Good Afternoon!

Yesterday, we started a conversation around the places we visit in our community. Today, we focused on places within our classroom. Each PREK1 group member chose a circle from the ledge. We read it together and afterwards, they had to figure out where to place their circle on our classroom map. For example, Katherine’s circle had ‘habitrail’ written on it. She looked at the spaces that were already claimed and after she figured out where to tape her ‘habitrail’ circle, she wrote her name on it.

As Hannah was looking on after she got done signing in, she shared an idea for tomorrow’s sign in: “You know how the big kids have classroom jobs and areas they check to make sure they are clean? We should do a sign in about that!”.

Social Studies: K.3.3 Locate and describe places in the school and community.

There have been several conversations at the lunch table about birthdays and who is older than who. This sorting game arose from those conversations to find our classroom age order.  We used a calendar and some color coding to help us sort out everyone’s age and to arrange them in order.  We also sorted our class birthday months so we could see which months had birthdays and which did not.  All of the black cards represent months with no classroom birthdays. 

The five year old’s loved the activity.  Adrian was particularly invested.  He was so quick to see all of the color patterns and had a lot of excitement around noticing them!  At the end of the activity, we chose what we wanted to record about our class birthdays.  Everyone took it in different directions.  Adrian color coded the months to coincide with the chart and recorded how many birthdays there are in each month.  Hannah chose to record the exact birthdays of her closest friends.  William and Nesta were most interested in writing down each month in order exactly as they were written on the cards.

There were several younger onlookers learning by observing.  Some of the younger kids enjoyed playing with different ways they could arrange the cards when the older kids were done.  They arranged most often by size or color.  This is just one among many reasons that multiage is such an excellent learning environment!

PREK2:  We read “The Listening Walk” during group time today.  At the end of the story we talked about places in our community.  We each picked a place we have enjoyed visiting in our community.

Breakfast– Kix and banana.

Lunch– Peanut butter sandwiches on whole wheat bread, Havarti cheese slices, fresh pineapple/oranges, and fresh carrot/green beans.

PM snack– Whole wheat bagel with cream cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh green beans/pepper/carrots.

Have a wonderful night.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-06-04

Good afternoon!

We started out our morning by dressing up and dancing to the Frozen song,  “Let It Go,” which was requested by many friends. We all gathered in a circle, held hands, and sang along to the song while we danced.

We then went into the kitchen to paint with q-tips. We worked on our fine motor skills to pick up and hold the q-tip with our index finger and thumb.

We made our way outside to engage with our favorite activities. We all sat together in the sandbox to play together, shared a smile through the play house’s window, and drew with markers under the tree’s shade.

Breakfast: Whole grain Puffins cereal with fresh apples.

Lunch: Whole grain wheat flatbread with refried beans and shredded Colby-Jack cheese, fresh pineapple slices, and peas.

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

Wee Sprouts: Cucumbers.

Have a beautiful evening!

Tina and Rebekah

Link to pictures: 2024-06-04

Good Afternoon!

This morning we engaged with our loose parts.  We had color beads, a pipe cleaner and a patterning card to use with our beads.

We then headed out to build with the waffle blocks that Miss Tina brought out from the kitchen.  We worked at piecing them together like a puzzle or make a long line with them.  Eliza made a long line with hers and then walked down it.

We then headed outside to enjoy the beautiful morning.  We scooped in the sand, pushed or rode the bikes on the hill, sat on a building log and looked at our friend in the little house window.

Breakfast:  Whole grain wheat bread toasted with buttery spread and cinnamon/sugar mixture and fresh oranges.

Lunch:  Whole grain penne pasta with shredded chicken, fresh pineapple and broccoli.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole milk yogurt and graham crackers.

Wee Sprouts:  Red bell peppers.

Have a marvelous evening!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2024-06-03

Happy Monday!

Throughout the week, we’ll dive into places in our community as well as parts of our classroom! We love talking about community helpers so for PREK1 sign in, children each chose a note card with a specific community helper on it. They taped it under the place in our community where you would find that helper. William drew the card ‘grocer’ so he taped it under ‘grocery store’. This led to a big discussion about what grocery stores everyone shops at. A few of the most popular stores that our friends shop at (or so it seems!) are Trader Joes, “the Whole Foods”, and Martins.

Social Studies: K.3.3 Locate and describe places in the school and community.

This morning we continued water exploration with a water displacement activity.  We started with a cup of water then added stones and watched the water rise until it got to 2 cups.  It was quite popular to try to get the water to overflow.  Responding to this interest we tried using a syringe to measure how many milliliters of water spilled out. 

Katherine got particularly interested in the 10 ml syringe.  She decided to fill a cup that I pointed out was 200 ml but marked in 10 ml increments.  Perfect for Katherines syringe!  She shared that she could fill the cup in 10 ml increments and watch as the water rose exactly one dash mark.  We got to practice counting by tens and we got to talk about different ways to measure volume all in one activity!

Outdoors the older kids were happy to have the whole group back since they play together so much!  They said they were playing a “game of love”.  Hannah made sure she explained that even though they were play a game, there were in love for real.

In PREK2 we read the story “All Are Welcome Here”.  In the curriculum, we are talking about places in the school and in the community.  We drew an approximate a map of our Wee Friends space on the board, and everyone picked their favorite place to spend time in the classroom.

Paige found a slug today and watched as it made a trail.  She also found a firefly in the garden.  What a day to study the smallest parts of our garden ecosystem!

Breakfast– Whole wheat toast with peanut butter and fresh oranges.

Lunch– Whole wheat noodles with shredded turkey, fresh apples/pineapple, and fresh carrots/pepper.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with graham crackers.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/pepper/carrot.

Have a lovely night!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-06-03

Happy Friday and the last day of May!

This morning we made a path with our textured walking stones.  We enjoyed walking on them to feel the different textures on the bottom of our feet.

We then went over to the fish tank and looked at our friends through each side.

We then engaged in several activities with bean bags and rhythm sticks.  We danced with bean bags to the Beanie Bag dance by Greg and Steve.  A friend went over and pointed at the rhythm sticks.  We marched while tapping our sticks to the Ants Go Marching song.  After several times, Miss Bekah remembered another song called Tap Your Sticks by Hap Palmer.  We listened and followed along with Miss Bekah and worked to tap our sticks like she did.  For example, the song had us tap our sticks in the air and on the ground to the count of 3.  The friends enjoyed all of our music activities.

While outside, we engaged in a variety of our favorite activities.  We also saw a roly poly walking on the cement and observed it walking and working to pick it up with our fingers.  We also engaged with some nature items in pans at the table.

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

Lunch:  Whole grain wheat bread, hummus, fresh cantaloupe and red bell pepper slices.

Afternoon Snack:  Goldfish crackers and mozzarella cheese stick.

Wee Sprouts:  Cucumbers.

Have a great weekend!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2024-05-31

Happy Friday!

While we were outside, the kids struck up a very large scale cooperative game of family.  There was such a large group involved that we had to move to a larger area to allow everyone to keep their individual role in the game.  The group wanted to make a meal and serve the “babies and kids” in the family.  Several friends were chefs in a cooking area using water and weeds to make healthy gourmet meals such as “Tofu soup with greens”.  When meals were ready, friends at the table were served their meal.  The Wee Wee friends got very involved with the game as well and were happy to be served pretend soup to play in!

By looking at the blog each week, it is evident that water is one of our favorite sensory experiences. There are so many different ways to utilize water! In the article attached below, several activities are listed such as water transfer, sink/float experiments, and water painting to name a few. Summer is the perfect time to head outside and incorporate various water activities! And on rainy days, throwing a big towel on the kitchen floor with a large bin full of water and tools is a great option too! The opportunities are endless!

https://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/activities/the-benefits-of-water-play-and-7-fun-ideas-to-do-this-summer/

Indoors, water was still the theme of the day.  The kids have been very engaged with water play and experimentation.  We investigated colored water and enjoyed mixing up secondary colors.  There were all sorts of potions and imaginative games around the mixed colors!

During PREK2 group today we read the story “Good Night Numbers”.  At the end of the story we picked our favorite number.  Many friends picked their age… there was also one “Bunny Number”!”

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

Lunch– Melted shredded cheese quesadillas on whole wheat flatbread, fresh cantaloupe/apples, and fresh snap peas/cucumber/pepper.

PM snack– Block cheddar cheese and pretzels.

Wee Sprout– Fresh snap peas/cucumber/pepper.

Have a wonderful weekend!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-05-31

Good afternoon everyone! 

At the farm today we got to help in the garden!  We picked, washed and prepared the farm’s radishes for costumers.  Everyone was excited to pick some strawberries for immediate consumption!

We hope you enjoy the rest of the photos from out day!

Breakfast: Puffins cereal with fresh strawberries

Lunch: Brown rice and turkey with fresh watermelon, strawberries, cucumbers and peppers

PM Snack: Trail mix with peanuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and raisins

Wee Sprouts: Fresh cucumbers and bell peppers

Have a lovely afternoon!

~Wee Friends Teachers

Link to Photos:2024-05-30

Good afternoon!

This morning, our friends got out the plastic blocks to use as boats. They sat in them and sang along to “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”

We then made our way to the kitchen to draw with markers in our binders or on a piece of paper. Ben shared that a mark he had made on his paper was his dad.

We headed outside a little earlier to enjoy the beautiful morning. We had our wee sprout outside on the benches.We enjoyed using our imaginative play skills to pretend to cook in the play kitchen, push small trucks in the rock area, and scoop and pour in the sandbox.

Breakfast: Whole grain Kix cereal with fresh strawberries.

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with shredded chicken, cucumber, and watermelon slices.

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

Wee Sprout: Red bell pepper.

Have a beautiful evening!

Tina and Jena

Link to pictures: 2024-05-30

Good Afternoon! We enjoyed an array of indoor and outdoor activities today.

This morning we experimented with mixed media in the art center.  We tried using oil pastels to draw.  Then we painted over the drawings with water color for new and interesting effects.  A couple of kids ran with the new technique and made six or more paintings!

We planted tomato plants and carrot seeds in the garden today!  Several volunteers dug a deep hole for planting.  We learned that tomato plants can grow roots from their stem.  We learned that planting them deep would give them a healthy root system! Next we each took a tomato plant and carefully covered it with dirt.

Nesta made a special request to plant carrots. Since she had done so much work weeding the garden bed, she got to plant most of the seeds  She was happy to share the work work with Ryan and Paige who were also interested!

PREK2:  During group today we read “All the World”.  At the end of the story we thought of a place we would like to visit if we could pick anywhere in the world!  We came up with some great answers.  Several friends said they would choose “the beach”.  Asher had his own idea saying, “My Bed!”

Breakfast– Overnight oatmeal with cinnamon and fresh cantaloupe.

Lunch– Farm fresh scrambled eggs with shredded cheese, whole wheat bread, fresh strawberries/clementines, and fresh pepper/cucumber/pepper.

PM snack- Humus with tortilla chips

Wee Sprouts– Fresh snap peas/cucumber/pepper.

Have a great night.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures:2024-05-29

Happy Sunny Day!

We began our morning engaged in a variety of activities.  Eliza went down the slide upside down, Eden rolled her ball down the slide, another friend climbed up onto the habi-trail, Charlotte rocked in the rocking chair with Eleanor, Eleanor walked on the textured circles, Milo laid at the bottom of the slide to interact with Charlotte, Ben practiced his yoga poses and another friend worked on the triangle stacker.

Several friends requested to paint today.  Miss Bekah got out our small, medium and large circle sponge brushes for us to use with blue, red and yellow tempera paint.  Some friends stamped circles to fill their paper, while others clustered their circles together to make their painting.

We then went out and danced and shook our dancing scarves to Shake Your Sillies Out while acting out the motions.  One specific action we acted out was yawning.

We then headed outside the enjoy the beautiful sunshine engaged in our favorite activities.

Breakfast:  Overnight oatmeal with cinnamon/sugar mixture and fresh mandarin oranges.

Lunch:  Farm fresh scrambled eggs, fresh strawberries, mini sweet/red bell peppers and whole grain wheat tortillas.

Afternoon Snack:  White corn tortilla chips and refried beans.

Wee Sprouts:  Cucumbers.

Have a wonderful evening!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2024-05-29