Good Afternoon!

Maps and globes are our main focus this week but today in K group, we spent some time discussing cities and various things that make up a city. We read, ‘In The City’, which is an interactive book where you shine a flashlight (or the light on a phone!) to see things that are hiding within the illustration.

Places that we learned about in the story were construction buildings with construction works, various forms of transportation like buses and subways, and parks.

As we wrapped up group, each friend shared the city that they live in: we are a ‘South Bend’ heavy group .

Dinner chat opportunity: ask your kindergartener if they can remember the city that their peers live in! Talk with them about other cities that you’ve been to!

Social Studies: K.3.2 Identify maps and globes as ways of representing Earth and understand differences between a map/globe.

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In PREK2, children explored a map that Miss Annastecia had drawn a while ago. It’s of our backyard environment here at school! Since they know the layout so well, Miss Kim asked them questions about various spots in the backyard pertaining to the map!

Franklin and Daniel explored the welcome activity. They used wooden tongs to place colorful fluff balls throughout the wooden rainbow. This is a newer activity that we put out into the environment for friends to explore. Some children decided to make a colorful rainbow, scattered with random colors while others choose to implement some sort of pattern to their creation.

What a warm one this morning! We’re ready for a little bit of a cool down . We’re thankful for shaded spaces, bikes that allow us to go really fast in the wind, and the water fountain!

Breakfast– Quaker Oatmeal Squares with fresh cantaloupe.

Lunch– Peanut butter on whole wheat bread, fresh strawberries/oranges, and fresh carrots/cucumber.

PM snack– Whole wheat bagel with cream cheese and cheddar block cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots/cucumber.

Have a lovely evening!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 5/25

Good Afternoon!

This morning we introduced some new wooden cars and people to our friends.  We made a road with masking tape with parking spots for our friends to drive their cars on and park them.  A friend even used the corner of the wall to park his cars in a row.  It was a very popular place in the classroom this morning and this afternoon.

During outside time, Nesta played a hopping game using the stepping circles and said, “hop” as she hopped to each circle with her baby doll on her shoulders.  Some of her other friends joined in her game.

Breakfast:  Whole grain Cheerios and fresh apples.

Lunch:  Hummus on whole grain wheat tortillas, fresh pears and green beans.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole grain cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese and mozzarella cheese stick.

Wee Sprouts: Cucumbers.

Have a lovely evening!

Rebekah

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIulkeNvekoVtcMrtrMQng?e=jWraHx

Good Afternoon!

One of the youngest friends pointed at the pianos on the shelf to let the teacher know she wanted to play with them.  Many friends engaged in making music together.

We then engaged in an imaginative play activity and turned ourselves into firefighters with our helmets and used the chairs and stools to make a fire truck.  Miss Bekah sang a song called Hurry, Hurry Drive the Fire Truck and friends acted out driving, climbing the ladder and squirting the water from the hose.  After the activity, we read the book, Fire Truck by Ivan Ulz.

Miss Tami bought us some new puzzles.  Friends were very interested in working to complete them as well as working to complete more difficult ones in their individual skill level.

We then headed outside to get some fresh air and engage in many of our favorite activities.

While friends were napping, Paige and another friend engaged playing peek-a-boo with the curtains.

Breakfast:  Whole grain wheat toast with butter/cinnamon and fresh oranges.

Lunch:  Whole grain wheat pasta with red beans, fresh apples/pears and corn/peas.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole milk yogurt and graham crackers.

Wee Sprouts:  Fresh carrots.

Have a great night!

Rebekah

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIulkeEuSoq-U_jP6nUevQ?e=PWrqWe

Happy Monday!

**Reminder: Wee Friends is closed Monday, May 31 for Memorial Day.

We started this week by talking about maps and globes, specifically how they are different! We focused only on maps today during K group. I held up the map of the United States and the map of the world.

When the map of the United States was our focus, friends shared where they’ve been! “Where’s Kentucky?! We went there and I got to ride a horse!”

We identified the states Ohio, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan, South Carolina, and Wyoming (since those are the states that friends have visited recently!)

Sophia also asked, “Where’s Indy? Because I’ve been there!”

The term ‘capitals’ were brought up and the fact that each state has a capital.

Social Studies: K.3.2 Identify maps and globes as ways of representing Earth and understand differences between a map/globe.

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Last week, calendars were a major focus in both K group and PREK2 group. We have a calendar in the science area that children often reference when they want to know something date related. A small group of boys were looking at the calendar this morning and Franklin asked, ‘Is it really C’s birthday today?!”

When you make something like a calendar available all the time, authentic and natural learning experiences take place. They talked about the month and how May is almost over and then June will start!

This morning was one of those mornings where children utilized any and all shaded areas of our outdoor environment. Thankfully, regardless of the time of day, we have a couple options for shade if children need to take a break and cool off.

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

Lunch– Whole wheat pasta with kidney beans and butter, fresh cantaloupe, and fresh broccoli/cherry tomatoes.

PM snack– C’s birthday treat: fresh veggies (peppers, carrots, cucumber, cherry tomatoes) and hummus/veggie dip with string cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cherry tomatoes/cucumber.

Have a wonderful evening!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 5/24

Good Afternoon!

This morning we were into throwing our balls to Miss Bekah.  We worked on taking turns and practicing patience to throw the ball to her using several different activities.  Miss Bekah first began by saying a word that rhymes with our name to the song Willaby Wallaby.  Then she said the first letter of our name and the sound of it.  After that she described the colors on the clothes we were wearing and finally said our last names.  We all did wonderfully with all of the different activities.

We began our week playing in the moon sand, so we thought it was fitting for us to end our week playing in it.

During outside time this week, friends have been busy exploring all the nature outside and looking for bugs.

Our 2 youngest friends engaged in the book The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood.  They used their fine motor as they turned each page to look at the next one.

Breakfast:  Whole grain brown rice cakes with peanut butter and fresh pears.

Lunch: Ham and cream cheese roll-ups, fresh pears/oranges and peas.

Afternoon Snack:  Goldfish crackers with cheddar block cheese.

Wee Sprouts:  Red bell peppers/carrots.

Have a wonderful weekend and stay cool!

Rebekah

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIulkeAd3qfeGNA7gm7SyQ?e=FeKnlp

Happy Friday!

**We are sending home winter clothes today so if you could check their cubbies at pick, that’d be great! Please make sure that your child has at least two summer outfit changes. Thank you!

We had quite the exciting Friday! It all started first thing this morning when we realized that two of our butterflies had freed themselves from their chrysalis! We observed them periodically throughout the morning.

Later on in the afternoon, we went outside for a few minutes to watch Miss Kim release them! What a great life cycle that we observed over the last few weeks. We’re anxious to see when the rest of the caterpillars will transition into butterflies!

Enjoy a few of the pictures from our outside time this morning!

Breakfast– Brown rice cakes with peanut butter and banana.

Lunch– Ham on whole wheat tortilla, fresh pears/banana, and fresh carrots/cherry tomatoes.

PM snack– Goldfish and cheddar block cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cherry tomatoes/cucumber.

Have a lovely weekend!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 5/21

Good Afternoon!

This morning friends were laying on the carpet and asked Miss Annastecia to sing the See The Bunnies Sleeping Song for them to act out.

Miss Annastecia had an exciting painting activity for us using cardboard tubes and a marble.  We each placed our marble into the tube and watched it come out the end into the paint on the paper at the bottom.  Miss Annastecia asked Nesta, who was the first friend to do the activity, what she thought would happen when her marble went into the paint?  Nesta replied, “it will spread it around.”

Our 2 youngest friends engaged with the bean bags.  They were busy shaking them, placing them on the slide and working to toss them into the basket.

Breakfast:  Corn Chex with fresh banana/oranges.

Lunch:  Whole grain brown rice with shredded chicken, fresh apples and corn.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole grain Wheat Thins and pumpkin/sunflower seeds.

Wee Sprouts:  Cucumbers.

Have a great night!

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIulkd5f3ac3Dg_WidVujw?e=EH0fC4

Good Afternoon!

Enjoy the pictures from our day!

Breakfast– Whole Grain Cheerios with banana.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded chicken, fresh watermelon, and fresh broccoli/carrots.

PM snack–  Wheat Thins and peanuts.

Wee Sprout– Fresh broccoli/peppers.

Have a wonderful evening!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 5/20

Good Afternoon!  Enjoy some of the pictures from our day.

Breakfast:  Whole grain oatmeal with cinnamon and fresh apples.

Lunch: Farm fresh scrambled eggs, whole grain wheat toast with butter, fresh pears and carrots.

Afternoon Snack:  Hummus on whole grain wheat flatbread.

Wee Sprouts:  Snap Peas.

Have a wonderful Wednesday evening!

Rebekah

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIulkd0z0VJX2GkxKgcxQQ?e=Tbhppz

Happy Wednesday!

I’m going to be honest. This article is on the longer side but it is a GOOD one. People often underestimate the playful nature that children have. We spend a great deal of time in free play, offering several activities and areas for children to dive into. It’s here that children get to experiment socially, learn how to deal with conflict, and figure out HOW to play with peers.

For example, a group of peers spent the entire time in our outdoor housekeeping area this morning. They used things from throughout the yard in their play—mulch, grass, weeds, helicopter seeds, etc. For almost two hours, they kept extending their play, staying interested and self driven by coming up with new tasks to do.

In this blog post below, Teacher Tom goes into great detail about a child who was in his class:

“When I asked this father why they had left the girl’s mother and older siblings to come so far just for four two-and-a-half hour sessions a week, he told me he was worried about Anjoli. “She doesn’t know how to play.” All of his children had attended school from the earliest age possible, schools that promised academic achievement, but he had recently seen the error of his ways. He told me that he felt it was too late for his sons, but he hoped that it wasn’t for Anjoli.”

“It all seemed both heartbreaking and bizarre to me, but the father was sincere. I’d never met a child who didn’t know how to play. Maybe, I thought, this father simply didn’t know what play looked like. Indeed, I started our first day together on the playground with the theory that it was the father, not the girl, who didn’t know about play.”

Teacher Tom does a fantastic job at sharing this story—I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

http://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-girl-who-didnt-know-how-to-play.html

Breakfast– Whole grain oatmeal (overnight oats) and fresh strawberries.

Lunch– Farm fresh scrambled eggs with whole wheat tortilla, fresh grapes, and fresh pepper/broccoli/cucumber.

PM snack– Air popped popcorn with butter and applesauce.

Wee Sprout– Fresh pepper/cucumber.

Have a wonderful evening!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 5/19