APPLES, APPLES, APPLES

We have learned so much about apples in the last week and a half. Ask you pre schoolers what colors apples come in and how to pick an apple without ruining the buds for next year's apple blossoms. These are things we have been learning at school. Our apple peeler was busy last week as we peeled apples for our homemade applesauce. Yum! This week the three year olds are talking about the importance bees for growing apples and the importance of apple blossoms for making honey. This is one example of how things in nature work together for good! The four year old classes had the experience of riding in a school bus to Aamodt's Apple Orchard. They had a tour of the apple barn and rode a wagon out into the orchard to see the apples growing on the trees. "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," or so they say. Whether it is true or not, apples sure are delicious!

THE SUMAC TREE

Ask me to name my favorite season of the year and I’ll likely name the current one. All summer I lounged by the lake, worked in my garden, played with my grandkids and spent time with my horse. I love summer!

By mid August, I could feel a transition coming on and I resisted it. I was reluctant to begin typing lists, putting up bulletin boards, freezing vegetables, wearing sweaters.... Why was summer so short?

I hitched my horse to my wagonette one day and trotted down the road. Going past a stand of Sumac trees, I noticed their bright green color had turned dark brown. They, too, seemed reluctant to leave summer and move on. That was not an encouraging sign! Transitions are hard for most of us. As adults, we know, from past experience, that things will get better. We realize that the brown Sumac will turn to brilliant red and Halloween orange. We soon appreciate the cool crisp autumn nights and the good sleeping weather. Once pre school begins and I see the smiling faces of the children who were once only names on paper, I feel excitement about the days we’ll spend together singing, laughing and playing. Autumn becomes my new favorite season. God knows we need variety!

Pre schoolers may, also, have trouble transitioning to new activities and responsibilities. Leaving mom or dad and going off to pre school alone is not easy. They haven’t yet experienced “school” with its structured times and group-time rules. Walking in lines and sitting in circles doesn’t seem as appealing as wondering through the backyard on the way to the sandbox.

Soon the transition into school will be made and the children will be looking forward to seeing their friends, making art projects and playing at the park with their class. Fall will, hopefully, become an exciting time of the year. As the leaves turn to brilliant hues of red, orange and yellow, the days of summer will become nice memories and the children will move on to a new favorite season of the year!

I'M GROWING!

As we have been playing and relaxing this summer, the plants in the Pre School Garden have been quietly growing. The rain and hot weather have encouraged each seed to become the best it can be. As you see by the photos we have tall zinnias, small (so far) pumpkins, big sunflowers and gigantic corn in the garden. The carrots are shy. Their orange roots are waiting for the children to come back to school and dig them up. They will have to search for the carrot tops which are hiding under the sprawling pumpkin vines. Salvia, cosmos and marigolds are doing their best to impress us with their red, white and yellow but the zinnias take the prize for bold color!

Like the garden, the boys and girls registered for pre school are growing too. They are slowly becoming the best they can be and Salem is excited to be a part of that growth.

FIELD TRIPS FOR ALL

It has been a cool, rainy start to May this year! All the same, the children at Pre School have had some great experiences on their field trips. The Blue, Purple, Red and Yellow classes went to Silverwood Park in St. Anthony Village for an experience called "Nature Prints." The educators at Silverwood used stories, art, and outdoor exploration to help the children identify animals that live in our area and what their foot prints and body shapes might look like. It is also important to know that other things, such as leaves, sticks and rocks, can leave prints in the mud, on the sidewalk or in the snow!

Our Orange and Green classes spent a morning at Como Park Zoo. They, and some of the parents who accompanied us, took a school bus from Pre School to the zoo. The bus ride is always an exciting part of the field trip. Perhaps the cool weather and the fact that some of the animals were being fed encouraged them to be more active then usual, which was very fun to see. Some of us even saw the sloth moving around in the tree, eating a piece of lettuce! That was very special!!

Officer Kim Boyd from the New Brighton Police Department, visited us at the end of our field trip week. She brought her squad car for us to see and she reminded us of the many ways the police help us everyday! Reviewing some important safety rules for the summer months was also a part of Officer Boyds visit! We're thankful for her willingness to come to our school! Julie Philbrook from HCMC also paid us a visit. Julie emphasized the importance of wearing our bike helmets any time we are on our bikes, no matter what age we are! Arms and legs can be fixed but an injured brain cannot be fix!

Have a great summer!

COMMUNITY HELPERS-FIRE AND BIKE SAFETY

In May we invite many of our community helpers in to tell us how to play and stay safe this summer. The New Brighton Fire Department sent firefighters Kip and Ed to our school to talk about fire safety. They reminded us NEVER to play with matches, lighters, etc! They also talked about what to do if we are ever in a fire. If our clothes catch fire we STOP, DROP AND ROLL. When there is smoke in the building we crawl out of the building because the smoke goes up to the ceiling. Always have a designated spot outside your home or school where everyone should gather in case of an emergency. If you are stranded in a burning building, ALWAYS GO TO THE FIREMAN when he comes. Ed dressed up in his firefighting gear for us to see. He looked a little scary at first and his breathing was like Darth Vader but when we remembered that he was just a person dressed up to fight fires we knew we didn't need to be afraid of him! Kip and Ed brought their fire truck to school and we saw all the hoses, tanks, axes, lights, etc. and we sat in the firefighters' seats in the truck! Cool!

Julie Philbrook, from Hennipen County Medical Center came to school also. Julie told us how important it is to wear our bike helmets when we are out riding our bikes. Doctors can fix our broken bones and scratches but they cannot fix a broken brain. That is why we must protect our brain! Helmets do the job! Wear yours all the time.

Salem Pre School is also looking forward to Kim Boyd coming to school to talk to us about safety rules to stay safe in our community. Kim is a New Brighton police officer and has talked to us before about strangers, getting lost, crossing streets safely and many other topics! She also brings her police car for us to see.

We are so thankful for all of these people who spend their days taking care of us!

SNOWY EASTER PREPARATIONS

Today is Easter, the sun is shining and the air is warm!! At long last! As you can see from the photos, our Easter parties were on snowy days. This is as late in the season as Easter can ever be and still it was cold and wintery right up to the last minute. Then WOW! What better way to frame the G00d News that Jesus lives! Isn't it good to know that no matter what spring throws our way, Easter still comes! Hope your Easter was beautiful!

IS IT SPRING YET?

Today has been feeling much more like spring with temperatures in the 50s! Our talk at school has been about birds and nesting and planting seeds. As soon as the children walked in the door Tuesday and Wednesday they went to work filling cups with soil and planting seeds for Mothers' Day. (The kind of seed is a secret. We aren't telling for now!) Of course, the seeds need water and sun to sprout so we have made an indoor garden of sorts by placing the pots in watering trays and putting them in the sunny windows in room 5-6. We will water them every day, checking to see if the sleeping seeds have begun to grow. Outside our windows we are watching the Pre School Garden. From our windows it appears that the garden is still sleeping, just like our seeds. Then we took a walk outside to examine the garden. Some tulips are coming up! They were planted last fall by our four year old classes. What a great spring surprise! I hope the bunnies don't find them. Shhhhh..... don't tell them.

After we planted our seeds today our hands were dirty and who should come to visit our classes? Evelyn, a Public Health student from Bethel University, came to demonstrate how we should wash our hands so that they really get clean. We need to soap all of the surfaces of our hands including between our fingers and on our fingernails. How long should we suds our hands? Keep washing until you finish singing the "Alphabet Song" or "Happy Birthday!"

This has been a busy week!