Pete the Cat
We have 5 preschoolers that will start kindergarten in the fall. We don’t ” teach ” letter writing or recognition through rote teaching. Rote means that you do it over and over the same way until it is memorized — such as flash cards. We do encourage the children to write their names when it is appropriate such as signing their art work, sending a ” letter ” to a friend or writing their name on a list to be next in line. The older children are showing more interest in letter writing . As their interest builds we will play more games that involve letters and have more intentional opportunities for writing. If you do decide to work on this at home , please try to teach that their name begins with an Upper case ( Capitol ) Letter and the rest of the name is written in lower case. 
Today we talked about cats. We watched a video book of ” Pete the Cat and his New shoes. ” The kids love the catchy music that goes along with it. Afterwards in small groups we colored an emergent reader book that highlighted colors !
Part of our school family is helping out . I never assume anyone in our preschool family is too young to do anything ( Much !) Today I said ” Molly, can you empty the trash in the art center ?” She did. This took a lot of coordination to push the pedal to open the top and dump the contents. Way to go Molly. 
And here… you see Nathan cleaning up the floor in the art center. Littles are capable of more than we give them credit for. ( He isn’t looking up but I THINK this is Nathan… #identicaltwinproblems .) 
Research tells us that children will try new foods of they have a hand in preparing them. Today ( since cats eat fish ya know.. ) we made tuna salad. Most of the kids tried it and many of them ate the whole bowl. They diced the eggs and added to the bowl of tuna. They added one teaspoon of mayo and one teaspoon of raisins. Here kitty kitty….
Another thing we see this time of year is big body play. The children are getting stronger and more confident. According to Frances Carlson ,the author of Big Body Play: Why Boisterous, Vigorous, and Very Physical Play Is Essential to Children’s Development and Learning there are five things you should know about big body play.
Big body play looks like fighting, but it isn’t fighting.
Big body play is rowdy, physical, and usually loud. It rarely turns into real fighting.
Big body play is a vital component of children’s growth and development. Children all over the world play this way.
Big body play gives children sustained moderate-to-vigorous physical exercise. With our current obesity epidemic such a growing concern, it can help children stay fit and healthy.
The quickest way to distinguish big body play from real fighting is by looking at the expressions on children’s faces. Their big smiles let us know the play is okay.
You will also see the children moving big materials like poles and tires over and over . It’s like their muscles NEED to exertion.
It was a busy day. It was a fun day.