Good Afternoon and Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend.

“You can discover more about a person from an hour of play than a year of conversation.” ~Plato

We added in a new fine motor activity into the classroom today and the kids LOVED it. A wire whisk was stuffed with soft puff balls and our friends worked the fingers and hands into the whisk to get the balls out.

Once all the puff balls were dislodged, of course we just had to throw them at one another to add in even more fun.  

During our outdoor play, the water table was a big hit. (As always)  We engaged in all the fun water animals and had them swimming in the pans of water.

This activity enhances our fine motor, hand-eye coordination and sensory skills.

Breakfast: Whole grain/wheat bagels with peanut butter and pears.

Lunch: Whole wheat noodles with butter and Kidney beans, mixed veggies and pears and clementine’s.

Snack: Whole milk yogurt with graham crackers.

Wee Sprouts: Garden Fresh cucumbers.

Have a nice evening.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljq1u7STyy5bWLRZFKg?e=w5WZtb

Happy Friday!

**Please check out the lost and found cubby in the science area at pickup time as we have several unclaimed items! Thank you!

We welcomed David back this morning as he’s been gone all summer. Kim, Annastecia, and I just hung back and watched as he reconnected with his peers. Several friends have been asking when their friends (who have been gone for the summer) are coming back. The bonds and friendships that these children make is absolutely incredible. David’s relationships with his peers got right back on track.

The summer time can offer relaxed schedules and a lower class size.

We’re excited to have a full class and start the school year in just a few short weeks!

Breakfast– Rice cakes with peanut butter and fresh blueberries.

Lunch– Ham and turkey on whole wheat flatbread, fresh watermelon, and fresh carrots/cherry tomatoes.

PM snack– Goldfish, fresh watermelon, and cheddar block cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots/cherry tomatoes.

Have a great weekend!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 8/2

Good Afternoon!

Please Note: WWF will be closed for Labor Day on September 2nd 2019.

“In social play children learn how to negotiate with others, how to please others, and how to modulate and overcome the anger that can arise from conflicts.” ~ Peter Gray

Please enjoy the pictures from our day.

Breakfast: Whole grain brown rice cakes with cream cheese and clementine’s.

Lunch: Whole wheat bread with turkey lunchmeat, broccoli and clementine’s.

Snack:Whole grain Cheese crackers and mozzarella string cheese.

Wee Sprouts: Peas.

Have a great weekend.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljqt8WYHGe_c005Ei5g?e=o9cF1T

Good Afternoon!

Happy August! The summer is going by so quickly. Our classroom will be transitioning over the next few weeks: children heading off to their big kid school, a few children coming back from vacations, and adding a few Wee Wee’s to our class. Changes can be tough and create some anxiety in your Wee Friender but we’ve been talking about the changes that will happen so we can all prepare ourselves for what’s to come .

Transitions can be challenging for children. Big transitions, such as going to a new school, or a smaller transition, having to clean up and go outside. Even as adults, transitions can bring about stress and anxiety SO we can expect it from children too!

I found this Teacher Tom article from a few years back that really rang true, especially this time of year when we say ‘good-bye’ and ‘hello’ several times within a short time period.

“Most kids I’ve known, most days, are eager to come to school, but some kids drag their feet every day and all of them have mornings when they would rather not. I get it and I don’t take it personally. After all, I love my job, but I’m not always a happy camper about getting dressed and getting out the door either.”

“All of us tend to do better when we know what to expect because it gives us the opportunity to prepare ourselves and develop our own philosophical approach to moving on from one thing to the next. Perhaps most importantly it allows children to begin to see that it’s not mommy or daddy, but rather the schedule that makes the transition necessary.”

http://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com/2017/01/transitions.html

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Enjoy a few pictures from our day!

Breakfast– Kix and fresh blueberries.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded turkey, fresh watermelon, and fresh carrots/green beans.

PM snack– Air popped popcorn with butter and sunflower seeds.

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots/green beans.

Have a fantastic evening.

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 8/1

Good Afternoon and Happy August!

This morning while Miss Annastecia was in the classroom she offered our friends a sensory/science activity.

We used watercolor paints and small eye droppers to squeeze the watercolor paint onto our papers. We utilized our fine motor skills to pinch the small dropper top so that the water would come out! Miss Annastecia showed our kiddos one time just what to do and all of the children soared with it! GREAT job guys.

Breakfast: Whole grain Chex and apples.

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with shredded pork, fresh cucumbers and apples.

Snack: Whole wheat Ritz crackers and peanut butter.

Wee Sprouts: Snap Peas

Have a fantastic night.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES:  https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljqtRZ_WUmK84-q7-bw?e=ThlshR

Good Afternoon.

“The question is not whether we can afford to invest in every child; it is whether we can afford not to. ~Marian Wright Edelman

While engaged in early literacy this morning, our friends kept choosing one of my favorite children’s book author, Sandra Boynton.

We read, Opposites, Happy Hippo Angry Hippo, Barnyard Dance, But Not The Hippopotamus and Mooo Baaa Oink. There are many more selections, but those were the specific stories friends wanted to read and keep reading.

We then headed into the kitchen area for a sensory activity per Daniel’s “Can we go into the kitchen and do something fun?” request. We painted with very bright and vibrant colors. The children love to paint and its a wonderful multi learning activity. (Hand-eye coordination, sensory and color recognition.)

Breakfast: Whole grain Oatmeal with honey and banana.

Lunch: Scrambled eggs with Whole wheat butter toast, WF garden fresh cucumbers and pears.

Snack: Pretzels and Colby cheese.

Have a great evening.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljqoLmRgcuPkm8viCAg?e=qywxk7

Happy Wednesday!

COLORS dominated our morning in many facets.

Children arranged the bear counters by color. They observed the different groups of colors and used descriptive words to talk about the groupings.

An activity was made available at the art table where children cut out pictures from magazines and sorted the pictures by color. The color wheel had six colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. When they found a specific colored picture, they cut it out and glued it into the corresponding category.

Our color curiosity even followed us outside as children took turns with clip boards that came equipped with a magnifying glass and a box of crayons. Our friends went around the yard, searching for something that caught their attention and put it down on paper. The magnifying glasses were used mainly for flowers or anything that was small to where children wanted to see the details of that item. The focus in their eyes was absolutely incredible!

“Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.”

-Maya Angelou

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Breakfast– Whole grain oatmeal with honey and fresh blueberries (thanks to Anna’s family!)

Lunch– Scrambled eggs with whole wheat bread, fresh apple/banana, and fresh snap peas/carrots.

PM snack– Homemade banana muffins and cheese sticks.

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots/snap peas.

Have a fantastic evening!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 7/31

Good Afternoon!

We have been fascinated with colors! This interest in colors is mostly evident at the art table where children use a collection of colors to explore concepts such as light and dark.

Today, however, this color exploration popped up on the building rug where Anna and Penny took all of the magnatiles out of the two bins and separated them by colors. They did so by starting with one color and building upward. They started by choosing the big squares and then adding the smaller magnatiles on top. As they were separating the colors, they surveyed the area and guessed which color would have the most. Penny said, “I think red is going to have the most!”—She was right!

Grady asked for pattern blocks this morning. He dispersed the blocks onto his tray and began building. When he was done, he came running and said, “I made a kitty robot that flies and dances!”. He used an array of shapes ranging from rectangles to hexagons.

Our paper mache project is coming along. Today, we painted the inside of our paper mache bowls with variations of the color blue!

Keep your eye open for a new art display..

Breakfast– Quaker Oatmeal Squares and fresh cantaloupe.

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

PM snack– Homemade banana muffins and fresh oranges.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/carrots.

Have a fantastic night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 7/30

Good Afternoon.

We welcomed back our friend Zoe from her vacation today and we were able to get to know our new friend Caroline that will begin in just a couple weeks.

We are sad that summer is coming to an end but excited for Fall and all the wonderful changes it brings to our classroom.

We love the water, and that will be one sad transition we will be leaving as the weather turns to colder temps. But we will bask in the joy for as long as we possibly can.

Breakfast: Whole grain Cheerios and Kix with banana.

Lunch: Whole wheat tortilla with shredded cheese, mixed vegetables and pears.

Snack: Homemade whole wheat banana muffin and mozzarella string cheese.

Wee Sprouts: WF Garden Fresh cucumbers.

Have a nice night.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljqki57eLSgHG4Cf0vA?e=maAByu

Happy Monday!

Our paper mache project is in full swing. We let our paper mache creations dry over the weekend and today, we started to paint them. We focused on painting the outside while we’ll tackle the inside at a later date!

Paper mache is a process that majority of our friends haven’t had the pleasure of exploring. Throughout this process, children have become more accepting and excited about the sensory feeling of the materials. While we never demand children do an activity, we’re excited that most of our friends explored paper mache and are still interested in the overall process!

Our morning is structed in the way that children have choices. This morning, Franklin requested the coins. He took the coins out and sorted them. He was surprised when he found a ‘real’ Notre Dame gold coin! He was pretty shocked and immediately put it up to his shirt and said, “It’s like my Notre Dame shirt!”

Several friends sat at the circle table where they used their fine motor skills to place Legos onto their boards. One of our favorite things lately is rainbows. Friends have been using this new found passion in their art. Ruby and Sophia used a range of colors to extend their art drawings.

The amount of excitement when Maxwell walked outside could not be contained! Maxwell and his brother, Jackson, dropped off some new wood for our wood working bench! He quickly came out to say hi and give his friends a hug!

Breakfast– Whole wheat toast with butter and fresh pears.

Lunch– Whole wheat pasta with butter and shredded chicken, fresh cantaloupe, and fresh cucumber/snap peas.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with banana.

Wee Sprout– Fresh snap peas/cucumber.

Have a terrific evening!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 7/29