Happy Wednesday!

This morning we engaged with the loose parts colored bucket people, colored bowls, balls and wooden egg cups from the shelf on the wall in housekeeping.

We then headed into the kitchen to engage in the corn/bean sensory table with Miss Tina.  We scooped the mixture using the variety of spoons and placed it in the cups.

We loved rolling the pumpkin with Miss Bekah yesterday, so we asked to do it again today.  We listened for her to call our name and roll the pumpkin to us, and then we rolled it back to her.  We also built with the plastic blocks to make a path for us to walk on or stand on.  A friend worked on her balancing skills by standing inside one of the BounceBlocks.

We then headed outside to engage in our favorite activities.  The rakes were out for us to explore with and for working to rake leaves into a pile.

Breakfast:  Oatmeal with cinnamon/sugar mixture and fresh tangerine oranges.

Lunch:  Farm fresh scrambled eggs with shredded mozzarella cheese, fresh red bell peppers and strawberries and whole wheat bread.

Afternoon Snack:  Refried beans and blue corn tortilla chips.

Wee Sprouts:  Mini cucumbers.

Have a wonderful evening!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-10-16

Good Afternoon!

This morning we made Halloween paintings using oil pastel and water color paint.  Several friends have been very interested in making Halloween decorations in the art center this week.  We added this project as a new way to express their interest and decorate their classroom.  Everyone is excited to see their classroom’s artwork displayed in the art area!

Yesterday during our light/heavy weight activity, there were quite a few friends enthralled with the “door knobs” as they referred to them.  Today we set out ALL of the “door knobs”  in response to their fascination to see where it would lead.  We allowed the kids to explore and experiment all morning.  Several found they could make things with them like “cities” and “fences”.  A couple stayed with the activity for a very long time building different structures.  We love open projects like this! It’s impossible to guess what the outcome will be!

The light table was made available in the science area this morning with a collection of shapes. Friends immediately sat down at the light table, exploring the shapes and building unique creations. Arthur collected small and large squares to make a house! He used the small squares to make the chimney. Amelia found six small triangles and made a hexagon!

PREK2: During group today we talked about Halloween since it has been a topic of interest among Wee Friends.  We read the story “Ten Little Ghosts”.  At the end of the story we talked about all of the different things we see at Halloween.  We made a class list of each of our favorites.

Arthur has been very invested in journaling this week!  He wanted to make rainbows, but he wanted the colors to be in the order that they appear in a rainbow.  We looked up an example of the light spectrum and how the light refracts.  He proceeded to make several rainbows all in order…though he chose to add black to the last one :).

Breakfast: Oatmeal with cinnamon and fresh strawberries.

Lunch: Farm fresh scrambled eggs with whole wheat tortillas, fresh watermelon, and fresh broccoli/pepper/cucumber.

PM Snack: Air-popped corn with raisins.

Wee Sprouts: Fresh broccoli/cucumber/pepper.

Have a great day!

~Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures:2024-10-16

Good afternoon!

We started off our morning with books on the reading steps. Our friends sat near Miss Bekah to listen to her read several books. Cece even watched Miss Bekah read books from her playmat. Some of our friends also read independently.

Our friends explored a pumpkin this morning. Miss Bekah held out the pumpkin to each friend for them to feel the texture of the stem and the skin. We listened to the “Biscuit Visits the Pumpkin Patch” book. Miss Bekah asked our friends if the pumpkin was big or small and we determined it was a big pumpkin. Some of our friends also attempted to lift the pumpkin, but found that it was too heavy.

We made our way outside to enjoy our favorite activities like riding bikes up and down the hill, exploring the knobs and sink in the playhouse, and riding a teeter-totter with a friend.

Breakfast: Whole grain Cheerios cereal with fresh red grapes.

Lunch: Shredded mozzarella cheese quesadillas on whole grain wheat tortillas, fresh strawberries, avocado slices and chicken avocado salad.

Afternoon Snack: Whole grain wheat bagel with cream cheese and clementine slices.

Wee Sprout: Green bell pepper.

Have a wonderful evening!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-10-15

Good Afternoon!

We kicked off our morning by completing our PREK1 sign in! Each group member had to search the classroom to find a peer that answered the following prompt: “Find a classmate in our class who is shorter than you!”. PREK1 members searched the classroom and all easily were able to find a friend that was shorter than them. A few friends wrote their name on our sign in board as well as their peers name! Everyone talked about the letters that we used to spell their peers name.

K.M.1: Make direction 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.

Our morning activity focused on weight as we brought up the scale from the basement! Several various items of different weights were put out at the circle table. Children immediately started using the scale and a few different methods to weigh the items. Some friends chose to weigh two items at a time, one on each side while other children chose to put multiple items in each tray at a time. There were a few friends who explored the scale most of the morning! One of the constant conversations that children kept having were comparing items such as the puff balls weighing less than the rocks. The continuous interest lasted all morning long until we went outside.

We headed outside where we got our daily dose of fresh air! The sunshine sure helped us stay warm .

PREK2: During group today we talked about out light weight and heavy weight activity from earlier this morning.  We tried to think of something heavy or light in weight.  As usual the group came up with some great answers!

Breakfast– Kix and fresh strawberries.

Lunch– Homemade chicken avocado sandwiches, fresh pineapple/cantaloupe/strawberries, and fresh cucumber/carrot.

PM snack– Whole wheat bagel with cream cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/carrot.

Have a wonderful night.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-10-15

Good Afternoon!

Today we celebrated Eleanor’s birthday as she turned 2 over the weekend!  We are so happy we got to celebrate with you!  Thank you for the birthday snack!

We began our morning with our stuffed teddy bears.  We listened to Going on a Bear Hunt with them while walking around the circle, rocking them in the rocking chair, and climbing under the habi-trail to snuggle with one while playing peek-a-boo with a friend.

We then headed into the kitchen for some sensory play with shaving cream.  We added red and yellow food coloring to resemble the fall colors, and leaves to give it a different texture to experience.

We then headed outside to play.  Even though it was a much cooler morning than we are used to, it didn’t stop us one bit.  We pushed and rode bikes down the hill, worked on our balancing skills on the balance beam, and built with the Outlast blocks and vehicles.

Breakfast:  Whole grain bread toasted with peanut butter and fresh apple slices.

Lunch:  Whole grain wheat penne pasta with shredded turkey, fresh mini cucumbers and red grapes.

Afternoon:  Goldfish crackers and colby-jack block cheese slices (Eleanor’s birthday treat).

Wee Sprouts:  Mini cucumbers.

Have a marvelous evening!

WWF Teachers

Link pictures: 2024-10-14

Happy Monday!

It has suddenly become quite chilly in the morning!  Pease remember to send your child with a jacket since we will be outside in the mornings for and hour to an hour and a half.  Also for hands, please make sure to send mittens and not fingered gloves unless your child knows how to put them on themself.  Happy Fall!

This morning we offered a welcome activity sorting objects into light weight and heavy wight categories.  After friends were finished with the activity they were given the option to stay and play with the objects as long as they wanted.  This part of the activity is actually the most meaningful part.  As children play after this activity, they are learning about how different weighted objects behave in space, how the objects relate to one another, how they feel and how they move.  Every aspect of the object is being experimented with and recorded in the child’s brain.  This is why the play part  is where in-depth learning takes place.

…Arthur made a person with his objects after the activity!

PREK2: Today we read the story “Kindness Starts with you”.  The book talked about different ways we can use words to be kind.  Afterward, we talked as a group and came up with a class list of words we could say to be kind.

Breakfast– Whole wheat toast with butter and banana.

Lunch– Whole wheat pasta with shredded pork, fresh watermelon/strawberries/pineapple, and fresh cucumber/pepper.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with strawberries and gram crackers

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/pepper.

Have a lovely night.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures:2024-10-14

Happy Friday!

To begin our morning, friends engaged in a variety of activities.  Several of our friends got out the plastic blocks and turned them over to sit in and imagine they were in a boat.  Another friend was busy climbing on the habi-trail while another friend watched the birds eat their breakfast out the window.

We then headed into the kitchen with Miss Bekah to paint with leaves.  We had 2 different shaped leaves to dip into the paint to spread across our paper to make our painting masterpieces.  We noticed as were were painting, we made a new color, orange, while we mixed our red and yellow paint together with our leaves.  Look at how our painting masterpieces turned out!

We then headed outside to enjoy the beautiful weather this morning and engage in many of our favorite activities.

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

Lunch:  Hummus on whole grain wheat tortillas, fresh cucumber slices/cherry tomatoes, fresh cantaloupe/pineapple.

Afternoon Snack:  Goldfish crackers and mild cheddar block cheese slices.

Wee Sprouts:  Mini sweet peppers.

Have a great weekend!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-10-11

Happy Friday!

We experimented with art materials this morning!  We tried oil pastel and charcoal at the art easel.  Some enjoyed playfully mixing and smearing materials. Some found the materials inspired them to make something specific.  Arthur drew windows.  As he smeared the charcoal, he came up with a story; there was a storm outside, the sky was very dark and the windows were closed keeping the rain, wind and bats outside!

Outdoors we enjoyed collecting leaves and other natural materials to make collages.  We got to talk about symmetry vs asymmetry since several friends spontaneously created examples of each!

Breakfast– Brown rice cakes with peanut butter and banana.

Lunch– Ham and cream cheese rollups, whole wheat tortilla, fresh cantaloupe/pineapple/grapes, and fresh pepper/cucumber/carrot.

PM snack– Pretzels and block cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh pepper/carrot/cucumber.

Have a wonderful weekend!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-10-11

Good Afternoon!

Our PREK1 group used a book we read from our MACK collection earlier in the week for our sign in activity. The book focuses on two best friends who bring different things for lunch and each of them had a hard time accepting each others lunches until the end of the story! Todays sign in asked the question, “What two sandwiches do the main characters eat?”. Every friend was able to recall the two sandwiches immediately!

K.RL.2.2: With support, retell familiar stories, poems, and nursey rhymes, including key details.

There has been continued interest surrounding firefighting in our classroom.  Last night, there were a few friends who visited a fire station that was finished after their complete rebuild.  There were actually four friends who were sporting fire truck shirts this morning!  Since fire stations were the hot topic of the morning, we designed our welcome activity around that interest.  We brought a variety of wooden block shapes and a collection of fire trucks to the round table to create a fire house building station.  Several stayed all morning building and playing.

Katherine brought in a book to donate to the class and after we read it several times this morning, Katherine and a peer headed straight to the art table to draw the main character in the book, ‘There’s A Monster In Your Book’! Thanks for the book donation, Katherine!

Several friends have been feeling the urge to bring things into the outdoor kitchen that don’t necessarily belong there…so today we made sure that the outdoor kitchen was stocked with plenty of “cooking” materials so that everyone’s need to mix up imaginary concoctions would be more than satisfied!

Our PREK2 journal group has come up with all kinds of creative ideas for their journals this week! We had, ‘A potato and my family’, ‘A picture’, ‘Main walking under the fire works’, ‘A spiral road’, ‘Two colors of fire’, ‘A machine that scissors up snackies’ and my favorite, ‘Letters from my name with a pot-a-potty’ .

Breakfast– Puffins cereal with banana.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded pork, fresh watermelon, and fresh cucumber/carrot.

PM snack– Whole wheat crackers with peanut butter topped with sunflower seeds and raisins.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/carrots.

Have a great night!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-10-10

Good afternoon!

This morning, our friends explored the sensory tubes. We watched as the items inside moved from one side to the other, or made noise, as we moved them up and down. The tubes had feathers, bouncy balls, foam shapes and colorful pebbles inside.

Cece was back this morning and laid on her playmat to watch the toys hanging from her mat sway when she kicked her feet. Julie, our IUSB student, and some of our friends gathered near Cece’s playmat to watch her play.

We then made our way to the kitchen with Miss Bekah for a loose parts play activity. We were given a tray with miniature farm animals, wooden shapes and the occupational people

We headed outside to enjoy this gorgeous morning weather! Our friends engaged with: the housekeeping area, climbing up the rocks to go down the slide, in the log area with a friend and trying to climb the log house.

Breakfast: Whole grain Kix cereal with fresh, red grapes.

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with red beans, fresh mini sweet peppers and watermelon slices.

Afternoon Snack: Sunflower seeds with Ritz crackers.

Wee Sprout: Cucumber.

Have a beautiful evening!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-10-10