Hello!

I hope you are having a great September! Fall is in the air at our house; we have been having crisp, cool mornings that turn into nice afternoons. After a muggy summer I am really enjoying this weather. Here are your weekly preschool tips and tricks.

Language Tip : It is totally normal and natural for your child to use incorrect grammar at this age. You can correct their grammar mistakes without pointing out that they are wrong. To do this, simply repeat what they said incorrectly in the correct way. For example, if your child said, “Him went to school.” then you would repeat back “You are right! He did go to school.” You are not telling them they are wrong, you are simply reinforcing the correct grammar.

Recipe of the Week: Pumpkin Quinoa Muffins

Ingredients:
1 c. flour
2 c. cooked quinoa
2/3 c. pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1/3 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 c. mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the dry ingredients (except the chocolate chips) in a large bowl. Combine the egg and pumpkin in a small bowl. Mix the pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into a greased or lined muffin tin. Bake for 15 minutes.

Notes:

Before baking we also added a few chocolate chips on the top of the muffins for a garnish. If you choose to omit the chocolate chips you may want to increase the sugar to sweeten them up a bit.

Quick Art: Crayon Resist Picture

Have your child draw a picture on a piece of paper using crayons. After they are done drawing, have them use water colors to paint over the picture. The wax in the crayon resists the paint and they turn out really neat looking. They can draw any scene that they would like. Ocean scenes look really neat when covered in blue water colors.

Movement Activity: Bilateral Movement

Bilateral coordination is present in children when they are able to use both sides of the body simultaneously, in an organized and controlled manner. Bilateral coordination is important because it shows that both sides of the brain are collaborating and sharing information with each other.

You can help your child develop bilateral coordination with different activities.

Simple Activities

1. Putting together and pulling apart legos.
2. Pulling apart cotton balls.

More Challenging Activities

1. Have your child lay on their back and do a bicycle movement with their legs up in the air.
2. Your child will extend their arms and clasp their hands together. Call out a shape or letter and have them use their extend arms to draw that shape in the air. Have them make big movements so they cross the midline of their body.

Did you know??

According to the Food Guide Pyramid for Young Children (ages 2-6), kids should eat 3 servings or vegetables and 2 servings of fruit per day.

Fruit is always easy for me to get my kids to eat, but veggies prove to be more challenging. I will research some recipes with “hidden” veggies in them to share with you next week.



Have a fantastic week!



Amy Tradewell, Preschool Education Editor
http://preschool.bellaonline.com
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