Good Afternoon!

This morning most of the friends sat on the reading step to engage in a book independently.

We then were busy in the housekeeping area.  Several friends were cooking up delicious food, a friend was getting water to put in their cup, Milo was setting his table and putting the food on his plates, a friend was feeding a baby doll and Charlotte was lining up the wooden people on the table.

We then headed into the kitchen for a shaving cream sensory experience.  We first used only our hands to explore the texture and feel of it in them.  We then were given a plastic bug to walk in the shaving cream or cover with the shaving cream.

We then headed outside to engage in a variety of our favorite activities.  We also had a water sensory experience outside and were given different sized paint brushes to paint the sidewalk with the water.

Breakfast:  Overnight oatmeal with cinnamon/sugar mixture and bananas.

Lunch:  Farm fresh scrambled eggs, banana/fresh strawberries, cucumbers and whole grain wheat bread.

Afternoon Snack:  White corn tortilla chips and refried beans.

Wee Sprouts:  Mini sweet peppers.

Have a wonderful evening!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2024-07-17

Good Afternoon!

The theme of the day seemed to be cooperative problem solving! Outside today everyone enjoyed water painting on the sidewalk.  A group worked together in an imaginative game, using the brushes to “wash” the fence and the drinking fountain.  It was wonderful to hear our young friends using their cooperative problem solving skills and kind words with each other.  The group clearly understood the value of fairness for everyone in the group as well as the importance of listening to one another as they played.  We are so proud of our Wee Friends!

In the classroom our kids continued to demonstrate creative and cooperative problem solving skills.  They wanted to build a long tube system from the loft to the floor to put balls through.  It was difficult to get everything to line up.  The group worked extremely well as they went through the process of trial and error.  They listened to and tried each other’s ideas.  Some failed but everyone was very encouraging.  This positivity created the atmosphere needed to try again.  Eventually a combination of tape and large anchoring blocks worked and the system was a success! The value of these spontaneous learning experiences cannot be measured!

Breakfast– Homemade oatmeal with fresh strawberries.

Lunch– Farm fresh scrambled eggs with whole wheat flatbread, fresh strawberries/blueberries, and fresh snap peas/cucumber/broccoli.

PM snack– Humus with tortilla chips

Wee Sprout– Fresh snap peas/cucumber/broccoli.

Have a great night!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-07-17

Good afternoon!

We had a very musical start to our morning today. Our friends used pianos, xylophones, shakers, and bells to make music and to follow along to the “Shake Your Sillies Out” song.

Our friends then made their way into the kitchen with Miss Bekah to engage with pegs and peg boards. Our two oldest friends worked together to make towers on a huge, blue peg board.

We rode bikes or pushed them up the hill, explored the play house, and looked at all the flowers growing in our garden with a friend.

Breakfast: Whole grain Kix cereal with fresh strawberries.

Lunch: Chicken avocado salad, whole grain wheat flatbread, cucumber, and apple.

Afternoon Snack: Whole grain wheat cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese.

Wee Sprouts:  Fresh green beans.

Have a wonderful evening!

Tina and Rebekah

Link to pictures: 2024-07-16

Good Afternoon!

Tornadoes were the topic of the morning as our friends came in to breakfast!  After last nights storms there were stories and questions.  We thought we would follow that interest introducing a small experiment which showed how a tornado worked.  We added soap, vinegar and food coloring to a jar and tried swirling the water in the jar.  Once it was spinning we could put the jar down and watch the vortex inside.  We talked about how a tornado does the same thing with air spinning into a vortex like the one inside the jar.  The experiment expanded into different sized jars utensils to spin the water.  When the experiment was done, everyone enjoyed some imaginative play with the water!

PREK2: In group today we read “The Color Monster”.  After the story we talked about what color the emotion we were feeling would be.

Breakfast– Puffins cereal with fresh clementines.

Lunch– Homemade chicken avocado on whole wheat bread, fresh pineapple/clementine, and fresh pepper/cherry tomatoes/cucumber.

PM snack– Whole wheat bagel with cream cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh snap peas/cucumber/pepper.

Have a wonderful night.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-07-16

Good Afternoon!

Today we welcomed a new friend and her family to join our classroom and the Wee Friends family.  We are so happy to have her in our classroom and her family with us.

After a few friends were done with breakfast, they went to explore the Peek-a-Blocks.  They observed the different items, shook them to see which blocks made noise and stacked them to make a tower.

Miss Bekah made a path with our BounceBlocks that started near the front door and wound around close to the bridge door.  We enjoyed walking around the path while working on our balancing skills.

We then engaged with the object permanence boxes putting our balls and coins into the hole or slot and opening and closing the drawer to watch the balls or coins reappear.  We then engaged with the finger puppets working to put them onto our fingers and explore if they are people or animals.  We then walked around wearing dress up shoes.

We then headed outside to get some fresh air and play.  We walked around and tossed balls, rode the teeter totters, explored the rocks with our hands, filled containers with sand and sat at the table relaxing in the shade.

Breakfast:  Whole grain wheat bread toasted with peanut butter and fresh apples.

Lunch:  Whole grain wheat penne pasta with black beans, fresh green beans and pineapple.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole milk yogurt and fresh strawberries.

Wee Sprouts:  Cucumbers.

Have a great evening!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2024-07-15

Good Afternoon!

This morning we explored some math games and activities at the round table.  During a long and serious game of “Count Down”, Hannah and William gathered a crowd of spectators.  They took turns rolling the dice, added the numbers together then laying down the sum of the addition problem.  Toward the end of the game, probability was not in the players favor, as only a couple of numbers were left.  It was close at the end when William exclaimed “Boy this is a sweaty game!”, wiping his forehead.  Everyone had a great time while learning math!

Outdoors a couple of friends discovered land snails and slugs in the mulch.  We put them on a tray for observation and read a book about slugs, a close relative.  We talked about the things that are the same and different about slugs and snails.  We noticed that snails have a shell while slugs do not but both are slimy and need wet places to live.  We also found that both lay eggs and are vegetarians.  The kids took their knowledge and built what they felt would be an optimum snail and slug habitat on the tray.

Breakfast– Whole wheat toast with butter and fresh cantaloupe.

Lunch– Whole wheat pasta with black beans, fresh pineapple/cantaloupe/banana, and fresh pepper/cucumber.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with granola.

Wee Sprouts– Fresh cucumber/pepper.

Have a great night!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-07-15

Happy Friday!

This morning we engaged in the rice and bird seed sensory table.  We were using our hands, plastic halves and spoons to scoop up the mixture and pour it back into the table.

Most of us were then interested in making music and hearing the sounds the bars made as we tapped our mallet on the wood bars of the wall xylophone.

We then headed outside.  Most of the friends enjoyed carrying a baby doll around the backyard or taking it for a ride in a cart.  Charlotte rode on teeter totter and a friend engaged with the trucks.

Breakfast:  Whole grain brown rice cakes with cream cheese and fresh apple slices.

Lunch:  Turkey lunch meat, whole grain wheat tortillas, fresh green beans and bananas/plums.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole grain Goldfish crackers and mozzarella cheese stick.

Wee Sprouts:  Cucumbers.

Have a great weekend!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2024-07-12

Happy Friday!

Enjoy the pictures from our day!

Breakfast– Brown rice cakes with peanut butter and fresh strawberries.

Lunch– Melted shredded cheese on whole wheat tortilla, fresh cantaloupe/plums, and fresh cucumber/pepper.

PM snack– Goldfish with block cheddar cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/pepper.

Have a lovely weekend.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-07-12

Good Afternoon!

“Children often learn best from one another, and they seek to do so naturally.”

Today was a true representation of the benefits of multi-age classrooms. At any time during the year, the difference between our youngest and oldest child is about three years (give or take a little!). This allows for growth on both sides: younger children learning from their older peers and older peers learning how to lead and guide their younger peers.

A few days ago I shared that three of our new four year olds have joined PREK1 group with our three oldest kids in the class. Everyday after group time, they have the opportunity to journal. Our older kids have been journaling for quite some time, gaining skills on putting their thoughts to paper. During this time, our three new kiddos have been quietly watching their older peers journal, drawing their picture and then kid spelling their description afterwards.

It’s a fantastic, authentic way to learn from peers which is sometimes more meaningful than learning from teachers. That’s why our older children have such a crucial role in the classroom.

Hannah and William went around the classroom this morning with paper and clipboards, accessing the classrooms favorite color. Their younger peers watched as they created a chart and tally marks for everyone’s vote. Again, a wonderful authentic learning experience for our younger kiddos who trailed closely behind as they ventured around the classroom.

A few more benefits of multi-age classrooms:

– children can build secure relationships with peers and teachers while having more time to learn about each other’s needs.

– older children can naturally take on leadership roles, which can benefit both age groups.

– children and families can benefit from fewer transitions, which can be especially helpful for children who are anxious or have difficulty with change. For example, an infant who stays here through their preschool or kindergarten year would have two total classrooms in their early childhood career.

– foster a sense of community and encourage cooperative learning..

Breakfast– Whole grain cheerios with fresh strawberries.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded beef, fresh cantaloupe/strawberries, and fresh green beans/cucumber.

PM snack– Wheat thin crackers with pepita seeds.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/green beans.

Have a lovely night!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-07-11

Good Afternoon!

This morning, our friends played with the pattern ramps and wooden cars/people. They worked on placing their wooden people in the car and then pushed them down the ramp. They watched as the cars went in different directions based on the pattern of their ramp.

We then made our way into the kitchen to finger paint. Our friends were given a small bowl with red, yellow, and blue paint. Miss Bekah read us the “Mouse Paint” book while we painted and mixed our colors on our paper.

Outside, our friends played in the sandbox and rode bikes up and down the hill. Two of our friends found different uses for small sticks: to engage with at the play house and to pretend to use as a tool for a haircut.

Breakfast:  Corn Chex cereal and fresh strawberries.

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with shredded beef, cucumber, and fresh orange slices.

Afternoon Snack: Whole grain Wheat Thins crackers with peanut butter.

Wee Sprouts: Mini sweet peppers.

Have a great evening!

Tina and Rebekah

Link to pictures: 2024-07-11