Meet Aunty Trixy. Aunty Amy was out today with a bad head cold.  Aunty Trixy is an Extended Day staff member who is available to sub for Regular Day staff members.  She is a valued educator on our staff.  All the children in our preschool know her because she comes to work with interesting things to do and interesting things to share. Today, she shared an old-fashion soup can telephone with us.  This toy makes for a fun and good science project to learn about how sound travels. 

During our back yard time, the children can choose ball play as an activity.  A three-year old can throw to a peer or an adult (or at a target) but often throws at nothing in particular and then retrieves the ball, repeating the exercise again and again with pleasure.  During the fourth year, a three-year-old can bounce a ball and catch it with more precision than before.  A four-year-old throws with more accuracy and distance.  They often play catch with peers or adults.  They are developing eye-hand coordination as well as their large muscles.

Our bean plants have started to yield beans. When we returned from spring break, the children noticed bean pods hanging from our pole beans plants.  In preschool, we explore plants to observe and understand the full life cycle of a plant, to introduce students to the basic needs of plants, to learn that some plants can make a healthy fruit or vegetable snack.  At the end of this week, the children will help prepare the beans by cutting them with a plastic knife.  We will be making fried rice with the beans for snack.

Today for snack the children had soda crackers, peanut butter, and strawberry jam. The children used a plastic knife to spread their own peanut butter and strawberry jam on the crackers. When a child helps prepare simple foods, this helps a child to develop small muscle coordination, to notice cause and effect, to describe how things change, to have a sense of pride in accomplishments, and to learn to do things independently.

Today was our Water Play Day.  We had two tables filled with water and toys, two tubs to sit in, two sprinklers, a bubble table, and a shaving cream table.  The children also enjoyed their frozen fruit popsicles.  We spent about an hour playing.  When it was time to clean up and change, one child said, “That was so much fun.”

Today was our Easter Egg hunt.  This is a picture of the children just before they looked for eggs.  We want to thank you very much for your donations of plastic filled eggs.  The children had more than enough eggs to feel successful on their hunt.  Some children even shared eggs with those children who had less in their baskets.   It was a fun and exciting time.

Today Aunty Ka’ai joined us for her play date.  She arrived this morning wearing her uniform.  She is a boat captain.  She shared pictures of some of the boats that she drives and facts and responsibilities of her profession.  The children seemed very captivated.   The teachers were very fascinated.  After that, she played with us in the back yard, played with us during free choice indoor time, ate lunch with us, and laid down with us for some of nap time.  The children really enjoyed having another Aunty to play with and talk too.  And the teachers enjoyed having another adult in the classroom too!!!!

We have been practicing writing the letters in our first names.  Each child has a small blue booklet of name writing practice sheets.  Each page has the child’s name in yellow text, the child’s name in trace text, and a space followed by a solid line across the bottom of the page.  First, the children trace the yellow text.  Second the children trace the trace text.  Last, the children try to copy the letters of their name in the space.  (It doesn’t need to be written on the solid line.)  We don’t force the children to write their names, but, we do make deliberate attempts to encourage them.  These booklets will go home this week.  You may keep the booklets at home and make additional copies of the sheets for your child to continue practicing at home.  By three years old, a child can usually recognize his/her first name in print.  By four years old, most children can spell their names. By five years old, a child should be able to write his/her first name in correct form (meaning the first letter is uppercase and the rest is lower case).

Bike Day #2.  Mahalo for bringing your child’s bicycle to school today.

This week, we harvested the kalo in the square garden box on our Waipao playground.  This morning, the children each had a turn pounding the cooked kalo with a stone poi pounder (pohaku ku’i ‘ai) on a wooden board (papa ku’i ‘ai).  Some children participated freely, while other children refused but were gently encouraged to at least feel the pohaku ku’i ‘ai.  Afterwards, each child was asked to use one finger and scoop a small sampling to feel and taste it.  Again, some children willing tried, while others were hesitant.   The most important thing was not the tasting of the finished product.  The main goal was to expose the children to this tradition of the Hawaiian people of old.