Theme 6 ~ Growing Up Healthy!

Dear Families,

Because there is nothing more important than your child’s well-being,
our next theme is all about “Growing Up Healthy.” Children will learn about nutritious eating,
exercise, and other positive ways of taking care of themselves.
We will also learn what to do in case of an emergency.

Health and safety begin in the home,
so please help your child by supporting what our class will be learning.

• Make and discuss healthy food choices during mealtime and when shopping for groceries
or eating away from home.

• Cook with your child to teach him/her about the ingredients in foods.

• Review family safety procedures, especially what to do in case of a fire and
how to exit the home.

• Teach child-appropriate safety guidelines to use at home,
such as never turning on the stove or lighting a match.

• Help your child memorize his or her home address and phone number.

Children must develop self-awareness at a young age in order to be healthy for life.
It is one of our year-long goals, but will be a special focus during this theme.
Help your child develop healthy habits that will last a lifetime!

Literacy Tip

Teach your child how to read/recognize exit and other emergency signs and symbols.

Connecting School to Home

Tap into the activities your child will be doing during this theme,
such as making a self-portrait, to help your child become aware of personal characteristics,
strengths, and limitations.

Help your child explore his/her five senses in and around your home.  
For example, smell food cooking, look out the window together, taste new foods,
listen to music, or feel different fabrics.

Take a Field Trip!

Go Grocery Shopping ~ Have your child vote on a favorite healthy snack to prepare.  
Make a list of ingredients that you will need and take a trip to the local grocery store
so children can purchase the ingredients. While you are there, walk through the store and
ask children to identify the healthy foods they see.

Big Day for Pre-K Book Suggestions

Noisy City Day by Sara Anderson

Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo by Kevin Lewis

Favorite Foods: Colors and Shapes by ticktock Media, Ltd.

Max Cleans Up by Rosemary Wells

Sleep Is for Everyone by Paul Showers

Cora Cooks Pancit by Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore

Strega Nona's Harvest by Tomie de Paola

From the Garden: A Counting Book About Growing Food by Michael Dahl

No Dragons for Tea: Fire Safety for Kids by Jean E. Pendziwol

You Are Healthy by Todd Snow

How Do You Know?: A Book About the Five Senses by Lisa Jayne

Alphabites by Charles Reasoner

An Alphabet Salad by Sarah L. Schuette

To start off our new unit, we created a grocery store in our Dramatic Play Center. It has been a big hit!

We have been talking about healthy food choices, cooking, and ingredients in recipes.

One of our questions of the day was, "Do you like yogurt?" The responses were counted up and we determined which column had the most votes and the least votes.

We also learned about keeping our teeth healthy. We had a visitor from Walpole Dental Health Associates come teach us the importance of brushing our teeth and eating healthy foods.