Nutrition Unit

This week was a success. And you know me and parties... I LOVE THEM! So the Homemade Pizza Party was so fun. Thanks for helping out so much... and it was fun to have Abby and Nicolas here! They just fit in.

These are a few things this week that we discussed:

Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?

**Botanically, a tomato is the ovary, together with its seeds, of a flowering plant: therefore it is a fruit or, more precisely, a berry. **By U.S. tariff laws, a tomato is a vegetable.
**From a culinary point of view, a tomato is a vegetable.
**But, due to the scientific definition of a fruit, the tomato remains a fruit when not dealing with U.S. tariffs.

We just put it in the middle and said it's considered both. Though Steven was very certain that it was a fruit and Mimi was absolutely sure that it was a vegetable. Who says we can't have some healthy educated discussion? Next week we will start our "Debate Time" in preschool. :) jk.

Then we discussed Popped corn...

and I found this:

Did you know that unpopped kernels in the bottom of your popcorn bag, box or bowl are called "old maids?" Popcorn is another fun, audience food, another of those "bet-you-can’t-eat-just-one-mouthful" treats. Carelessly, we think of it as "junk food," however, popcorn is a thorough-going vegetable which supplies your body with more iron than eggs, peanuts, spinach or roast beef. It contains more phosphorous and fiber than potato chips, ice cream cones or pretzels!

Then this:
Popcorn or popping corn is a type of corn, which explodes from the kernel and puffs up when heated. Corn popping was originally discovered by Native Americans, but became popular as a snack food during the United States Great Depression.
Corn is able to pop because, unlike other grains, its kernels have a hard moistureproof hull and a dense starchy filling. This allows pressure to build inside the kernel until an explosive "pop" results. Some strains of corn are now cultivated specifically as popping corns.
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So one place said it was a veggie, which makes sense to me, but then others say it's a grain, which also makes sense to be when it's dried..... discuss. Who says you can't learn anything in Preschool???

So the funny parts were seriously the songs that we sung. We learned all about vowels this week so you can say, "A-E-I-O-U . . . . are the vowels just for YOU!" and they should chant along. Then we sang "I like to eat apples and bananas" with all the vowel sounds (using both sounds for each vowel) and they just laughed and laughed. Here are the words if you want

I Like to Eat Apples and Bananas

I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas

I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas

(then change every vowel to the appropriate vowel sound-not "to & and")

ex. Aye lake to ate ate ate ayples and banaynays

A' lak to at at at apples and bananas

(remember that every vowel has TWO sounds)

But the best song BY FAR is the Vegetable Rap. Oh they LOOOOOVED it. Here it goes...

Vegetable Rap

(spit in your hand like the rappers do a few beats)

Broccoli, Tomatoes,

Zucchini, Peas.

Pass the Carrots,

More Veggies Please!

Squash and Potatoes,

Green Beans that Snap! (clap when you say snap)

Now you're doing the Vegetable Rap!

(spit in your hand like the rappers do a few more beats)

(cross your arms around your chest and yell) YO-YO!!

So, if your 4 year old mentioned that we were listening to Rap music in preschool, they were right. :)

Love it. See you next week for Pet week. Would it be possible to have kids with pets able to bring their pets in? Maybe 1 or 2 on Wed and 1 or 2 on Thursday? If it works out, we can have one at the beginning of class on Wednesday and another at the end of class on Wednesday if the pets are skittish around other pets. When you respond, would you please CC the whole group so we can plan this please? Are there any kids that are afraid of pets?

And I told the kids that they will be eating dog food next week, but it is really a chocolate covered trail mix that is called dog food, so if they mention that, you will know. :) heehee!