Garbage Truck!!

We had a very special visitor today... Western Disposal brought our favorite garbage truck driver, Enrique, out with his truck! The preschoolers love to watch the garbage truck on normal pickup days from the windows or from the tree house! Enrique always honks his horn and says hello when he comes. It was an extra special treat to see the truck up close, help with pulling the levers to pick up the trash can and crush the garbage, and even sit in the cab and pull the VERY LOUD horn!!

So much fun! Thank you for the awesome experience, Western Disposal, and a HUGE thank you to Enrique!!

Sleepless in Preschool?

Having a 5 year old and a 2.5 year old and working with your preschoolers, a common question I hear (or think) is about sleep. Is my 3 year old dropping nap time? Should my 5 year old have a later bed time? Why is my child waking up so much at night? Could it be nightmares? And more and more... And, really, we all JUST. WANT. TO. SLEEP!

I went searching for some answers for all of us. I found this excellent article on how much sleep a preschool aged child should be getting and how sleep affects their brains. I hope you find it informative is sleep is one of your "problem areas".



Goodnight!

School So Far...

What fun we have had these first few weeks at school!! We have learned all about our school and our friends. The "Me" posters have been so much fun to have the students present to their small groups and it is so much fun to look at them decorating our walls. 

Exploring our school has been taking up most of our time when we have free choice. The circle room is always a popular place to meet up with friends and build/create together!

When it is not raining, we are enjoying the last warm days outside! You can find lots of climbing, sliding, bike riding, truck pushing, and digging going on.. and, of course, tons of smiles!

Circle time is so much fun, especially when there is a birthday in the school! Singing, dancing, talking, and reading with these kids is a huge highlight of the day.

We are learning so much and really enjoying ourselves at Harmony every day. What an excellent way to start the year!

School Lunches That Kids Will Enjoy

School lunches can sometimes be a pain. I have heard so many parents asking what they should / can pack and looking for ideas for what to pack. Here are just a few ideas to hopefully help with lunch packing woes.

One of my favorite sites I look at when I need some lunch inspiration is here.

Here are some of the great ideas she shares
 - Chicken/tuna/egg/salmon salad with crackers (and a little fork to spread)
 - Salad with a favorite meat, veggie, and/or fruit
 - meat and cheese roll ups (with or without a tortilla "shell")
 - fruit/veggies with a nut (or nut alternative) dip (or hummus)
 - meatballs
 - chicken nuggets
 - pancakes (try tossing in a scoop of protein powder to your normal pancake recipe)
 - stir fry
 - soup in a thermous
 - hard boiled eggs
 - taco salad
 - quesadilla
 - yogurt parfait
 - pizza
 - dinner leftovers

This list is just the non-sandwich list!! Add in a couple sandwiches and you could have a different packed lunch every day for weeks!

Then just toss in a favorite fruit and/or vegetable and maybe a cracker or cheese or yogurt or popcorn and you are good to go!

Also, never underestimate the power of a cute cookie cutter, note, or little fork/pic! I like to buy seasonal cupcake liners with the cupcake pics - they are perfect for mini kabobs (I usually snip off the sharp end and always remind my little people to stay sitting while they are eating!). The liners are a cheery way to partition off the food too. We have a set of silicon cupcake liners so we are not throwing away paper every day too.

Smokey The Bear!

Smokey the Bear and his forest firefighter friends made a spectacular visit to Harmony Preschool!  Preschoolers enjoyed spraying the fire hose, exploring the fire truck, handling fire tools and visiting with Smokey the Bear.  Please enjoy a few of our favorite moments from the day.