WWF, 2-15-2012

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Good Afternoon!

We started off our day at WWF with activities that the children could choose from. A few children chose to work with babies and their ‘housekeeping’ skills while playing in the kitchen and cleaning the living room. Others came to the light table to manipulate the magnetic shapes.

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When our friends were ready, we started getting read to go outside. Our friends worked on getting their snow pants, coats, hats, and gloves on all by themselves. Their self help skills were kicked into high gear when they were zipping and buttoning their outside attire. While outside, our friends got a bit dirty playing in the snow and dirt! A few of our friends made snow angels while others worked on their jumping skills from different platforms.

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After getting inside from the cold, our friends played with the felt board. Felt letters and numbers were used to place on the felt board. They’re getting advanced in being able to distinguish between letters and numbers. Also, recognizing the letter ‘A’ and knowing that Aiden starts with an ‘A’. It was fantastic to hear the different words they came up with for each letter! 🙂

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While our older friends were sleeping, P.K. and Clara went on a hunt together in the living room! Their interactions with each other were priceless!

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This afternoon, our friends partook in a music session where they made their own music! They strummed the guitars and were amazed at the sounds they were making. They showed great team work while working with their friends to make fabulous sounds that rang througout the house.

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For breakfast, our friends enjoyed toast with soy butter along with pears. Our morning snack was red tomatoes and fresh red peppers. Miss Tami prepared a fabulous lunch that was enjoyed by all! It consisted of whole wheat cous cous with black beans, mixed vegetables, and fruit salad (pears and grapes). This afternoon we had crackers with hummus and a fresh vegetable will be served later this afternoon around 4:30.

Hope that everyone has a fabulous evening!

-Mindy

WF Daily Explorations Wednesday 2/15

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Yesterday, we discussed three senses: what love looks like, tastes like and sounds like. Today, we gathered to explore another sense: smell. We wiggled our noses and went on a smell hunt. We talked about the different things we smell each day and how they smell. We talked about smelling muffins, markers, perfume and…poopy diapers! We set out a tray with three different items to smell: peanut butter, cherry chap stick and eucalyptus smelling beads. “Sweet”, “nutty”, “like candy”, “spicy” and “yucky” were a few adjectives friends used to explore what they were smelling. Friends smelled and sniffed and explored and finally voted on which smell they liked best.

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Kai worked with Lisa on a card game that supports this week’s FAB, K.1.2. – identification of equal to/more than or less than. After one player lays a card down, the next player has to lay down a card with a higher number. The first one to lay down all his/her cards wins!

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A small group of friends gathered with Lisa on the oval rug to explore a mystery rhyming basket. Objects were pulled out of the basket and friends had to offer up a word that rhymed with the chosen object. (FAB K.1.10 – Say rhyming words in response to an oral prompt)

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Without knowing it, Elliott executed an early mathematical concept: sequencing. He chose the gear shift bin, lifted it off the shelf, placed it on the floor and opened it, and began his work. Simon’s puzzle work offered him the same sequencing opportunity, in a different way. These are ordinary moments that occur everyday and are rich developmental experiences.

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Finn gathered several friends to join him with his train work. He taught Nate how to set up the gross motor blocks so that Nate could have his own train.

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We filled four sensory bins up with soapy water. Two bins had liquid soap and two bins had solid soap bars. This activity morphed into many interesting moments as friends explored. We discussed how the soap felt and liquid/solid. We added solid spoons with spoons with slots. Friends studied how the spoons operated differently with liquid/solid. Elliott added the gingerbread men and they were scrubbed clean. Friends used words such as washing, scrubbing, stirring, soapy, pouring and Arleigh, Alexandra and Umi suggested we sing sang our Halloween favorite “Stirring Our Brew.” Two friends practiced negotiating when one friend badly wanted a spoon with no holes while the other friend wasn’t ready to share.

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We love when our Wee Wee Friends come to visit us!

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Today’s Wee Sprouts are cucumber slices and yellow bell pepper. Mel served grits and pears for breakfast. Lunch was whole wheat cous cous, mixed veggies and fruit salad. For snack we will serve pretzels and cheese.

Have a great day.

Laurie

 

WWF, Happy Valentines Days!, 2-14-2012

Happy Valentines Day to all!

We started off our day here at WWF by making our special afternoon snack: Valentines Day muffins (gluten-free) in the shape of a heart! Our friends went into the kitchen to help Miss Marty mix the ingredients together. They were a big help in the preparation of the muffins! They loved mixing the dry ingredients together and are anxious to see how they taste.

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While the muffins were baking, our friends chose to work with the felt board, music play, and reading stories. Special Valentines Day hearts were made for the felt board and children would take the hearts and put them by our special poem for the day. During music time, children worked with streamers, drums and their special body movements such as run, walk, and jump.

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Before snack was ready some children chose to work on their special hearts that were made for each child. They used marker to color in the heart! Some children chose to draw circles and designs in their heart while others colored it in using different colors.

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For our morning snack, our friends enjoyed fresh cut cucumbers and orange sweet peppers. Our lunch consisted of melted turkey and cheddar on whole wheat tortillas, fruit salad (strawberries, oranges, and bananas) and lima beans/carrots. For our afternoon snack, we’ll have our special heart shaped muffins that our friends helped make and another special treat brought in by Jada. Dates with walnuts, dark chocolate cocoa powder and vanilla. They should be delicious!

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Hope everyone has a fantastic night!

-Mindy

WF Daily Explorations Tuesday 2/14

Happy 4th Birthday Simon!

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Look Like?

Jane: “Red! Chocolate!”

Umi: “Angelina Ballerina!”

Kai: “Hearts! My cousin Jacob!”

Alexandra: “A Christmas Tree!”

Stephen: “Animals and tires!”

Macy: “Earrings!”

Simon: “A heart.”

Annie: “A princess.”

Vivian: “Red!”

Finn: “A train!”

Nate: “A castle.”

Taste Like?

Jane: “Sweets!”

Umi: “Chicken and pasta!”

Alexandra: “Bananas and applesauce!”

Stephen: “Avocado, kiwi, pancakes, hamburgers and bagels.”

Macy: “Noodles!”

Simon: “Oatmeal.”

Annie: “Chocolate!”

Vivian: “Chocolate!”

Finn: “Candy!”

Nate: “Sweet potatoes.”

Sound Like?

Jane: “Kai!”

Alexandra: “A pig and a parrot!”

Stephen: “Birds!”

Macy: “Mommy’s voice.”

Simon: “A boar and a car.”

Annie: “A princess singing!”

Vivian: “A zebra!”

Finn: “A whistle from the train.”

Nate: “Hearts.”

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Our Wee Sprouts today are cucumbers and green pea pods. Breakfast was Kix and grapes. For lunch, Tami served melted turkey and cheddar on whole wheat tortillas, fruit salad (strawberries, oranges and bananas) and lima beans/carrots. For snack we will serve Simon’s Birthday Banana cake!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Laurie

 

 

 

 

WWF, 2-13-2012

Good Afternoon!

Since tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, here is a list of all of our friends at WWF in case you and your child want to send out Valentine’s Day cards:

Eleanor (Ellie), Elizabeth, Chloe, Jada, Sloane, P.K., Clara, Aiden, Olivia, Ozzie, and Lea.

We started our day off at WWF by doing multiple activities. Some children chose to go into the kitchen to paint. Our friends painted with different colors and made amazing art work. Others chose to play dress up with their friends. They acted out different parts and made a chose as to what ‘profession’ they were such as a ballerina!

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Our friends enjoyed some music time where they danced to BINGO and different songs that they requested. For a good ten minutes, children chose to dance and run around the living room in a circular fashion. While friends were dancing and singing, a few children chose to go into the kitchen where they played with play-dough. They used hammers and utensils to work with the play-dough.

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For lunch, our friends enjoyed pasta noodles with spaghetti sauce, bananas and oranges, and corn. Afternoon snack consisted of crackers and crasins. Our vegetable for our late afternoon snack will be snap peas.

Hope everyone has a wonderful evening!

-Mindy

WF Daily Explorations Monday 2/13

FAB (Framework for Academic Balance) Week of 2/13

Literacy: K.1.10 Say rhyming words in response to an oral prompt / Math: K.1.2 Compare sets of up to ten objects and identify whether one set is equal to, more than, or less than another. K.1.3 Know that larger numbers describe sets with more objects in them than sets described by smaller numbers.

The gymnastics bus returned this morning and friends worked on the rings and the cartwheel mat. On the rings, they performed tuck and “L” hangs. They practiced a skin the cat flip and swings. The also practiced lunges and handstands against the wall. They used the cartwheel mat to practice mini/full cartwheels.

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While our older friends were on the blue bus, our younger Wee Friends started working on their valentine’s mailboxes. Using tempera paint and cereal boxes, friends custom made a mailbox to receive tomorrow’s Valentine wishes! Older friends joined in after their tumbling time.

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Math experiences were happening in every corner of the classroom! Lisa gathered a small group of friends on the oval rug to identify numbered hearts and then add the corresponding number of gingerbread men. (FAB K.1.2, K.1.3)

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She also worked with Kai at the message board, exploring rhyming words. (FAB K.1.10)

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In another part of the room, a small group of friends worked with numbered bags, 1-5. Friends hunted around our environment and filled the bag with as many objects as the bag stated. We came together afterwards and counted the objects out loud, determining which bag had the most and the fewest. (FAB K.1.2, K.1.3)

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While a small group of friends played Crazy Eights, another gathered at the art table to make Valentines. While some created art, others practiced holding and cutting with scissors. Other Wee Friends chose to weave pipe cleaners into colanders.

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Today our Wee Sprouts are carrots, cherry tomatoes and yellow peppers. For breakfast, Melinda served whole wheat bagels with peanut butter and bananas. Lunch was whole wheat pasta with marinara, corn and fruit salad. For snack today, we will serve goldfish and raisins.

*Tomorrow we are planning a Valentine’s card exchange. If your Wee Friend is planning on participating in the exchange, we have 15 total friends: Ada, Nate, Finn, Marta, Annie, Jane, Arleigh, Elliott, Macy, Simon, Vivian, Umi, Alexandra, Stephen and Kai.

Enjoy your day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WWF, 2-10-2012

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Good Afternoon!

Today, you’ll get the joy of looking at pictures throughout the day of the activities that were enjoyed by our friends!

For breakfast, we had bagels and oranges. For lunch, our friends enjoyed egg casserole, mixed vegetables, and apples. This afternoon, our snack was animal crackers.

Hope that everyone has a spectacular weekend!

-Mindy

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WF Daily Explorations Friday 2/10

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On Tuesday, in honor of Valentine’s Day, we invite our Wee Friends to be a part of a Valentine’s card exchange! Each friend will have their own mailbox to take home, filled with cards from their Wee Friends. Here is a list of names should your WF decide to share valentines! 16 total: Ada, Nate, Finn, Marta, Annie, Jane, Arleigh, Elliott, Macy, Simon, Vivian, Umi, Alexandra, Stephen, Kai & Damien (our new friend who joins WF on Monday).

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Today’s Wee Sprouts are carrots. For breakfast, Laurie served Kashi and cranberries. Tami prepared egg casserole for lunch and served Elliott’s pineapple and mixed veggies.

Have a restful weekend!

Laurie

WWF 2.9.12

Good Afternoon!
We started off our day having our friends choose from different activities that we were offering. Some chose to work in the kitchen and manipulate different utensils. A few of our friends chose to read books or dance to music. “BINGO” is becoming one of our favorites songs!  
 
After we had music time, children gathered in the kitchen to work with a sensory activity. Our friends worked with spaghetti noodles in different container. While using utensils to fill with noodles, they transfered them to different places. Working with the noodles made such a different noise and children loved it when the noodles hit the floor. A few children worked with the noodles on the light table while others gathered at the kitchen table to work with the noodles in different sizes tubs. Our friends were using their fine motor skills to pour the noodles as well as working with their fingers to sort through the noodles. The noodles were even being counted by the children. They were matching the noodles to the numbers such as three noodles on the kitchen table meant there were three noodles total.
For breakfast this morning, we enjoyed bananas with Cheerios. Miss Tami made us a wonderful lunch consisting of whole wheat tortillas with mozzarella cheese, raisins and bananas, and cucumbers.
 
Enjoy the rest of the day!

WF Daily Explorations Thursday 2/9

Today we brought out the hearts!

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Paulina shared a great sensorial activity with us: frozen heart ice cubes! We set them on the light table with heart cups and friends matched a cube with a cup. (FAB K.1.1 – Match sets of objects one-to-one) They watched them melt and slurped and crunched them, becoming ice-vores! They hid icy hearts under plastic hearts and guessed which cup was hiding the ice.

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Many friends chose to paint heart shaped frames.

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Various pairs of friends challenged each other to tic-tac-toe on our felt board.

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Arleigh requested that we play Malificent. We played our Sleeping Beauty music and as friends touched the spindle they fell into a deep sleep. Many side stories were acted out: Alexandra dreamed of rainbows: Kai was Malificent’s tiger: Stephen (as Batman) turned Malificent to ice, among others! It gave us a chance to explore the idea of frozen/melted before we went to the light table.

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Bob Books started the day!

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Wee Sprouts today are green pea pods and grape tomatoes. For breakfast Lisa served whole wheat toast with peanut butter and clementines. For lunch, Tami is serving whole wheat tortillas with melted mozzarella cheese, cucumber slices and applesauce.

Parent/Child Conversation Starters

  • What colors did you use to paint your heart frame?
  • The habitrail has ladders and a fireman’s pole-which one is your favorite? Why?
  • What is the part you are playing in the Spring Concert?
  • Why did the icy hearts melt?

Have a good day.

Laurie