Good Afternoon!

What you see in the pictures: children clipping a number on a card.

What is REALLY happening?

We used our knowledge of numbers to clip the missing number (1-20) on the card. Children had to think of what number came before or after a given number. Lulu was the first child to participate in the activity which prompted her younger peers to come and watch. As Lulu was clipping the correct number, we talked about the number sequence that she was completing.

Lucy and Franklin followed closely. Lucy focused on numbers under ten while Franklin concentrated on smaller numbers and the fine motor aspect of using the clothespin.

One of the best aspects of a multi-age classroom is the opportunity for our older children to engage in teachable moments with their younger peers.

K.NS.3: Find the number that is one more than or one less than any whole number up to 20.

The art table was full of children who used various drawing templates to draw things ranging from a peacock to a castle to a gryphon. Maddie wasn’t too sure what a ‘gryphon’ was so we looked it up using the internet. We found out that a gryphon is a fabled monster, usually having the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion!

Breakfast– Whole grain oatmeal with honey and PPC raspberries.

Lunch– Farm fresh scrambled eggs with shredded cheese, whole wheat bread, banana, and fresh carrots/green beans.

PM snack– Blue corn chips and PPC kiwi.

Wee Sprout– PPC green beans and cucumber.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 11/15

Good Afternoon!

A few holiday closure reminders. We will be closed Thursday and Friday November 23-24 for our Thanksgiving break. Our Christmas break we will be closed Monday December 25-Friday, January 5, 2018. Thank you.

We began our morning with our pegs and peg boards. We worked on our fine motor skills as we placed the pegs into the holes of our boards or as we stacked the pegs together by themselves.

We worked on our throwing and catching skills as we tossed the ball back and forth with Miss Rebekah.

We created beautiful drawings with our new set of markers.

When it was outside time, we went down the slide, made cupcakes in the sand, ran around the log house and filled our dump truck with rocks.

A happy baby who is having some quality time snuggles and enjoys watching the fish swim around in the fish tank.

Breakfast:  Kashi blueberry clusters cereal and apples.

Lunch:  Refried beans and cheese on whole grain flatbread, apples and peas.

Afternoon Snack:  Toasted cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese.

Wee Sprouts: Peas.

Have a great evening!

Rebekah

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuliZhV5XeyOQjrLg4mKQ

Good Afternoon!

Our pre-k/k group (large group) took a trip to the library this morning where we returned our books from last week before checking out new books! Everyone was quite selective in the stories they chose. A few children wanted to look in the non-fiction section for football books so after we were done in the fiction section, we headed over to the non-fiction section. We found the sports stories and chose a few books that looked appealing.

After everyone found four stories, we took a puppet show break! Friends took turns with the puppets. We all worked together to tell different stories using animals; the audience clapped (quietly of course!) several times.

A few librarians and guests commented on how quiet we were along with how well formed our line was! We said thank you with BIG smiles on our faces.

The welcome activity consisted of white tiles and Montessori numbers. Maddie used her one to one correspondence skills to put the correct number of tiles to the red number. After, she discussed what number was smaller or larger.

Miss Kim put painting supplies out at the art table this morning where children had the option to paint with feathers! We found out that the feather made different lines than a regular paint brush.

Breakfast– Cheerios and PPC kiwi.

Lunch– Refried bean and shredded cheese on whole wheat flatbread, PPC cantaloupe, and PPC cauliflower.

PM snack– Goldfish and sunflower seeds.

Wee Sprout– PPC peppers.

Have a lovely night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 11/14

Good Afternoon!

Mack asked for the moon sand this morning. They used a variety of utensils to scoop up sand to fill a container to make a cake with honey.

We enjoyed the habitrail area. We had the balls out to hold and carry around as we were climbing and sliding down the slide.

We spent some quiet time looking at a book.

We loved being able to go outside. We rode with a friend on the teeter totter, climbed up on the climbing house and found an earwig to observe in a bucket.

The friends before their nap time were busy dressing up with different hats.

Breakfast:  Whole grain wheat toast with butter and apples.

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

Afternoon Snack: Whole milk yogurt and a homemade apple muffin.

Wee Sprouts: Corn.

Have a wonderful evening!

Rebekah

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuliZdn_Rshg0wasy2f2A

Good Afternoon!

In large group, we read ‘The Cat in the Hat’. We used our knowledge of rhyming words to complete a few sentences throughout the story. We talked about the phase ‘word family’. As we talked about a family, we discussed how members of a family are similar but not the same. There were four words that were taken from the story and we started a word family for each word.

For example, the word ‘cat’ is similar to ‘mat’, ‘bat’, and ‘hat’. We took the first letter away and added another letter. The kindergarteners were able to add the new sound to read the new words.

K.RF.3.5: Add, delete, or substitute sounds to change words.

The welcome activity allowed children to experiment with magnets. Children who chose to sit and explore the activity determined whether or not an item was magnetic. Last week, Lulu and Franklin went on a magnetic exploration around the environment.

Franklin and David showed much patience this morning as they waited for around an hour for the trash truck. Franklin has been interested in the trash and how it gets taken out along with what happens to it once it leaves Wee Friends. We enjoy this Monday morning routine because the trash truck honks their horn so that we can hear it! This morning, we opened the door so that we could easily see what the trash man was doing.

Breakfast– English muffin with butter and apples.

Lunch– Whole wheat noodles with shredded chicken and butter, PPC mangos/apples, and fresh carrots/green beans.

PM snack– Homemade apple muffins from Ruby’s dad and hard boiled eggs.

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots and green beans.

Have a lovely night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 11/13

Good Afternoon!

We would like to wish our friend, Daniel a Happy 1st Birthday tomorrow! We hope you have a great birthday!

We used our star activity arches and turned them in to a rocker.

We took care of our babies again today. We practiced putting diapers on and taking them off of our babies.

A friend shared they had snow on their deck, so we incorporated our snowballs into our play with our other balls.

Breakfast:  Whole grain Cheerios and bananas.

Lunch:  Hummus on whole grain wheat tortillas, bananas, corn and peas.

Afternoon Snack:  Pretzels and mozzarella cheese stick.

Wee Sprouts: Corn.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Rebekah

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuliZUNI_Kwy1Zxtpo5yg

Happy Friday!

**CASA’s (Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children) holiday toy drive has kicked off! CASA needs toys, clothes, and personal items for children of ALL ages. All items must be new and unwrapped. Please read the posted email by the front door for more information. If any parents want to donate to this, you can bring your toy to Wee Friends and Melinda will take it to the JJC (Juvenile Justice Center) for you. Thanks!

**REMINDER: Wee Friends will be closed Thursday, November 23rd and Friday, November 24th. Thank you!

The light table was made available in the science area this morning! Children took advantage of the activity by manipulating various materials and interacting with their peers.

Several friends sat around the light table investigating seashells. We talked about their color, texture, and size. As we put the shells up to our ears, we listened to see if we could hear the ocean. Franklin said he heard a cow!

A few older preschoolers and kindergarteners called out the number of items I set in the middle, ranging from 1 to 10. For example, I took three shells and place them in the middle of the light table. I asked how many shells were there and without counting, various friends shouted, “Three!” We did this over again with different materials during our light table time.

K.NS.6: Recognize sets of 1 to 10 objects in patterned arrangements and tell how many without counting.

Children gave suggestions for what they wanted to work with next; gems! The first thing that we did with the gems was sort them by color as well as have conversations about what color we had the most of/least of.

Anna and Lucy worked together to sort pebbles based on their physical characteristics. They made a dark pile and a light pile while coming to the conclusion that there were more rocks in the dark pile!

Maddie used counters and sorted them by color. “Hey! This looks like a rainbow! Blue definitely has the most counters.”

The rest of the morning was consumed by art table, building, and puzzles as our puzzle exploration continued into this morning. We’re going on three days of heightened puzzle interest! MOST of our friends are attempting 24 piece wooden puzzles!

Breakfast– Rice cakes with peanut butter and fresh apples.

Lunch– Hummus on whole wheat tortillas, fresh pears, and a mixture of fresh PPC veggies (green beans, cauliflower, and cucumbers)

PM snack– Block cheese and fresh apples.

Wee Sprout– PPC cauliflower and cucumbers.

Have a terrific weekend!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 11/10

Good Afternoon!

This morning we were busy building with magnatiles. Each of us decided how tall we wanted our buildings.

We practiced taking care of our babies. We fed them and found a nice safe and cozy place for them to sleep.

We then took out the star rainbow arches to make a tunnel. We all took turns crawling through.

Breakfast:  Whole grain wheat toast with butter and cinnamon and apples.

Lunch:  Whole grain brown rice with shredded beef and cheese, pears and mixed vegetables.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole grain wheat crackers with sunflower butter.

Have a great night!

Rebekah

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuliZQTWkImUfVNwDZLgQ

Good Afternoon!

A child completes a puzzle that challenges them and the first thing you want to say is, “Oh my gosh! You’re so smart!” Good idea, right? Not according to this article and many professionals in the education field.

This article focuses on the fixed mindset (person praise) versus the growth mindset (process praise). A fixed mindset is the belief that ability is a fixed trait that cannot change while a growth mindset is the belief that ability is malleable and can be developed.

As educators and parents, we want to try to praise the process or effort: “Oh! I see that you worked really hard on this; it shows.”; instead of person praise: “Great job! You are so smart.” At the end of the day, it is all about the learning process and the effort children are putting into their work. This article is a little long but worth it!

If you would like me to print you off a copy here at WF, please let me know! I’d be more than happy to do that!

http://mindsetscholarsnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Praise-That-Makes-Learners-More-Reslient.pdf

Breakfast– Kashi Blueberry Clusters and banana.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded beef and cheese, banana, and a mix of fresh PPC veggies (green beans, cherry tomatoes, and cucumber).

PM snack– Cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese.

Wee Sprout– Cherry tomatoes.

Have a fantastic night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuliZM-AdQpgn6I0T42TA

This week our friends have been singing the Five Little Monkey’s Jumping on the Bed. We do not have that book so we went to borrow it from the other classroom. The children really enjoyed looking at the pictures and singing along. We enjoyed many other books as well on the couch or in the cube.

We spent quite a bit of time in the habitrail area. We added some fine motor activities as well.  We built with the blocks and pretended we were sitting on a camel and rolled the balls with our tummy’s or down the slide and slid down after them.

We enjoyed some music time with the pianos and xylophones.

Breakfast:  Whole grain Cheerios and pears.

Lunch:  Scrambled eggs with cheese, whole grain wheat bread, bananas and corn.

Afternoon Snack:  Blue corn chips and black refried beans.

Wee Sprouts:  Corn.

We hope you all had a great Wednesday!

Rebekah

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuliZMSFNRec0tdAO7FGQ