Good Afternoon What a gorgeous day!

This morning we had a good time engaging with the colorful shape stackers. This activity enhances friends hand-eye coordination, shape and color recognition as well as working on the understanding of  biggest to smallest and vice versa of the stacker shapes.

We then got in our big blocks and had fun rowing them as our boats. We listed to a few different songs while rowing.

During outside play, we engaged in coloring all types of things on the ground with our new sidewalk chalk. Also, we had fun playing hop scotch after Miss Marty made the number squares to jump on.

Breakfast: Whole grain Kix cereal and bananas.

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with butter and shredded chicken, cooked carrots and bananas.

Snack: Sunflower seeds and whole wheat crackers.

Wee Sprouts: Cucumbers.

Have a fantastic night.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES:  https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIullOUzKlXfqZ2d2AoKeQ

Good Afternoon!

Two very exciting events happened this morning–

First: we made new playdough! A few friends gathered around the island as I got the ingredients together, anxious to help out! They decided on the colors blue and black. Each friend helped with an ingredient and placed it into the bowl. Once all of the ingredients were added, they helped me stir the dough together. We did this again for the second color that the small group of children chose. A friend commented, “It looks like icing. I wanna eat it!”

Playdough is one of our favorite sensory activities. It’s a huge bonus that children get to help me make it!

The second exciting event was new chalk was added to our outdoor environment. We LOVE chalk! A few kids decided to cover a big space with their chalk while others chose to draw simple drawings or even play a game of hopscotch! It was such a beautiful morning to be outside.

Breakfast– Corn Chex and banana.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded beef, fresh cantaloupe, and fresh cucumber/cherry tomatoes.

PM snack– Graham crackers with peanut butter.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/cherry tomatoes.

Have a wonderful night.

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 6/2

Good Afternoon and Happy June!

Today friends enjoyed a fun fine motor, color recognition, and hand-eye coordination activity! We all love the pegs and different shaped peg boards.

While some were working with the pegs others built with our waffle blocks.

We got a great opportunity to get outside and play after some of the morning rain showers.

The water fountain was turned on and some of our little ones worked very hard to get a drink. GREAT JOB, GUYS!!!!  

Breakfast: Whole grain oatmeal with cinnamon and oranges.

Lunch: Farm fresh scrambled eggs with shredded cheese, whole wheat flatbread, peas wit apples and oranges.

Snack: Hummus with Blue corn chips.

Wee Sprouts: Fresh red peppers.

Have a fantastic evening.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIullOMst2lMviAfOXT3hw

Good Afternoon!

A special treat was made in the kitchen this morning and of course, children jumped at the chance to help!

After washing their hands, they helped by adding dry ingredients into the bowl after Miss Annastecia weighed each ingredient.

Once all of the dry ingredients were added, children got a chance to lightly whisk the ingredients together. We did find out what happens to dry ingredients when you whisk the dry ingredients a little too hard!

Once the dough chilled in the refrigerator for an hour, friends took a cookie cutter and cut two cookies out!

They were so helpful and are anxious to taste their finish product!

Millie: “Ding-a-ling! Ding-a-ling! Ding-a-ling! Oh hi! I am getting a new baby! I have a lot of diapers for it. I’m getting it after Target..”

James: “Don’t worry about it (insert eye roll ). I’ll talk to you later.”

A wooden block is not just a wooden block. Today, it was a phone that allowed children to have imaginary conversations with someone on the other line. Teachers stood back, listening to their conversations and admiring their ability to use their imagination!

Below is a blogpost about imaginary play and how to help children cultivate their imagination.

http://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com/2022/03/im-fairy-real-fairy.html

We are so fortunate to have several sibling pairs between the infant/toddler classroom and the preschool classroom! Evie and Nesta were caught giving each other a super loving hug while outside this morning.

Breakfast– Whole grain oatmeal with fresh pears.

Lunch– Farm fresh scrambled eggs with whole wheat bread, fresh oranges/apples, and fresh carrots/broccoli.

PM snack-Air popped popcorn with butter and raisins.

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 6/1

Good Afternoon!  I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend.

Enjoy the pictures from our day! 

Breakfast:  Whole grain Cheerios and fresh pears.

Lunch:  Peanut butter on whole grain wheat bread, fresh apples and corn.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole grain wheat English muffins with butter and cinnamon and fresh yellow bell peppers.

Have a great evening!

Rebekah

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIullOFh3Biox8X5uEmhvw

Good Afternoon!

It was a slower moving morning after coming back from a long weekend. Children found an activity that interested them and explored that activity for most of the morning! The art table was full with children using markers and paint dotters. A few of our friends gave their first drawing to a teacher!

We headed outside and decided to use the water table. Various bins and buckets were filled with water and most kids decided to take the water to either the table or to the sandbox. At the end of our water table experience, we were QUITE muddy/sandy/wet or all of the above BUT it was a great way to stay cool and a fun sensory experience.

Breakfast– Whole Grain Cheerios with fresh watermelon.

Lunch– Whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce and shredded cheese, fresh oranges, and fresh cucumber/carrot.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with fresh watermelon.

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots/cucumber.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 5/31

Good Afternoon!

Enjoy the pictures from our Friday!

Breakfast– Brown rice cakes with peanut butter and banana.

Lunch– Hummus on whole wheat tortilla, fresh watermelon, and fresh carrots.

PM snack– Goldfish and cheddar cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh pepper/carrot.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 5/27

Good Afternoon And Happy Friday!

PLEASE NOTE: WEE FRIENDS WILL BE CLOSED MONDAY, MAY 30TH  IN OBSERVANCE OF MEMORIAL DAY! THANK YOU.

This morning friends were happy and excited about giving our pretend babies baths. A little soap was added to our buckets of water along with a wash cloth.

We also enjoyed our day by walking and balancing our bodies on the sensory circles.

One of our older friends found a huge mound of sand in the sandbox and thought it would be a fun idea to stomp on it to make it all flat.  

Breakfast: Whole grain brown rice cakes with cream cheese and pineapple.

Lunch: Whole wheat bread with peanut butter, cheddar cheese. fresh cucumbers and pineapple.

Snack: Pretzels and cheese crackers.

Have a lovely holiday weekend, stay safe and cool. See you on Tuesday!

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIullOApNTzmzRZHUBKRgg

Good Afternoon!

What is the purpose of learning?

It is the title of the blog I posted below. Teacher Tom talks about what the purpose of learning is, stating, “From where I sit, when children are free to engage their world through their own curiosity, which is to say to learn what they choose, how they choose, and according to a schedule of their own device, they do it for one reason and one reason only: because doing so brings them joy.”

That’s one of our biggest sticking points here: attaching joy to learning. At this age, it shouldn’t involve a worksheet that has no specific meaning to a child but more so, an activity that is started by a child because of their interests in that specific topic.

We have nature materials in the backyard along with various pieces of wood. A group of children used the wood boards to make their own ramps this morning. Once their ramp was done, they used various sized trucks to drive down the ramp. They used their problem solving skills when an aspect of the ramp wasn’t working as well as they wanted. They cooperatively worked together to end at a common goal. Their science interests were peaked when they realized that the bigger truck went down the ramp faster than a smaller truck.

An activity like this that is completely child driven is more meaningful to their learning than an activity that is more or less forced on them where they aren’t invested in the experience.

“If learning is to have purpose, it must be constructed or discovered or invented, joyfully, by those who are doing the learning.”

http://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com/2022/05/what-is-purpose-of-learning.html

Breakfast– Kix and fresh cantaloupe.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded turkey, fresh cantaloupe, and fresh cucumber/pepper.

PM snack– Whole wheat crackers with peanuts.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/pepper.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 5/26

Good Afternoon. I hope you are all having a great day!

IF YOUR CHILD WOUD LIKE TO WEAR PAJAMAS TO SCHOOL TOMORROW, WE ARE DECLARING IT A JAMMIE DAY SO LET’S DO IT.  

What silly faces some of our  friends love to bring into the classroom.

Row, Row your Boat time. Emily found an interesting way to place her feet today in the big blocks. She enjoyed putting her feet into the small opening of the block and even found a way to get them back out when she was done.

Arthur loves the housekeeping center outdoors.He enjoys scooping of mulch and placing it into bowls and pots to make delicious meals. 

Breakfast: Whole grain Kix cereal with apples.

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with butter and black beans, sweet potatoes and oranges

Snack: Whole wheat crackers and Pumpkin seeds.

Wee Sprouts: Fresh yellow peppers.

Have a fantastic night.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: . https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIullN5yCjNobqleCPefjw

LINK TO PICTURES DATED 5/25/2022https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIullN1IidGcVxgPD6zfpw