Snack time is an exciting time each day at Grow With Me. Instead of the kid constants of crackers and veggie sticks, Miss Katy always plans a hearty cooked snack that the students can help prepare with supervised chopping (with child-safe choppers and small cutting boards), stirring, pourig and mixing.

Some days it’s steamed rice and veggies, other days it’s oatmeal with apples and raisins or a nice stone soup made from whatever’s on hand.

At least once a week the students share a loaf of whole wheat flax bread that they’ve helped mix and knead in the classroom. In this picture, the students are working with Miss Rachel to mix up a batch of yummy apple muffins to warm little bellies on a cold winter’s day.

Since winter has so far brought us several days of very rainy weather, the children have had some extremely wet puddle fun outdoors along with a little more time indoors than usual. Fortunately, Miss Katy and the parent volunteers have been resourceful about coming up with creative inside activities to keep the little ones happy and engaged on the those dreary days.

Grow With Me is holding a fundraiser! Instead of selling cookie dough or candy, we are selling organic produce, fresh eggs, True South Pimento Cheese, Annie’s Bakery Bread, Dynamite Roasting Company Coffee, Roots Hummus and other edible products grown and made by local businesses through Mother Earth Produce.

Online you can order a small, medium or large bin of organic produce and other food items from Mother Earth Produce and they will deliver it to your front door. Bins cost $26-$50, depending on size. Along with the food, participants will have access to recipes provided by Asheville-area organizations and businesses that support the local food movement. There is no long-term commitment – participants buy as few or as many bins as they choose – and orders can be customized.

Participants must live within 60 miles of Asheville. For the first 100 veggie bins that are ordered using the school code GM954, Grow With Me preschool will receive $4 per bin. After that, the school earns $2 per bin through May 31, 2013. Bins are the same price whether you order with the code or without – Mother Earth Produce donates part of the bin cost to Grow With Me.

For details on Mother Earth Produce or to participate in the fundraiser, go to www.MotherEarthProduce.com, register and order your bin. Upon check out, type the code “GM954” into the “Enter Coupon Code” line and click “Submit Coupon.” So easy! We hope you will participate!

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One of the loveliest things about being a part of the Grow With Me learning community is the steady rhythm of work and play that each classroom day and week follows.

The children know that important transitions in the daily routine (i.e. moving from the classroom to the garden area, or preparing for snack) are marked by well-loved songs sung by Miss Katy and the classroom parents. Children join in with their own voices as they clean up toys or put on their shoes for outside play.

Everyone knows that on Wednesdays bread dough is mixed and kneaded, and every Thursday the bread they made will be eaten for snack. They even look forward to washing their napkins in the washtub and hanging them to dry on Thursdays.

Being able to count on this gentle rhythm makes school a safe and comforting place for our littles, and gives them the confidence to be bold explorers of the big, wide world.