What Does a Healthy Plate Look Like?!

Nutrition is an important part of  keeping our bodies healthy and strong. Research shows that eating habits in adolescence tend to carry over to adulthood. At Holly Tree, we encourage our children to eat nutrient rich foods and teach them about how to make healthy food choices. During our Cooking and Nutrition class, we have been talking about food groups, recognizing healthy options and how to make a "healthy plate." We have focused on recognizing fruits, veggies, dairy, and meats as healthy options. 

The focus of our cooking and nutrition program is centered around the Golden Sneaker Initiative, a certification that we hold at Holly Tree. What is the Gold Sneaker Certification and how does it benefit your child? It not only ensures that your child will receive healthy meals while at school, but also ensures that children are given the recommended amount of daily exercise. Specific meal, movement, and physical facility guidelines are implemented in order to maintain our certification.  

Here are our friends in Preschool 3 are constructing a "healthy plate" book to take home. They are excited to show their parents what a healthy plate looks like and the components that are needed from each food group to make a "healthy plate!"

Two friends helped each other out by taking turns gluing and pasting each pieces to their plates. 

Preschool 3 was excited to show off their plate when they were finished!

In Preschool 2, the children enjoyed getting to glue and paste each food on their plate. They also enjoyed picking out which foods would make up their "healthy plate."

 What could you find on this Pre-K friend's "healthy plate?" Chicken, corn, beans, apples, and a glass of milk. What's on your plate? 

For more information about the Gold Sneaker Initiative, please visit:

http://health.state.tn.us/Goldsneaker/index.htm

For more information about our program, please visit us at: www.hollytreechildcare.com

MOSES IN THE BULRUSHES SNACK WITH MRS. SANDRA

Our JAM (Jesus And Me) program is a faith based enrichment program that we provide our families to enhance our curriculum at Holly Tree. Mrs. Sandra teaches our JAM program and provides the children with hands-on learning experiences to bring our Bible Focuses and Bible stories to life! This week, we learned all about Moses in the Bulrushes and on Thursday, April 23rd, Mrs. Sandra stopped by Holly Tree to make a special snack with our friends! The children learned about how baby Moses journeyed down the river in a basket. The children enjoyed bringing this special story to life in a yummy way!

Mrs. Sandra had everything set up for the children to make baby Moses comfy is his basket! First, we used cupcake liners for the baskets. Secondly, we used coconut shavings to make a soft bed for Moses. Then, we used a gummy bear as a representation of Moses. Lastly, we covered up baby Moses with a "sweet" blanket!  

 Mrs. Sandra and a friend from Preschool Three enjoy a retell of the story of Moses and then get to work!

Our friend from PreK doesn't want to forget to cover up baby Moses so he can "stay warm." :)

All of our friends were very eager to participate in making this special treat!

This friend from Preschool Three was super careful about building their bed for Moses!

Even our Preschool Two friends joined in on the fun!


For more information about our program, please visit us at: http://www.hollytreechildcare.com

Holly Tree Staff Attends: 

The National Association for the Education of the Young Children (NAEYC) Conference

On Saturday, April 11, 2015 the Holly Tree staff attended the NAEYC conference. We all learned some very exciting new things to bring to our classrooms. Some of us enjoyed music, art, yoga, different ways to tell stories, and new strategies to implement into our classrooms. 

Early Saturday morning, and look at those eager, smiling faces ready to learn new things! 

Ms. Shanice, was very excited to help one of the speakers out and walk around with a big smile on her face! Just to show how a smile can bring laughter into your life! 

One of the music classes, that a few of the teachers enjoyed was given by Mr. Sayer. He talked about how to move with the music, and how to let the children explore new or different musical toys before, during, and after the songs are completed. 

Another music class was taught by Ms. Debbie! She talked about using music in math, writing, and emphasized "if you can't sing good, sing loud!" 

In Ms. Debbie's class, she talked about bringing silly moves to different songs, like acting like a robot! Ms. Shanice is enjoying this song and showing us her robot moves! 

 One of the new songs we learned was  "Top, to Bottom, Left to Right." Ms. Makeyna and Ms. Samantha loved this song! This song is designed to help children remember that they start their letters at the top and write left to right. 

In Our last meeting of the day, we learned new ways to make story telling fun and exciting for the children. We learned how to tell stories using "peepers". "Peepers" are two little eyes that can be mounted on your fingers. They are used in story-telling. "Peepers" can be decorated with hair, gloves, hair bows, and anything else that you would like to use to enhance your story. Just slip "peepers" over your fingers and let the story telling begin!  

For more information about NAEYC, please visit their website at: http://www.naeyc.org

For more information about our program, visit us at: www.hollytreechildcare.com

Learning Time Preschool 3 

Circle time is a fun learning time in Preschool 3! Our friends practice their letters, the day of the week, number of the week, what's the weather, and weekly theme. This week's theme is all about bugs.   

This week PS3 is working on the letter W. With each letter the class learns they make the letter shape with their fingers. 

When they get to the weather, they sing a song...What's the weather? 

Each day Ms. Shanice will pick a different friend to spin the weather wheel after the class sings the weather song.

What do you know about bugs? This is our weekly theme for the week. Today the class talked about the life cycle of the butterfly and that bees make honey. 

Another bug they talked about was the ladybug. They talked about how the lady bug has two wings and how it is red with black spots.

For more information about our program, please visits us at: www.hollytreechildcare.com

Easter Fun!

On Thursday, April 2, 2015, our classrooms enjoyed a Easter egg hunt! All classrooms where very "egg"cited, there were also a few parents that showed up to enjoy the egg hunt with their children.

One of our PS3 Friends was on the move trying to fill his bag up with eggs, before his friends made it too the eggs.  

 

Another PS3 friend was on the hunt for eggs filled with toy's and treats!

 

One of our Pre-K friends got a surprise visit...His mom! He was very excited when she showed up, and helped him with the hunt! 

 

 PS1 friends were on another playground. This friend was making sure he picked up the eggs he walked pasted, while his other friends were running, passing up eggs he was busy picking up the eggs that were left behind up!

Our younger friends were not very sure about picking up the eggs on the ground, but once they saw there was stuff inside the eggs they became very happy! 

 

Everyone was looking to make sure they had not missed one single egg, even if it meant jumping!  


For more information about our program, please visit us at: www.hollytreechildcare.com