Good Afternoon!

This morning as friends were looking out the bridge door, they noticed a bumble bee flying around.  That led into Miss Annastecia talking to them about what sound bees make, where bees get their food, and that bees give us something we can eat too. Miss Annastecia shared with the friends that it was honey.

We engaged in moving our bodies to 2 songs by Greg and Steve called Animal Action 1&2.  We moved our bodies like many different animals the songs told us to.  The friends are acting out how a lion moves and the ROARing sound they make.

We then headed outside to enjoy the beautiful, very warm weather.  Today we took out some construction paper and crayons to create colorful drawings at the art table.

Paige engaged with the ladder on the habitrail.  She used it to pull herself up to the standing position.  While she was holding onto it, she wiggled her body to dance.  After crawling up the steps onto the habtrail, she stood independently for a few seconds to work on her balance skills before grabbing onto the top rung of the ladder.

Breakfast:  Kix and pears.

Lunch:  Roast beef sandwich on whole grain wheat bread, banana and corn.

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

Wee Sprouts:  Fresh green beans.

Have a lovely evening!

Rebekah

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIulkcdvN9BUb-vBwPhsdQ?e=nSQfag

Good Afternoon!

During kindergarten sign in, children had to guess which ball would travel the fastest down a ramp. The three balls they had to choose from were a marble, fluff ball, and a softer felt ball. Everyone guessed that the marble would travel the fastest: and it did!

Science: K.3.2 Investigate that things move in different ways, such as fast, slow, etc.

As they began testing the balls, younger peers stood at the doorway watching. After all five kindergarteners had signed in, younger friends took over the activity.

We added a few more tubes and eventually, had two lanes where friends were using the various balls to race. They talked about which ball travelled the fastest down the ramp and why they thought that was.

We easily extended this activity to hold the interest of children by using various materials such as more tubes and a few different balls.

Franklin and a few of his peers chatted this morning about drawing a dinosaur. Franklin worked with them and once the dinosaur drawing was finished, they took the idea outside. Franklin used materials from our outdoor environment to create the dinosaur! It was a great process to witness.

Enjoy the rest of the pictures from our day!

Breakfast– Whole Grain Cheerios with banana.

Lunch– Peanut butter on whole wheat flatbread, fresh cantaloupe, and fresh snap peas/cucumber.

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

Wee Sprout– Fresh snap peas/cucumber.

Have a lovely night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 4/27

Good Afternoon!

This morning we painted with puffy paint.  It is a mixture of shaving cream, glue and liquid watercolors.  We used our paint brush to “dab” it onto our papers to give it the puffy look.  Adrian started off by saying, “dab, dab, dab,” which was very contagious as everyone started to chant with him while they were painting.

We then heading outside to enjoy some fresh air and sunshine.  We engaged in scooping with our shovels in the sandbox or rock area before placing our sand or rocks into a container or truck.

Nesta was busy with her sister, Evie offering to give friends a haircut.  They were chanting, “who wants a haircut?,” to round up some friends who were interested in having one.

Paige chose a polar bear from the shelf and is sharing it with Miss Annastecia.

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

Lunch:  Whole grain wheat pasta with shredded beef, fresh oranges and sweet potatoes.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole milk yogurt and graham crackers.

Wee Sprouts:  Cucumbers.

Have a wonderful evening!

Rebekah

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIulkcZIcpMKvJZ6V4O7BA?e=rKExyq

Happy Monday!

Three of our three year old friends headed to the art table immediately after breakfast was cleaned up! They got out the 3-D cardboard squares to color on. We love having various materials in the art area that allows friends to explore. One friend shared how different it was drawing on the cardboard versus white paper.

An interest in the rubber band boards drew several friends to the table to explore. This is a great fine motor activity. Children placed the rubber bands in various directions and a couple friends tried to make a pattern with their rubber bands.

It was quite the morning outside! A group of children gathered back by the yellow house and moved logs from one spot to another. They took the logs and placed them vertically leaning on the outside of the house.

Most of our friends explored all morning, searching for weeds and bugs to add to bug jars. A small group spent time offering free hair cuts! When I asked if I could get a haircut, I was told I was too old!

Breakfast– Whole wheat toast with butter and banana.

Lunch– Whole wheat noodles with butter and shredded beef, fresh pears/banana, and fresh cucumber/snap peas.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with fresh pears.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/snap peas.

Have a lovely night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 4/26

Good Afternoon! Enjoy some of the pictures of our day.  I also included the link of yesterday’s pictures and all pictures are there.

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

Lunch:  Hummus on whole grain wheat flatbread, mixed vegetables and fresh apples.

Afternoon Snack:  Pretzels and mild cheddar block cheese.

Wee Sprouts:  Orange bell peppers.

Have a great weekend!

Rebekah

Link to pictures 4/23:  https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIulkcRrV32bdh9de87xTQ?e=oLNtIJ

Link to pictures 4/22:  https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIulkcNNL1jCO69x5oaRaQ?e=C3M0DT

Happy Friday!

Enjoy the pictures from our day!

Breakfast– Brown rice cakes with peanut butter and banana.

Lunch– Turkey on whole wheat bread, fresh honeydew melon and apples, and fresh pepper/cucumber.

PM snack– Banana, cheddar cheese slices, and pretzels.

Wee Sprout– Fresh peppers/cucumber.

Have a great weekend!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 4/23

Good Afternoon!

One of our friends will be celebrating his 5th birthday this weekend! We are so glad that we were able to celebrate with him a little bit early today! We’re sending you the biggest and loudest HAPPY BIRTHDAY that hopefully lasts all the way through the weekend!

Several teachers were able to take part in two Zoom professional development opportunities the last two weeks with Teacher Tom! The trainings were AWESOME and getting the see the man behind the blog was even more so.

As I was scrolling through his blog today, the first blog got my attention: ‘Eight in Ten Youths Believe The Adults in Their Lives Value Achievement Over Caring For Others’. What a striking (and sad) statement.

Early on in his blog post, Teacher Tom shared that, “Here’s the bad news: Approximately 80 percent of these same kids report that their parents and teachers are more concerned with achievement more than caring for others. The vast majority of America’s youth agree with this statement: “My parents are prouder if I get good grades in my class than if I’m a caring community member in class and school.””

“So what can we do? It seems like we need to spend more time talking to one another. I mean, most of us agree that we live in a society that needs more kindness and fairness. Our children value kindness and fairness. We know that life for everyone would be better with more caring community members.”

We have ongoing, daily conversations about kindness, empathy, and treating others with respect. Children are like sponges: they soak up and absorb anything they hear and see.

I’ve attached the blog post below!:

http://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com/2021/04/eight-in-ten-youths-believe-adults-in.html

Enjoy the pictures from our day!

Breakfast– Oatmeal squares and banana.

Lunch– Brown rice with kidney beans, fresh cantaloupe, and fresh carrots/snap peas.

PM snack– A birthday treat: coconut bread and cheddar sliced cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots/snap peas.

Have a lovely night.

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 4/22

Happy Earth Day!

Today we read the book, The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle.  After reading the story, we helped Miss Annastecia plant some seeds and water them.  We are going to care for them and watch to see what happens and then use them to plant in our garden in the backyard.  We planted cucumber, red cabbage, sunflower and tomato seeds.

Breakfast:  Corn Chex with oranges.

Lunch:  Whole grain brown rice with kidney beans, apples and corn.

Afternoon Snack:  Ritz crackers and sunflower seeds.

Wee Sprouts: Cauliflower.

Have a great night!

Rebekah

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIulkcNOEbx_9PT1gkvQpw?e=ave9Hg

Good Afternoon!

This morning at breakfast Katherine worked on her hand-eye coordination, self-help and scooping skills to scoop up her oatmeal from her bowl and feed herself.

We then engaged in a book and painting activity with Miss Annastecia.  She read us the book, Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert. She gave us each our own little bowl of all the colors of the rainbow and several Q-tips that were taped together to use as our painting tool in our paint.  We all enjoyed using our bundle of Q-tips to spread the colors of the rainbow on our papers.

After painting, a friend requested the bear hunt song.  So, we acted out the motions of the song while listening to it.  We then read the story, We’re Going a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen.

After reading the bear hunt story we went over to our animals to see if we could find a bear?  We didn’t find a brown or black one like in the story, but we did find a polar bear. We used the polar bear to play a game with the plastic blocks.  Miss Bekah hid the bear under a block while the friends closed their eyes.  Each friend then was given a turn to guess which color block the bear was hiding under and pick the block up to see if their guess was correct. Friends were given the opportunity to hide the bear under a block as well.

Breakfast:  Whole grain oatmeal and fresh pears.

Lunch:  Farm fresh scrambled eggs, fresh pears, sweet potatoes and whole grain flatbread.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole grain Wheat Thins with hummus.

Wee Sprouts:  Cherry tomatoes.

Have a lovely evening!

Rebekah

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIulkcJiDTFUv_xqOpJMDQ?e=8Re1c8

Good Afternoon!

Enjoy the pictures from our day!

Breakfast– Whole grain oatmeal with cinnamon and fresh apples.

Lunch– Farm fresh scrambled eggs with whole wheat tortilla, fresh strawberries/pineapple, and fresh cucumber/snap peas/carrots.

PM snack– Air popped popcorn with butter and raisins.

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots/cucumber.

Have a great evening!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 4/21