Wee Friends Early Childhood Program LLC is tucked into a quiet residential neighborhood in South Bend. We occupy two houses (next door to each other) that have been designed for exclusive use as early childhood classrooms.
The Wee Friends Preschool Classroom
Our preschool house serves 16 children with 3 full-time teachers. The classroom is distinctly divided into interest areas that encourage the children to form small work groups in a natural way.
Our reading area has thousands of books that are seasonally rotated to keep them interesting. The table work area is filled with a variety of puzzles and learning materials. 
Our housekeeping area has everything that young children need to support their imaginative play, including an “upstairs bedroom”. This area is always changing as the teachers change materials to enhance current study topics.
Our art room is filled with interesting materials that are arranged to encourage independence and creativity. There is an easel area that pairs two children side by side as they create art. There is a large fish tank to help create a tranquil and safe atmosphere for children to experiment. Our art area also houses our sensory table.
Our kitchen island (not pictured) is where children enjoy Wee Sprouts (bowls of fresh cut veggies) and water breaks throughout the day. The kitchen space is used daily to prepare fresh and nutritious meals for the children. The island is where we enjoy afternoon snack.
The “habitrail” area is uniquely Wee Friends! Our two story gross motor area was custom built to provide active preschoolers with a safe space to move their bodies. There are jumbo duplos with balance beams, large hollow blocks, and built in opportunities to crawl, jump, slide, climb, and swing.
Our woodworking and science areas are located in the front of our house. There are real tools and wood pieces available for children 4 and older and play tools for our younger children. Our science area has a variety of plants, science equipment, and natural materials to explore. Each child also has a full sized cubby (not pictured).
The Wee Friends Infant Toddler Classroom
Our infant and toddler house serves 8 children with 2 full-time teachers. The classroom is spacious and is specifically designed to create a homelike environment.
This classroom includes a large indoor gross motor area especially built for our older infants and toddlers. Children can move as much as they need in this space! There is daily dancing and singing, as well as regular balancing on giant duplos, rocking, and playing with balls & scarves. The mirrored ballet bar (not pictured) is wonderful for babies just learning to pull themselves up.
Since early exposure to books is critical to early childhood development of literacy, Wee Friends has a quiet and cozy reading area filled with books and teachers that enjoy reading aloud.
The housekeeping space is large and is well stocked with a variety of practical life materials: pretend food, dishes, dress up clothes, bags/purses, babies, blankets, books and much more. There is fish tank at eye level for even our youngest children to enjoy and a quiet cube area for children who want some alone time.
In the kitchen area children use our table for dining, manipulative play, art explorations, and sensory play. This area includes a child’s sized sink and art easel designed for two children to paint side by side.
Wee Friends values rest time, especially for our infants and toddlers. We have a dedicated napping room where children can sleep on their own schedule in a quiet and darkened environment. Our napping room is equipped with cribs that meet all new safety standards. As the infants grow into toddlers, they transition into our Montessori beds. The Montessori beds are designed to give young toddlers independence while simultaneously creating a feeling of security.
When you enter the front door, you will find individual cubby spaces for each child, as well as our block building area.
Our Outdoor Learning Environment
Our outdoor learning environment serves as an extension of our indoor classroom. We spend an ample amount of time outdoors each day weather permitting. Our outdoor classroom has an enormous sandbox, bicycle paths, an art area (with an art table and a large easel), a housekeeping center, an large garden grown and tended by the children, a log house climber, and slides built into a hill. (More photos coming soon!)
