Sunday, September 22, 2013

Making Friends

"One of life's greatest joys is the comfortable give-and-take of a good friendship.  It is a wonderful feeling not only to have a good friend but to know how to be a good friend yourself.  Learning about friendship begins at an early age when children graduate from playing side by side to playing with each other.  There is so much to learn about sharing toys and sharing loved ones as children begin to share themselves with others." ~ Fred Rogers

Apples again....it MUST be September in Maine

"I know a fruit that's good to eat and apple is it's name-O"
Every fall we talk about apples here at Helping Hands.  I think this is true for most preschools (especially in New England).  We spend a bit of time on the subject of apples these first few weeks of school because they are both plentiful and versatile. Did you know there is a star inside every apple?  Most 3 year old children don't know this interesting fact and are delighted to discover it. Did you know that there are OVER 7000 different types of apples?  This month we've taste tested 10 different types grown here in Maine.  The children who tried them, LOVED everyone of them!
  We've measured the children by comparing them to apples piled high.  We've introduced the names of the parts of an apple, we've washed apples, counted, sorted, matched and labeled apples. This month in our sensory discovery box we've had green split peas and small red pom-poms with baskets and scoops for imagination play.

One favorite activity was lacing a pipe cleaner 'worm' through a card stock apple.  Of course, the apple cooking projects were very popular and YUMMY!  Applesauce (cooked in the crockpot) is very easy and delicious.  If you would like the recipe, just ask.

 
On our playground REAL apples are growing in an apple tree in my neighbor's yard, just over the fence, it's heavy branches create a shady spot perfect for young children to stand on their tippy toes and reach for the apples in the low hanging branches.