Today we had a visit from Aunty Naomi.  Aunty Naomi is our Outreach Counselor.  She did a large group lesson about body safety using puppets and a story book.  She talked to the children about “good touch” and “bad touch.”  Then, she did a small group lesson where she had each child draw a body and color the parts of the body that are private.  Each child received a copy of the book she read, Children are Special.

Today was our field trip to Paepae O He’eia, He’eia Fishpond.  We learned about the makaha (gate), we learned the Hawaiian word for ocean (kai) and fresh water (wai), we learned that the fishpond has both kai and wai, we learned what lives in the fishpond, we learned what the fish eat.  We helped mālama the fishpond by picking up ‘opala and by snapping mangrove pods that are bad for the fishpond.  Lastly, we caught crabs, mosquito fish, and opae.  What a fun and educational day.

Dramatic Play Center is now a Christmas Center.  The “toys” in there include artificial trees, gift boxes and bags, ornaments, stockings, etc.  The dramatic play area is often the place where the most imaginative and involved play occurs.  With Christmas all around us, this center allows the children to understand and experience our adult world through imitation and experience a sense of power by imitating grown-ups with items that would normally be considered “hands-off”.

Today’s snack was vegetable soup.  Today’s lunch was bread pizza, broccoli, and an awesome fruit salad.  Our fruit salad contained apples, bananas, grapes, strawberries, tangerine, and raspberries.  Thank you to all the families for your donations.  Happy Thanksgiving and God bless all of you.

Mana’o 1:  Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. (Psalm 95:2)

Mana’o 2:  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6)

“One big, two big, three big turkeys. Four big, five big, six big turkeys……………………….”  Children show curiosity and interest in counting and numbers by activtely participating in counting songs.

Today, the keiki helped cut up the celery, carrots, and potato for our vegetable soup. When children prepare and cook simple foods, a child learns to develop small muscle coordination, notice cause and effect, describe how things change, and cooperates with others to complete a task.

But most of all, Water Play is FUN!!!!

Water Play Number 2 Today.  Water play is an important component of an enriching preschool program because it can develop physical, cognitive, and social skills.

For snack today, we served four of the vegetables (cucumber, celery, carrots, and grape tomatoes) that the children brought for sharing day yesterday.  Every child was encouraged to taste each vegetable. A few children ate all of them.  A few struggled to sample each vegetable, but, were given praise for at least taking a tiny nibble.  What a nutritious snack!