Good Afternoon!

**Wee Friends will be closed Monday, May 29th for Memorial Day.

This week, we will be focusing on the use of the calendar and what information we can gather from a calendar.

In large group, we do calendar every day after our story which allows us to gain basic knowledge of the topic. Today, we talked specifically about the months and how many there are in a given year. Each child has different background knowledge of the twelve months. If you ask a child to name a month, they’re going to name their birthday month because it has meaning to them.

This week, we’ll be diving into the days of the week, months, and what a full year looks like as well as building our own calendars.

Social Studies: K.1.5 Explain that calendars are used to represent days of the week and months of the year.

Summer is when we see transitions start to ramp up. Whether children are transitioning from the infant/toddler site to preschool, transitioning to a new school all together, or even just entering into a lighter school schedule, it CAN be a challenging time for children and parents alike.

I’ve attached an article that gives helpful tips as to how to make the transition time for your child a little easier. Since each child is different, no two children will enter into a transition time the same. Keeping an open dialogue with your child about their thoughts, questions, or anxieties is always a positive experience.

“When teachers and families collaborate to implement individualized transition plans they increase children’s comfort levels and prepare them to have a successful day of learning.”

http://www.naeyc.org/yc/article/first_day_jitters

Here are a few pictures from our day!

Breakfast– Whole wheat toast with no nut butter and pears.

Lunch– Whole wheat pasta with red beans, banana, and tomatoes/cauliflower.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with apples.

Wee Sprout– Cherry tomatoes.

Have a wonderful night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 5/22

Enjoy the pictures from our day!

Breakfast was Kix and banana. Wee sprout was mixed veggies. Lunch consisted of whole wheat pasta with red beans, cantaloupe, and mixed veggies. Afternoon snack was organic whole milk yogurt and cantaloupe.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuliIxxON1SCAMLC3EHXA

Have a good night!

Amanda

Happy Friday!

This week, we’ve been exploring the term ‘money’. Especially our older friends have come to understand that when you want something, you need to have money to buy it.

That being said; I took our four oldest friends to the zoo today. They wanted to take a special trip before Jackson and Addi’s time at Wee Friends ran out.

We walked around the zoo, observing our surroundings and the many other children that were there!

As we walked, we came upon an Okapi exhibit but it was empty. A zoo worker informed us that the Okapi should be joining the zoo very shortly. She told us some information about this specific animal including its habitat. The Okapi is a cross between giraffe and zebra.

Friends were quite excited at the thought of feeding fish! We quickly found out we needed MONEY to do so. I was able to find a quarter and we split the food between us.

Lulu jumped excitedly as she saw a map! During journaling time, she’s extended her knowledge and curiosity about MAPS! She found where we were and where we needed to head to get to our next destination.

It’s fantastic when our older friends can handle a field trip like this and make it meaningful. We used this as an opportunity to attach our field trip to our curriculum for the week; IF YOU WANT SOMETHING, YOU NEED MONEY TO BUY IT .

Breakfast– Rice cakes with cream cheese and banana.

Lunch– Refried beans and shredded cheese quesadillas, apples, and tomatoes/cucumber.

PM snack– Cheese slices and cantaloupe.

Wee Sprout– Cucumbers.

Have a terrific weekend.

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 5/19

Enjoy the pictures from our day!

Breakfast was Chex and oranges. Lunch consisted of whole wheat tortilla with refried beans and cheese, banana, and mixed veggies. Afternoon snack cheese crackers and string cheese.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuliIt_7su5bWL73a66Bg

Have a good weekend!

Amanda

Welcome to Wee Wee, Rose! We’re so excited you’re here!

We traded swings with the big kids and spent our indoor time swinging and spinning!

Breakfast was Whole Grain Cheerios and strawberries. Lunch consisted of whole grain brown rice with cheese, watermelon, and fresh green beans. Afternoon snack was pretzels and cheddar cheese.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuliItCGKvcIZ4EONjJZg

Have a good night!

Amanda

Good Afternoon!

We have a student teacher with us for the next four weeks. Here’s a letter from Miss Kaylee:

“Hello!

My name is Miss Kaylee and I am very excited to join Wee Friends as a student teacher! I am a senior at IUSB about to complete my student teaching next fall. In December, I will be graduating with a degree in elementary education with a concentration in early childhood. I have a strong passion and love for teaching young children. I take to hear the responsibility of teaching and preparing the next generation of children of our society. There is nothing better than walking into a room of bright-eyed children and watching the smiles of each one light up a room.

I am looking forward to this opportunity to spend time each morning with your child over the next four weeks. my goal is to help stretch your child’s imagination and curiosity to help them grow. This next month is going to be full of fun and lots of learning! I believe that the more time and effort that is put into helping young children find a desire for learning at a young age, the better chance that they will become life long learners. I cannot wait to get to better know your child and watch them grow as learners.”

_________________________________________________________________________

This morning, our younger group headed to the farm.

Once we got out of the weehicle, we sat down and went over farm rules. Some of the rules that our older friends shared were:

1. Only walk on the grass and make sure you have an adult when you walk on the gravel.

2. Don’t yell or talk loudly when you’re around the animals.

3. Stay with the group.

We walked around the farm, stopping to see and pet different baby animals and take turns on the tree swing which was a BIG hit.

As a group, we continued to work on being comfortable around different farm animals.

It was a big morning for us as this was the first time some of us had been to the farm. It sure does take a lot out of us .

Breakfast– Kix and strawberries.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded beef, watermelon, and green beans.

PM snack– Whole wheat crackers with sunflower seed butter.

Wee Sprout– Carrots.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 5/18

Link to FARM/FARMER’S MARKET pictures: WF 5/18 FARM and FM

Good Afternoon!

**We do have a confirmed case of strep throat. I’m going to attach symptoms of strep throat along with our illness policy here at Wee Friends.

http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/tc/strep-throat-topic-overview#1

https://www.weefriendskids.com/handbook-policies/

We would like to wish our friend, Tate a Happy 4th Birthday! We hope you have a great day! Now that he is 4, he enjoyed using the real tools at the workbench.

We had another day of building with many different types of blocks. We made all of our buildings tall in our own unique way.

The musical instruments were requested.  We turned on some quiet music and listened for the beat to follow it using our different instruments.

A few of us played a bean bag tossing game. There is a ladybug drawing on the message board paper. Each circle for the ladybug has a child’s name who is in the small group. We said a name and then tried to hit that circle with our bean bag.

We enjoyed many activities in the summer like weather outside!

Breakfast- Whole grain oatmeal with honey and strawberries.

Lunch- Farm fresh scrambled eggs with shredded cheese, tortillas, banana, and tomatoes.

PM snack-Whole wheat Ritz crackers and cheese.

Wee Sprout- Cucumbers.

Have a great night!

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuliIlt2IgAWukrCg5SJw

-Mindy and Rebekah

Today we made artwork together…

Played catch…

Raced down the hill on bikes…

And did our favorite puzzles!

Breakfast was Kix and peaches. Wee sprout was mixed veggies. Lunch consisted of farm fresh eggs, whole wheat toast, pears, and mixed veggies. Afternoon snack was graham crackers and string cheese.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuliIorHBD6C3U4Fj-2SA

Have a good night!

Amanda

Good Afternoon!

**We had two children go home today with fevers/vomiting. Along with the fever, runny nose and cough seemed to be the other main two symptoms. 

In large group, we read ‘Blueberries For Sal’. After the story, we talked about how we use money. We created a web discussing the different things we spend money on. Friends started out by naming different fruits and vegetables which stemmed from our book about blueberries. Then, children started naming things such as clothes, lawnmower, and houses.

We looked around the science area at different things that were purchased with money such as woodworking nails, Maddie’s stroller, and books.

This morning some of the children were showing their creativity in the buildings they did using a variety of different building materials.

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A few friends helped their teachers fold towels and clean the tables and chairs. What great helpers we have!

Today we had a discussion about how to write a letter. Children decided they wanted to write letters to mom or dad.

Once we made it outside, we looked for bugs, played in the sand, moved the rocks in the trucks and enjoyed playing catch with the balls.

The art table was busy as children relaxed and put their creativity in motion as they worked on their drawings.

Breakfast: Kashi’s Blueberry Clusters and apples.

Lunch: Hummus on whole wheat tortillas, banana/peaches and green beans.

Afternoon Snack: Whole wheat bagel with cream cheese.

Wee Sprouts: Green beans.

Have a great night!

Rebekah and Mindy

Link to pictures: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuliIhvUAt8KYROAl4Q4Q

The current activity that everyone loves to do outside, whether they’re at Wee or Wee Wee, is bug hunting!

They grab a bug container and go exploring, looking under rocks and through the garden. Today our friends found a handful of roly poly’s and proudly showed them off to each other.

One of the big kids found a slug and our friends were fascinated! They watched it climb up and over the fence and around Jackson’s hand when he held it up for everyone to get a close up look.

Breakfast was Cheerios and strawberries. Wee sprout was peas. Lunch consisted of tortillas with hummus, strawberries, peaches, and peas. Afternoon snack was rice cakes with cream cheese.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuliIka7CYGOAcHFA0O0Q

Have a good night!

Amanda