with special attention to the birds we saw
Drawing our families
Talking about different aspects of family life each morning: family size, who does the cooking, brothers and sisters, helping out with chores and work around the house, parents' jobs, and games we play.
We played "Mother May I?" and learned many new fingerplays that were incorporated into our circle times.
"Little Thumbkins", "The Happy Family", and "The Finger Family"
It was fun to see the children recognizing many of the trees and nuts we have learned while taking our nature walk this past Wednesday.
Art projects have included A Family of Hands with watercolors, making our own play dough, and a bird chart.
Nature Walk verse:
"The crickets are calling,
The red leaves are falling,
The meadows are brown and sere;
The birds are not nesting,
The earth begins resting,
Because it's the fall of the year"
Books from the week:
A Mother for Choco by Keiko Kasza
I Loved You Before You Were Born by Anne Bowen
If You Were My Bunny by Kate Mcmullan
My Dad/My Mom by Anthony Browne
A Circle of Friends by Giora Carmi
This Week's Reflection:
Working Together
"Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success."
-Henry Ford
"Without the love and support of others in our lives, our riches lose their value. Without our own hopes and dreams, our souls long for more. How do we create harmonious relationships with those around us while pursuing to our own desires and passions?
Balance is the answer to so many of our questions and problems. We each have strengths that we can contribute to the whole of our family or workplace. We also have talents and interests that should be fostered separately, which in turn fill our soul and enhance our relationships.
Do you strive to bring out the best in others or do you point out their weaknesses? Do you shine light on the gifts and strengths of those individuals that have been placed in your path? Do you nurture their hopes and dreams? Do you encourage them toward greatness?
Do you take time for yourself daily to sit and think/reflect? Do you follow your passions and make time to express yourself creatively? Are you making yourself a priority? How do you feel about who you are? Do you focus on your beauty, gifts, and talents? Are you thankful for all you have? How do you nurture and love yourself daily?
As parents, teachers, and caregivers, we often tend to everyone else's needs and forget our own. Spend time this week finding the balance you need in your life."
-Little Acorn Learning
Happy Fall to everyone!
This next week brings our attention to the moon, stars, and harvesting.
Activities included:
Nature Journals with special attention to the birds we saw
Drawing our families
Talking about different aspects of family life each morning: family size, who does the cooking, brothers and sisters, helping out with chores and work around the house, parents' jobs, and games we play.
We played "Mother May I?" and learned many new fingerplays that were incorporated into our circle times.
"Little Thumbkins", "The Happy Family", and "The Finger Family"
It was fun to see the children recognizing many of the trees and nuts we have learned while taking our nature walk this past Wednesday.
Art projects have included A Family of Hands with watercolors, making our own play dough, and a bird chart.
Nature Walk verse:
"The crickets are calling,
The red leaves are falling,
The meadows are brown and sere;
The birds are not nesting,
The earth begins resting,
Because it's the fall of the year"
Books from the week:
A Mother for Choco by Keiko Kasza
I Loved You Before You Were Born by Anne Bowen
If You Were My Bunny by Kate Mcmullan
My Dad/My Mom by Anthony Browne
A Circle of Friends by Giora Carmi
This Week's Reflection:
Working Together
"Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success."
-Henry Ford
"Without the love and support of others in our lives, our riches lose their value. Without our own hopes and dreams, our souls long for more. How do we create harmonious relationships with those around us while pursuing to our own desires and passions?
Balance is the answer to so many of our questions and problems. We each have strengths that we can contribute to the whole of our family or workplace. We also have talents and interests that should be fostered separately, which in turn fill our soul and enhance our relationships.
Do you strive to bring out the best in others or do you point out their weaknesses? Do you shine light on the gifts and strengths of those individuals that have been placed in your path? Do you nurture their hopes and dreams? Do you encourage them toward greatness?
Do you take time for yourself daily to sit and think/reflect? Do you follow your passions and make time to express yourself creatively? Are you making yourself a priority? How do you feel about who you are? Do you focus on your beauty, gifts, and talents? Are you thankful for all you have? How do you nurture and love yourself daily?
As parents, teachers, and caregivers, we often tend to everyone else's needs and forget our own. Spend time this week finding the balance you need in your life."
-Little Acorn Learning
Happy Fall to everyone!
This next week brings our attention to the moon, stars, and harvesting.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Squirrels, Nuts, and Preparation
Little squirrel living there
In a hollow tree,
I've a pretty cage for you
Come and live with me.
You may turn the little wheel,
That will be great fun?
Slowly round, or very fast,
If you faster run.
Little squirrel, I will bring
In my basket here
Every day a feast of nuts?
Come then, squirrel dear.
But the little squirrel said,
From his hollow tree,
"Oh! No, no! I'd rather far
Live here and be free."
So my cage is empty yet
And the wheel is still
But my little basket here
Oft with nuts I fill.
If you like, I'll crack the nuts,
Some for you and me,
For the squirrel has enough
In his hollow tree.
Our activities have included a daily morning talk about squirrels, looking for and observing squirrels with binoculars, collecting nuts, cracking them open, and making our own nut butter.
The children's nature journals are coming along nicely, we made tree bark rubbings, and played lots of fun games with baskets of acorns, walnuts, almonds, and peanuts.
We also incorporated a new "Mystery Box" game where we knock in different patterns to make the box open, close our eyes, and reach in to pull out one item at a time. This week it was a collection of different art prints that we would then look at and discuss.
This past Friday we played with an anatomy game where the children worked at placing different stickers of body parts on a body outline card.
Our nature walk verse:
The bright eyed squirrels, furry, fleet,
A-gleaming go with puttering feet.
Brown nuts polished by early frost
On the moss below by the winds are tossed.
Some of the book titles we have read this week:
Berries, Nuts, and Seeds by Diane Burns
Rabbits, Squirrels, and Chipmunks by Mel Boring
The Legend of the Kukui Nut by Brandon Henderson
Nuts by Paula Gerritsen (group favorite)
The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri
The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin by Beatrix Potter
Animals in the Fall by Gail Saunders-Smith
All children need to be adequately dressed for the weather. Especially when it is wet and/or rainy, everyone needs to have rain boots and pants to protect clothing. We play in all weather and it is extremely messy when children don't have appropriate footwear or clothing covers. There is only one child who consistently brings rainboots and rainsuit so we really need to work on this! Our new parent guide is coming soon and one of the new requirements will be that every child must have rain boots and rainsuit that stays here at school. New parent handbook will be going into effect starting October 1st. Thanks for your help!!
This week's reflection: Preparation
"If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend the first hour sharpening the ax."
-Abraham Lincoln
"Taking the time to evaluate our current situation and to prepare for upcoming events can save us a lot of time and energy. Our lives are so full it is often hard to find the time to think ahead.
This week spend 5 minutes each day in silence focusing on the present moment. Let your mind be at peace with where you are now. When your time is up, take out a pen and paper and make a simple list of areas of your life that would be wise to prepare for in the upcoming year. Keep this very simple and stay grounded in the present...it is the only moment we ever fully have."
-Little Acorn Learning
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Boat trip day success!
Our Friday boat trip adventure was a huge success.
First we all went over to the world map and decided where we were going to sail.
Africa, China, Sweden, Ohio, New Zealand, and "a blue place" were the destinations of the day.
Tickets were made, necessary items packed, and we headed outside for our morning circle time.
Each child had the opportunity to describe the things they brought and why they would be helpful on a boat trip. I then walked over towards the boats and called everyone individually.
"I am looking for a Charlie Harp. Charlie Harp, you may now board your boat." He handed me his ticket, and he was off....
The children played out many different scenarios with all of their equipment and props and had many happy hours of fun.
We also made little wooden boats, painted them, and floated different types of boats in water as well.
Thanks to everyone for bringing in so many extra things to help us create a lively and enriching boating experience!
A special thanks also to Shane Minor for installing our new tree swing on Friday! The children were captivated by the men hanging from the tall tree and of course loved swinging for the rest of the day!!
First we all went over to the world map and decided where we were going to sail.
Africa, China, Sweden, Ohio, New Zealand, and "a blue place" were the destinations of the day.
Tickets were made, necessary items packed, and we headed outside for our morning circle time.
Each child had the opportunity to describe the things they brought and why they would be helpful on a boat trip. I then walked over towards the boats and called everyone individually.
"I am looking for a Charlie Harp. Charlie Harp, you may now board your boat." He handed me his ticket, and he was off....
The children played out many different scenarios with all of their equipment and props and had many happy hours of fun.
We also made little wooden boats, painted them, and floated different types of boats in water as well.
Thanks to everyone for bringing in so many extra things to help us create a lively and enriching boating experience!
A special thanks also to Shane Minor for installing our new tree swing on Friday! The children were captivated by the men hanging from the tall tree and of course loved swinging for the rest of the day!!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Boats
We made boats today and discussed many different types including a schooner, sloop, dory, rowboat, skiff, kayak, scow, houseboat, and a tugboat. Each child picked out their favorite and we drew big pictures with chalk, designed our own with flat wooden blocks, and then glued one on paper. We measured the shapes and talked about the benefits and purpose of each kind of boat. It was fun seeing the children work together and independently on these projects of the day!
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