Wednesday, April 22, 2009

April Fun


We've been having a lot of fun this month.  April and May are exciting months for our preschool.  We finish the alphabet and the numbers up to 20, which leaves us time for lots of outdoor activities (and review, of course).  

We were lucky enough to have a friend bring in his Grandma's goslings for show and tell this month.  Some kids were brave and gave them a pat, while others kept their distance :).  Thanks to Mom, Dad, and  Sister  W. for bringing in our best show and tell this year.  And thanks to Grandma W.!

Recently, we celebrated Arbor day.  We learned "The green grass grows," read lots of books about trees, discussed the reasons why trees are important and made a craft.  The tree your child brought home reflects what they learned about who lives in trees, who plays in trees, who eats in trees, who uses trees for products, etc.  

I had to laugh while we were reading a book about a tree that was 100 years old.  I asked them if they could imagine anything that was that old.  Did they know anyone who had lived to be 100?  After a few seconds, a child with a very ponderous look said "Well, Miss Penny, how old are you?  Are you 100?  You seem pretty old."  Ah, the innocence and frank honesty of youth :).

We were also able to celebrate Earth Day.  We went on a neighborhood clean up walk, and the kids were so excited every time they found some litter.  We ended up at the park, where we took a few minutes to play (after another lesson in hand washing, of course).  When we went back, we sorted our garbage into recyclable and non-recyclable trash.

  

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Reading Contest!

Dear Parents,

April 20-26 is "National Turn off the T.V. and READ week", and to celebrate we are having a contest!  During the entire month, whenever you read a book to your child, help them place a check on their preschool calendar.  Remember to put a check for each book you read.  At the end of the month, I'll have you return the calendars, and we'll tally up the totals.  Whichever class from Parkside Preschool reads the most books will get a special reward!

I feel strongly about this cause.  Our society puts too much time, energy, and effort into watching TV and not enough into strengthening our families!  Kidshealth.org reports that "The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that kids under 2 years old not watch any TV and that those older than 2 watch no more than 1 to 2 hours a day of quality programming."  That's a pretty big goal, but I think we could all improve just a littel :).  This month, I challenge you to make the extra effort to read when your kids are bored instead of turning on the TV.

Let's make the effort to spend more time reading, exercising, learning, playing, and bonding, and less time zoning out in front of the television!



Thanks!!



Miss Penny



If you have a minutes this week, check out these sites about TV and kids: