Good Friday Afternoon. I hope you all had a fantastic week.

“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal.” ~Henry Ford

Enjoy the pictures from our Friday!

Breakfast: Whole grain cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese and PPC clementine’s.

Lunch: Whole wheat/grain flatbread with ham slices and shredded cheese, corn, and apples.

Snack: Whole grain cheese crackers and cheddar cheese along with special birthday treat from Miss Mindy…. a yummy blueberry muffin.

Wee Sprouts: Peas.

Have a great weekend.

Marty

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

Good Afternoon!

“Teachers play an important role in the development of 3-5 year olds’ emergent writing by encouraging children to communicate their thoughts and record their ideas (Hall et al 2015).

Pre-writing skills start with our youngest friends while our goal is for older preschoolers and especially kindergarteners to embark on the world on kid spelling. This morning, the welcome activity was exploring different pre-writing strokes using wooden pre-writing boards. These boards help children’s fine motor become comfortable making certain motions (circle, straight lines, etc.). We saw these fine motor skills transfer from our welcome activity to the art table where three and four year olds used markers to make specific, deliberate marks.

I attached an article from the NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) that goes into quite a lot of detail about emergent writing and what that looks like at each age.

https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/nov2017/emergent-writing

Breakfast– Corn chex and PPC clementines.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded pork, PPC banana/mango, and PPC cauliflower.

PM snack– Peanuts and wheat thins.

Wee Sprout– PPC cauliflower.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF, 10/18

Good afternoon. What a beautiful day today.

“The secret of joy in work is contained in one word – excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.” ~ Pearl Buck

After breakfast our friends are always very eager to start their day by having a teacher read to them. Today, Miss Annastecia was more than happy to read. A story called, The Very Busy Spider was chosen and friend’s couldn’t hear it enough. This is a fun story all about a spider who was very busy with spinning a web and that she didn’t have time to play with all the animal friends wanting to play with her.  As Miss Annastecia read, our friends were very excited and enthusiastic to tell her what sounds all the animals make that are in the story. We heard, moos, baaa’s, oink oinks, and many other funny animal sounds. We had such a great time.

We then moved onto a different activity later in the day. Daniel had asked for the colorful circle rings to play with. Upon getting these fun rings down, Miss Marty asked friends what they thought we should do with them. We ended up placing them on the floor to step in, we placed them over our necks and wore them a necklaces, and we even made a floor pattern to dance through and in them. We also talked about the colors and shape of the circles.

Breakfast: Whole grain Chex cereal with PPC banana.

Lunch: Whole grain rice with shredded pork, corn, and PPC kiwi.

Snack: Pretzels and mozzarella string cheese.

Wee Sprouts: Carrots.

Have a fantastic evening.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljPp-CApEYa9FBpijkA

Happy Wednesday!

“If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.” ~ Napoleon Hill

The sensory scarves are a great activity for a multiple educational learning experience. Friends can feel the texture of the scarf, they can use their hand-eye coordination to pull the scarves out of the tissue box and then put it back in again, we can learn the color of the scarf, and also start to understand the concept of being able to see through particular items that we play with on a daily basis.

Breakfast: Whole grain Cheerios and fresh PPC banana.

Lunch: Scrambled eggs with shredded mozzarella cheese, whole wheat buttered toast, peas, and fresh PPC banana.

Snack: Whole wheat/grain Ritz crackers with cheddar cheese slices.

Wee Sprouts: Corn.

Have a wonderful evening.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljPpMZI2sPTsufaf9sQ

Good Afternoon!

K/PREK1 read a story about being different and the physical differences that we see in people. After we finished the story, children took turns coming up to the chalkboard. They were given two words and they had to decide which word was correct. For example, Maxwell came up to the chalkboard and had to decide which was heavier: a carrot or a cucumber. Once he figured out the answer, he put a sticker on the correct word. There were a few that we were unsure of so we used our friends to help guide us!

K.M.1: Make direct comparisons of the length, capacity, weight and temperature of objects, and recognize which object is shorter, longer, taller, lighter, heavier, warmer, cooler, or holds more.

PREK2 used Montessori beads to compare and contrast length. We tend to use descriptive words such as longer, shorter, more, and less. Each child had a turn to come into the center and talk about what they saw as far as the different lengths of the Montessori bead strands laying in front of them.

Some of our friends started painting their small pumpkin today! We used small paint brushes to cover the pumpkin before having the option of gluing two eyes onto it!

Maxwell asked, “What’s next?!”, after he was done painting his pumpkin. So, we started a color exploration using three different water colors. As Maxwell and Ruby mixed their colors together, they saw them change and noted the changes that they were seeing!

Hope everyone has a ‘relaxing’ evening.

“Children are great imitators, so give them something great to imitate.”

…in Franklins case, a bear .

Breakfast– Whole grain oatmeal with honey and PPC clementines.

Lunch– Scrambled eggs with whole wheat flatbread, PPC kiwi/banana, and PPC peppers/fresh carrots.

PM snack– Popcorn & Raisins

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots.

-Mindy

The link is currently not working—I will post it tomorrow . Thanks!

Good Afternoon!

Enjoy a few pictures from our Tuesday!

Breakfast– Kix and PPC blackberries.

Lunch– Refried beans and shredded cheese on whole wheat flatbread, fresh pineapple, and PPC peppers/cucumber.

PM snack– Whole wheat bagel with cream cheese and pears/oranges.

Wee Sprouts– PPC peppers/cucumber.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 10/16

Good Afternoon!

**We are going to be doing our yearly Halloween parade! It will start at 4:00 on Wednesday, October 31st. Depending on the weather, we will either take a walk around the block or a short walk around Wee Friends/out in the back yard. If you have any questions, please ask!

K-PREK1 read a story that we had never read before which opened the door for a good ol’ prediction session! Throughout the story, we stopped at four different places to talk about what might happen next. We used the text that we had read so far to help give us clues! Children shared their predictions aloud and stated why they felt that way. We really enjoyed the humorous nature of the story!

K.RL.2.4: Make predictions about what will happen in a story.

PREK2 read ‘Bear Feels Scared’ which lead into their message board. We discussed the things that made the bear feel scared and then towards the end, what made the bear feel safe. Children took turns coming to the board to write their name by their answer.

An art activity was made available at the table. Each child who chose to do the activity picked one piece of paper that had a surprise drawing on it. After painting the paper with water colors, the picture was revealed!

A group of our older peers used this morning to travel! Since it wasn’t a good farm morning, they decided to build a vehicle that took them all the way to Canada. They used different maps to help them navigate their way. Once they were there, they decided to come back home–Only to make a pitstop in Florida first.

Rainy mornings are the perfect building mornings! Friends teamed up to build together using trio blocks and magnatiles which are far and away our favorites. Our cooperation skills are always on display as we work through problems that may arise .

Breakfast– Whole wheat toast/cinnamon raisin bagel with butter and PPC pears.

Lunch– Whole wheat pasta with butter and shredded chicken, PPC banana, and PPC cherry tomatoes.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with fresh pears.

Wee Sprout– PPC cherry tomatoes.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 10/15

Happy Tuesday!

“A child’s play is not simply a reproduction of what he has experienced, but a creative reworking of the impressions he has acquired.” Vygotsky

Please Note: There are slots above your child’s cubby that are intended for their creative art work pieces.  Their name is placed on the slot, so you will be able to locate their goodies easily. Please make sure your child’s slot is emptied at least once a week, for more added artwork pieces to fit nicely. Thank you  

We had a special little visitor this morning and our friends were very excited to see her, touch her, and talk with her. My granddaughter, Sierra was a hit with our WWF’ers. Miss Rebekah even had some enjoyment out of the visit by getting to snuggle with her.

Our friends are working their legs climbing up the rocks next to the slides. This activity is a great way to build balance, confidence, and get our bodies in motion to reach our end goal of getting up to the platform to slide down the fun slides.

Breakfast: Whole grain Kix cereal and fresh PPC banana.

Lunch: Whole wheat flatbread with mozzarella cheese and refried beans, corn, and fresh PPC banana.

Snack: Whole wheat English muffins with  peanut butter.

Wee Sprouts: Corn.

Have a nice evening.

Marty

LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljPgM6eZ_sxImTDsysw

Good Afternoon! I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend.

“Peace is the beauty of life.”

Today was a great day to play with playdoh and use our fine motor, and hand-eye coordination skills. Teachers added in golf tee’s, tongue depressors, playdoh hammers, and cookie cutter shapes to make this activity even more fun and engaging.

Rose enjoyed reading the story, Five little monkey’s. There were a couple of her friend’s that stood off to her side and listened along as she read her version of this fun story! We love listening to our friend’s read to us and the imaginations that shine through when they are reading.

Breakfast: Whole wheat toast with butter, and apples.

Lunch: Whole wheat pasta with butter and shredded chicken, peas, and apples.

Snack: Whole milk yogurt and graham crackers.

Wee Sprouts: Peas.

Have a fantastic evening.

Marty

LONK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljPdwaVOsLgb-hwPTSg

Happy Friday!

In May, I become a consultant for a company called Beautycounter. It’s a safe, toxin free line of family products, bath/body, skin care, and makeup. After talking with Tami, she thought I should share this tidbit of news as this company aligns with what we value here at Wee Friends which is safer, healthier options for ourselves and our kids.

After doing research about the products I was using daily back in January, I found Beautycounter which has a rigorous screening process for the ingredients that they use. The European Union bans 1,400 ingredients; Canada has banned 600; and the United Stated has only banned 30 ingredients to date which basically leaves an unregulated personal care industry. Beautycounter has banned 1,500+ ingredients which is above and beyond any other company.

If you have any questions or want to learn more, I’m always up for chatting as this has quickly become a second passion of mine.

Feel free to check out my website as well! I also have business cards with my information and a list of ingredients that should be avoided at all costs (this is called our ‘never list’) .

https://www.beautycounter.com/melindashephard

-Mindy

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We continued one of the oldest Wee Friends traditions involving a pumpkin and golf tees! We took turns using wooden hammers to hammer golf tees into a pumpkin. This activity is not only fun but it uses our motor skills. Depending on the area of the pumpkin, it takes quite a lot of effort to hammer the golf tee all the way in.

Starting yesterday afternoon, friends worked together to rake leaves into a pile. Once the pile was done, children took turns jumping into the leaf pile! It allowed us to display our teamwork skills!

“No one would expect a child to learn to ride a bike by showing the child a drawing of a bicycle and by discussing the laws of balance. The child learns by riding the bike.”

-Lewis

Breakfast– Rice cakes with peanut butter and PPC kiwi berries.

Lunch– Ham and shredded cheese on whole wheat tortillas, PPC banana/clementines/plums, and mixed vegetables.

PM snack– Mozzarella string cheese, triscuits, and PPC kiwi berries.

Wee Sprout– PPC cherry tomatoes.

Have a fantastic weekend!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 10/12