Monday, June 30, 2008

Community: we sang our favorite songs, read our written names on the wipe off board and did jumps and karate kicks one by one, we read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too?, I Hate my Bow, and our new favorite, No, David. We discussed how to use our new miniature wipe off boards and wipe off markers. We talked about the word "hate", and thought of some more appropriate ways to say that we didn't like something.We also discussed all of the wonderful rain last night, and how fire ant piles are evident after a rain storm.
Fine Motor: writing and drawing on wipe off boards, drawing with our new fine point markers, pouring water from a small pitcher into a bowl, then refilling and trying again!
Art: painting
Pretend: cooking in the play kitchen with new food, playing king and queen--dressing up, building a huge farm with all of our play animals and our two barns
Cooking: made tuna salad for lunch, set the table and handed out napkins
Outside: wore boots and enjoyed squishing and splashing in the mud and the wet grass. We found a couple of fire ant piles that emerged overnight. We enjoyed a game of chase, which made us very thirsty for our water bottles.

Notes: Splash Day was cancelled since it still looked like it might rain. We were able to purchase almost an entire garage full of great Montessori and preschool materials from a school that closed recently in Austin. The children really love all of the new surprises around school!

Breakfast: peanut butter banana shake, buttered English muffin
Lunch: tuna salad, toasted whole wheat bread, baby carrots, peaches, milk
Snack: granola, vanilla yogurt, water

Friday June 27, 2008

Community: Unpacked lots of toys recently acquired from a closed Montessori school including play kitchen, puzzles, barn with farm animals, enjoyed lounging in our pajamas
Fine Motor: Puzzles, Legos, lacing cards, drawing with markers
Outside: Sandbox, tag, scooters and tricycles, watered the garden

Breakfast: Whole wheat pancakes with peanut butter, peaches, milk
Lunch: Turkey smoked sausage, mixed vegetables, applesauce, milk, cornbread
Snack: Homemade popcorn, string cheese, water

Have a great weekend!

H-E-Buddy

H-E-B is sponsoring a summer reading program for children. Children will receive a free H-E-Buddy t-shirt once they read ten books and submit the club form. We are recording the books that we read at circle time and submitting a club form on behalf of each child. Janie will be mailing the forms on Friday, June 27. Watch your mailbox for a special delivery in 2 - 3 weeks.

http://www.hebuddy.com/content/pdf/summerreadingclub.pdf

Grilled Cheese Ideas

Today the kids loved having a grilled cheese with mozzarella and smoked ham. Here are a few other grilled sandwich ideas for a quick lunch or a busy weeknight meal. Add soup or some veggie sticks to round things out!

Because we have to make so many for school lunch, we butter the bottom slice of bread for each sandwich and place the butter side down on a large cookie sheet. We add the toppings then place the buttered second slice of bread on top. Next, we broil the sandwiches carefully on each side until they are toasted. When turning the sandwiches, we like to press them down a bit to help glue the sandwich together and crisp the bread a bit. When the sandwiches are done, we like to slice ours in half with a pizza cutter (on the pan) before serving.

*Swiss and ham

*hard salami, spicy capicola, red onion, and smoked provolone

*peanut butter and jelly, with or without raisins

*pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, and a couple of your favorite pizza toppings with marinara sauce for dipping

*roast beef, horseradish or horseradish mayonnaise, sauerkraut, Swiss

*roast beef, cheddar cheese, and red onion

*mozzarella, baby spinach leaves, diced tomato (seeds and juice removed), finely minced garlic

*smoked turkey, bacon, cheddar or mozzarella

Thursday 6/26/08

Community: days of the week, sang all of our favorite songs at a faster, hipper tempo than normal (the kids thought this was really funny), read: Matt's books, Toot and Puddle and Queenie Farmer had Fifeteen Daughters, sing and dance along with the "Choo Choo Soul" DVD

Outside: splash day, riding bikes. Thanks to Katie for sharing her sprinkler with us!

Art: spread grated wax crayon on waxed paper and helped Janie melt the wax with a warm iron. These will be cut into butterfly suncatchers.

Fine Motor: race track, tangrams, lacing cards

Breakfast: scrambled eggs and sausage, toasted English muffins, bananas, milk

Lunch: grilled cheese and ham on whole wheat bread, celery sticks, cantaloupe, milk

Snack: homemade snack mix (pretels, raisins, pumpkin seeds) and water

Wednesday 6/25/08

Outside: teepee, waterboxes with scoops, cups, and eye droppers--we mixed in food coloring, a game of tag, playdough, sandbox

Community: counting, rhyme "Two Little Blackbirds", read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, No, David!, and The Great Pig Escape, identified our names spelled aloud, discussed making ice cream

Cooking: Olivia and Nina helped make quiche (shredded cheese, cracked and whipped eggs); Asa, Jaden, and Olivia helped make the ice cream custard, setting the table, everyone took turns cranking the ice cream maker

Fine Motor: cut paper with scissors, playdough, drawing, constructing a race track with ramps

Breakfast: homemade blueberry muffins, bacon, milk

Lunch: broccoli cheese quiche, tropical fruit salad, multi-grain crackers, milk

Snack: homemade vanilla ice cream, vanilla wafers, water

Tuesday 6/24/08

Community: practiced counting 1-20, read Counting Kisses, Toot & Puddle and Queenie Farmer Had Fifteen Daughters, sang a host of morning songs
Gross Motor: tumbling on our new indoor tumbling mat, including: forward rolls, jumping like a frog and kangaroo, jumping with a partner

Cooking: baked apples with brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins

Fine Motor: tracing shapes with beeswax crayons

Outside: sand box, caught and observed a grasshopper, constructed a fort out of cardboard under the playscape, created personalized sun visors with Olivia
Kitchen: set the table, served friends
Music: drumming patterns, freeze dance
Pretend: puppets, cooking at the kitchen--making egg tacos

Breakfast: Peanut butter honey toast, mandarin oranges, milk

Lunch: Spaghetti with spinach and meat sauce, baked cinnamon apples with raisins, milk
Snack: Mini pizza bites with pepperoni and mozzarella cheese, water

Monday 6/23/08

Community: practiced counting 1-20, read Let's Count It Out, Jesse Bear to help us, read/sang Ten in the Bed, sang a host of morning songs, identified our written name on the wipe off board (lots of friends can read everyone's name), identified written numbers to 20

Gross Motor: tumbling on our new indoor tumbling mat, including: forward rolls, jumping like a frog and kangaroo, jumping with a partner

Fine Motor: snap blocks, lacing cards, drawing, painting

Outside: splash day

Kitchen: set the table, served friends

Music: drumming patterns, freeze dance

Pretend: puppets, doing laundry in our washing machine and folding

Breakfast:

turkey sausage link, cheerios cereal, apple wedges, milk

Lunch:

Mexican rice with ground turkey and pintos, watermelon slices, milk

Snack:

mini bagels with cream cheese, pineapple juice

Friday 6/20/08

Today was bring your bike to school day! We'll have a "car wash" this afternoon in the backyard to make sure each bike is nice and clean before they go home.

Outside: constructed a cardboard gas station for filling up bikes and scooters, took turns sharing rides, horse swing, watered garden with watering cans, watched masons apply bricks to the new house next door
Community: drumming, sang our Texas songs, each child sang his/her favorite song into the "echo microphone", read If You Give a Pig a Pancake and One Magical Day, life cycle of a butterfly
Fine Motor: made playdough creations using rolling pins, plastic knives and various cookie cutters

Breakfast: pancakes, sausage links, mandarin oranges, milk
Lunch: turkey sandwiches on whole wheat bread, watermelon, baby carrots and bell pepper with ranch dip, milk
Snack: vanilla yogurt with granola, water


Don't forget that Monday is splash day. Have a great weekend!

Whole Wheat Pancake Mix

We recently discovered Aunt Jemima whole wheat blend pancake and waffle mix. It has been accepted well by the children--no complaints that it's chewy or tastes different than a normal pancake. One serving (approximately three 4" pancakes have 26 grams of carbohydrate and 3 grams of dietary fiber). The mix has no trans fats, either. This is not a complete mix--you add 1 cup milk, 1 T oil, and 1 egg. To jazz up your pancakes you could add: fresh or frozen blueberries, cinnamon, vanilla, or chopped pecans. Today we made the pancakes as pictured, then spread them with peanut butter, topped with banana slices, and folded in half to make a "peanut butter banana taco". The kids loved them! Leftover pancakes could easily be frozen or kept in the fridge for another busy morning.

Thursday 6/19/08

Outside: splash day! with Matt and Katie's sprinklers

Community: drumming, sang our Texas songs as well as "Five Little Monkeys" and "Six Little Ducks", played "Mr. Clown", read One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and My Pony

Fine Motor: wooden blocks, lacing cards, drawing

"Woodworking": pounding golf pegs into styrofoam with hammers

Sewing: sewing puff balls together to make a caterpillar

Breakfast: whole wheat pancake "tacos" with peanut butter and banana slices, milk

Lunch: Asian noodles with shredded chicken breast and mixed vegetables, cinnamon applesauce, milk

Snack: cheddar cheese cubes, Triscuits, water

Notes: Don't forget your bike or scooter tomorrow. We're having a car wash!

Watermelon Sorbet

It's unanimous! The watermelon sorbet was a hit all the way around the table. The children agreed that the "fruits of their labor" was well worth it in the end. Below is the recipe we used courtesy of Southern Living Magazine.

Watermelon Sorbet
3 cups water
1 cup sugar
4 cups seeded, chopped watermelon
1/4 cup lime juice

Bring water and sugar just to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Cool.

Process sugar syrup and watermelon, in batches, in a blender until smooth. Stir in lime juice. Cover and chill 2 hours.

Pour mixture into the freezer container of a 1-gallon ice-cream maker, and freeze according to manufacturer's guidelines.

Yield: Makes approximately 1/2 gallon

Variations: Click on the link above for a printer-friendly version of this recipe along with tasty variations.

Wednesday 6/18/08

Outside: We enjoyed side walk chalk, playing in the sand box, riding scooters, singing and playing in the "fort" made out of cardboard boxes. The heat picked up so we retreated indoors to enjoy the rest of our morning! This afternoon we will take a peak at the bricks being added to the house under construction next door.
Cooking: The children helped prepare homemade watermelon sorbet. We built up our arm muscles by cranking the sorbet until frozen. The children will enjoy this refreshing treat at snacktime this afternoon.
Community Time: We reviewed colors in Spanish and English, counted to 10 in Spanish, counted by 10s to 100, sang our new songs, "Texas Stars" and "T E X A S", looked at pictures from Sonshine Stables, and read Bread is for Eating and County Fair about Almanzo Wilder from the Little House books. We each took a turn being a "star" and singing a song to our friends.
Fine Motor: drawing, lacing cards

Pretend Play: playing with stables and horse figurines, building a zoo with animals and blocks, cooking in the pretend kitchen

Breakfast: sausage gravy & biscuits, warm cinnamon applesauce, milk
Lunch: macaroni & cheese with fresh shredded cheddar, broccoli and cauliflower, cantaloupe, milk
Snack: homemade watermelon sorbet, graham crackers, water

Notes: tomorrow is splash day, don't forget your scooter or bike on Friday

Ryvita Crackers

If you are watching your weight and/or carbs, a great crunchy treat is a Ryvita cracker. They are readily available at HEB in the specialty cracker section, and are about $2.49/box. They last quite a while.

http://www.ryvita.com/usa/

Some of our favorite toppings are:

• smoked salmon cream cheese and cucumber slices
• Laughing Cow flavored cheese wedges and cucumber and tomatoes
• peanut butter and honey or jelly
• apple butter
• ham or turkey
• tuna salad
• egg salad
• pimento cheese
• brie and apricot preserves

Tuesday 6/17/08

Outside: Today we harvested Swiss Chard, a tomato, and two cucumbers despite the heat and dry soil! We enjoyed side walk chalk, painting the wood and brick fences with water, and playing in water boxes with eye droppers and scoops. We looked at our giant sunflowers and their flowers that should open soon. The sunflowers are taller than our teachers!

Cooking: Jaden helped Janie make bean and cheese burritos. Several friends worked together to set the table for breakfast and lunch.

Community Time: We reviewed colors in Spanish and English, reviewed a diagram of a butterfly lifecycle, looked at pictures of caterpillars in Ranger Rick magazine and learned how caterpillars have evolved to disguise and protect themselves from birds, learned the names of the animals in Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?, and read Miss Spider's Busy Day. We learned a new song, "I'm a Texas Star".

Fine Motor: drawing with beeswax crayons, practiced writing either the first letter of our name or our entire name (depending on age), Legos, beeswax modeling

Pretend Play: playing with stables and horse figurines, ironing silks, cooking in the pretend kitchen

Breakfast: whole wheat cheddar cheese toast, bananas, milk

Lunch: black bean burritos, mixed vegetables, Luling-area watermelon, milk

Snack: gelatin with fresh fruit, animal crackers, water

This is Addie--Olivia got to ride her yesterday!

Notes: Olivia and a neighbor are attending horse camp this week at Sonshine Stables. It has been wonderful, and "horse" play and figures are really popular in the play here at our preschool as a result. Don't forget to bring your bike or scooter to school on Friday!

Hyland's Homeopathic Products

We discovered Hyland's products when Leslie had her first child, Olivia. Since then, Hyland's products have been stocked in our medicine cabinets and used with all four of our children. From teething tablets to ear infection/swimmer's ear drops, Hyland's offers a wide range of natural products to promote health, aid in the common cold and help soothe cranky babies. Janie has used Hyland's Flu tablets during pregnancy when she couldn't take any other medications and felt better in a few days following the correct dosage.

We've used the following Hyland's products with our kiddos our for ourselves.

Children's Remedies:
C Plus Cold Tablets
Calms Forte 4 Kids
Teething Tablets
Teething Gel
Earache Drops

Adult Remedies:
Complete Flu Care
Seasonal Allergy Relief

Hyland's is available at most pharmacies. We've found that HEB and People's Pharmacy offer a wide selection of products. Check out Hyland's for your little ones.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

We baked oatmeal raisin cookies with the children last week and we received rave reviews! Below is the recipe for these tasty cookies, courtesy of Allrecipes.com. We altered the recipe a little by making the cookies slightly larger, thus yielding a thicker, breakfast-style cookie.

3/4 cup butter [softened]
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cup oats
1 cup raisins

Mix together butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla, mixing until creamy. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Gradually add in dry ingredients. Once dry ingredients are incorporated, fold in oats and raisins.
Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes. Portion dough into 36 balls [large]. Cookies will spread out slightly when baking but will be thicker, like a breakfast cookie.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10—12 minutes or until golden brown. Store in an airtight container.

Variations—This cookie would be delicious with chopped dried apricots, craisins or toasted almonds added to the dough.

Ella Jenkins' Music for Children

We recently discovered Ella Jenkins' wonderful CDs at our local library. She has been singing with children since the 1950s! What a treat, and the children who attend our preschool love her. In particular, we have enjoyed her call and response CD, and the children are really demonstrating their recall skills! Some of her work was released on CD by the Smithsonian, and in 2004 she was honored with a lifetime achievment award at the Grammys.

www.ellajenkins.com

Self-Serve Healthy Snack Boxes for Kids

Leslie's children are almost 8, 4 1/2, and 2, and they are always hungry. To make things easier for the kids, she has established a snack box in her pantry and in her refrigerator. The snacks are healthy and in child-size portions. The kids know that they can get something when they need it, and mom knows they are choosing something healthy. These boxes also come in handy for packing lunches during the public school year.

A clear plastic shoebox is used for the snack boxes. Make sure the box in the refrigerator is at child level.

Some ideas for the refrigerator snack box

baby carrots and ranch dip

mozzarella string cheese or cubes of cheddar

yogurt cups or sticks (Gogurt)

small bags of leftovers such as homemade chicken nuggets and bean burritos, or a slice of cold pizza

washed strawberries

mixed fruit (pineapple chunks, watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes)

celery sticks, or celery sticks and peanut butter sold in the store

cucumber slices

pepperoni slices or hard salami and cheese cubes

pudding--make sure that the pudding doesn't contain trans fats

100% juice boxes--4 oz

small water bottles

In the pantry, larger boxes or bags of dry snacks are portioned into individual ziploc snack bags.

Some ideas for pantry snack box:

bags of Goldfish crackers, Triscuits, or Wheat Thins

cups of apple sauce, especially sugar-free berry applesauce

pretzels

Chex Mix

peanuts

craisins

raisins, small bags or small boxes

homemade snack mix (usually the end of boxes of dried cereal, prezels, Goldfish, peanuts, maybe a few semi-sweet chocolate chips)

fruit leather

Fritos

dried apricots

sesame sticks (from the bulk section of the store)

shelled sunflower seeds (from the bulk section)

pumpkin seeds (tamari-flavored are great in the bulk section)

Flourless Chocolate Cake

If you are watching your carbs, or just looking for a rich and delicious dessert, this is for you! Great with a strong cup of coffee at the end of a scrumptious meal. We used Ghirardelli chocolate and Cafe du Monde coffee with chicory. The kids really loved this--they thought it tasted like a really good brownie.

Flourless Chocolate Cake (modified from whatcookinginamerica.net)

8 ounces dark chocolate (65% to 70% cocoa), broken into pieces (we used Ghirardelli)

1/2 cup butter (we used salted butter)

6 large eggs, room temperature and separated

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup Splenda

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon powdered (confectioners) sugar, for garnish

raspberries and whipped cream, for garnish

Prehead oven to 375F. Add chocolate and butter to a microwave safe dish. Microwave on 50% power for 1- 1 1/2 minutes until the chocolate and butter can be stirred to combine. In a second bowl, stir together egg yolks, sugar, Splenda, and vanilla. Add the chocolate/butter mixture to the egg yolk mixture. In another bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Pour batter into a 10 inch springform pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Cake will inflate, then deflate while baking.

Once cooled, run a knife around the pan to loosen the cake. Remove springform side. Cut cake into twelve wedges. Plate cake, dust with powdered sugar, and garnish with raspberries and whipped cream.

Ideas for variations: currants, almond extract, orange zest, use chocolate bars that contain espresso or orange essence, chopped dried cherries, stir in a tablespoon of espresso powder, chiles, cinnamon