Our Favorite Apples

Today we tasted a variety of apples. We also made applesauce. The children helped by measuring and counting the ingredients and they helped me use the apple peeler/corer/slicer gadget. You will find the recipe in your child's journal. We didn't chop our apples up too fine which I think gave it a good texture. The boys and I thought that the apple sauce was delicious!

We used the flannel board to tell a story today. We learned about the Star that found a home inside of the apple. Get your children to share the story with you. It's one of my favorite flannel board activities.

We had a wonderful time during music and movement today. Ms. Laura (Andrew's mom & my sister) took some photos of us on our train ride today:-) We learned a new finger play/rhyme. I've posted it below.

We will be on break for the next two Wednesdays. I will see you back in a few weeks. Check back this weekend for photos from our field trip.

Five Apples

Five red apples in a grocery store

Charlie ate one and then there were four.

Andrew ate one and then there were three.

Three red apples. What did Syan do?

Why she ate one and then there were two.

Two red apples ripening in the sun;

Jackson ate one and then there was one.

One red apple, and now we are done;

Michalea ate the last one and now there are none.

Wednesday, September 25

This past Wednesday, we discussed what apple trees give us and all of the uses for apples. The children tasted hot apple cider that Jackson and I bought from the farmer's market. Boy, was it delicious! Syan and Michaela said that they liked their apple cider cold but the boys enjoyed the hot stuff.

We read Shel Siverstein's The Giving Tree. Several of the children commented on how much they liked the story. Jackson said that he liked the story because the tree gave everything she had to the boy and she was happy to share.

The children made apple tree collages with tissue paper. Charlie really enjoyed this activity and he covered his entire page with red and beautiful shades of green tissue papers:-) Syan and Michaela cut feathers so that they could create birds for their trees. Andrew and Jackson spent a little bit of time filling their branches with leaves and apples. I've posted a picture of Syan, Michaela, and Charlie holding up their art work.

Today, we prayed for some of our soldiers. I am not quite sure how we even got on this subject. Children come up with all sorts of things at circle time:-) Anyway, Andrew's Uncle George is in Afghanistan so we had a short geography lesson using the globe and we said a special prayer for George and the other soldiers. Andrew and Jackson were proud to claim Uncle George. Jackson said, "he's not really my uncle but I know him so well that he is kind of like my uncle, right?"

I pulled out the costumes for the kids. Actually, we went through some of Jackson's old costumes and added them to our dress up box in the school. I captured a few pictures of the children in their disguises.

Intro To Apples

We started our study of apples today. Fall arrives in five days so now is the perfect time for us to be learning about all of the many varieties of apples.

We learned about the different parts of a plant and what job each part has. We talked about what apple trees need in order to be healthy. We discovered that they need a lot of things that we humans need.

The book that we read today was "The Apple Pie Tree" by Zoe Hall. We learned about how an apple tree grows. We also learned that bees help our apple trees grow by pollinating the apple blossoms. We can't wait to taste apples soon and make our own apple pie!

The children enjoyed painting apple trees during art. Each child was then asked to dictate a story about his/her tree. I hope to post those on the blog.

We also celebrated Jackson's 7th birthday today. He turned "7" on Sunday so we thought we'd celebrate as a class today. The children were excited all day about having cupcakes after lunch.

We are reciting the "Apple Tree" finger play. I thought that I would share it in case you'd like to practice at home:

Away up high in the apple tree,

(Hold hands above head)

Two red apples smiled at me.

(Form circles with thumb and forefinger of each hand)

I shook that tree as hard as I could.

(Put hands out as if on a tree- shake)

And down came the apples,

(Hands above head and lower to ground)

Mmmmmm good!

(Rub tummy)

If You Give A Moose A Muffin

We finished the last of the Laura Numeroff "Mouse" books today. If You Give a Moose a Muffin was the book that we read today. We actually listened to the story being read on a CD. There were a few songs that were included on the CD that the children thoroughly enjoyed so we also used it as part of our music and movement activities.

The children made sock puppets like the ones that were in the "Moose" story. This afternoon, they put on an entertaining puppet show for each other. I posted one of the pictures above.

We made it out for a few minutes today. The children played with the sidewalk chalk and ran around in the rain for a short while. We really needed to get out today!

We'll begin our study of apples next week. I am looking forward to it and all of the field trips and activities that will accompany our study.

Today we learned a little about letter "p", pancakes, and pigs. We read the story, If You Give A Pig A Pancake. We talked about things that begin with letter "p" and we made a purple and pink collage during art.

The children found pink p's in our discovery table. A few of them glued them in their journals today.

We are learning and reviewing the pledge, the days of the week, and we are counting using the calendar each week. We are also chanting "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear" each week. We take turns each week using the pointer finger stick and reading the chart. The children love using the pointer fingers during circle time.

We made pancakes at lunch time. Charlie loved them! I think we may have to do the pancake lunch more often, just for him. We'll wrap up this unit next week with the story, If You Give A Moose A Muffin. Don't forget your sock for sock puppets and also, book orders are due.

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie

Today we read the story, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. The children made their own illustrations of Mouse and his cookie. We also made a cookie graph to see and count our favorite cookies. Thank you all for sharing cookies with us. I know that the children loved getting something sweet today. We found a few figs today. Our new friend, Charlie, loved them! We also tried more grapes today. We should have a lot more to choose from soon. We had a great day and a nice time on the field trip. Maybe Andrew and Charlie will be able to join us on the next outing. This one was long and required too much sitting for a 3-year-old. We had a very busy day but it was fun. I am exhausted so that's all for now:-)

Our First Day Back

Well, I must say that it was sad to not see Allyson and Halei today. It was quite weird to have such a small group. Michaela was out sick too. We missed our old girls. Children seem to adjust much better than adults and Syan, Andrew, and Jackson made the most of being back together again. We had an awesome fun-filled day! Boy, we were busy too! We read the story, If You Take A Mouse To School. We talked a little about the letter "M" and made mountain M's out of shaving cream. We also made clay volcanoes just like Mouse did in our story. The children loved the science experiment using vinegar and baking soda. Hopefully, the volcanoes will by dry enough to take home next week. We tasted some of the fruits that are ripe in the garden next door. We had watermelon for a snack and we tasted a few varieties of grapes. The children loved the grapes. Next week, we will taste the figs that are ripe. We are going to make a cookie graph next week. Please bring some cookies to share so that we can graph our favorites. Don't forget that we are taking a field trip next week. We'll be leaving at 1:00. You might want to pack a snack that day since we'll be out for the afternoon. I hope to see everyone next week! I am so excited about the year!