We’ve noticed this week our friends showing a greater interest in baby dolls. They spend time pretending to take care of the dolls, such as rocking, feeding them a bottle, burping them, and comforting them. It’s an activity they enjoy on their own and with their friends.

Benefits of doll play include:

• Develops cognitive and motor skills
• Develops language skills
• Develops caring and nurturing skills

Breakfast was Whole Grain Cheerios and pears. Wee sprout was corn. Lunch consisted of whole grain brown rice with chicken and cheese, pears, and corn. Afternoon snack was graham crackers and string cheese.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulh-d4sRfIen3p-9KHqA

Have a good night!

Amanda

Good Afternoon!

**As a reminder, Wee Friends is closed next Friday, April 14th in observation of Good Friday. Thank you!

This week during journal time, we’ve been focusing on listening to words and hearing specific sounds in those words. A few friends have been working on identifying the ‘th’ blend as well as a couple vowel sounds.

Today, Maddie and Lulu described their journal: “something that you don’t know”. Together, we sounded out all of the words, focusing on the vowel sounds. When we got to the word ‘that’, I asked what the first sound was and Maddie thought for a moment before shouting, “It’s t-h!”.

Kid spelling allows children to learn letters and the sounds they make when they’re developmentally ready for it.

K.RF.4.3: Recognize the long and short sounds for the five major vowels.

In kindergarten:

Jackson and Addi are continuing to work with plus and minus signs. Today we used them in equations and had to come up with the total or answer. We used stickers as a manipulative to solve the equations. Once we got to the subtraction problems, we re-introduced it by talking about what it means. When you see a subtraction sign, we ‘take away’ from the first number.

This activity allowed us to work on our addition and subtraction as well as our one-to-one correspondence skills by counting the stickers, number recognition, and writing our numbers.

K.CA.1-2: Solve real-world problems, objects, or drawings that involve addition and subtraction within 10. Demonstrate the equation (e.g., 5= 2+3 and 5= 4+1).

Miss Melinda brought in a potato today for friends to taste test. We talked about all of the foods that are made based on potatoes including french fries and mashed potatoes!

We retrieved some out of date seeds from downstairs. We’re getting ready to compile a list of vegetables we want to grow in the garden within the next month or so. Various seeds were separated into paper cups.

Friends compared the seeds by talking about the size and color.

We ended the morning by turning on music! Rosemary requested Lion King music and even though we didn’t have the soundtrack to the movie, we found music that resembled the soundtrack. She shared a few ballet moves that she knows and her peers were quick to follow along.

Breakfast– Cheerios and blackberries.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded chicken and cheese, carrots/cherry tomatoes, and banana/strawberries.

PM snack– Wheat thins and pumpkin seeds.

Wee Sprouts– Carrots and cherry tomatoes.

Have a lovely night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 4/6

Baby dolls were the toy of choice this morning and friends decided they wanted to show the dolls how enjoyable the habitrail is!

They taught the baby dolls to climb…

And slide!

We heard many familiar phrases said to the baby dolls that our friends usually hear from teachers. One that we heard was, “Up so high, baby!” They also offered the dolls wise advice such as, “Hold on tight, baby!” and “Watch out, baby!”

Breakfast was Cheerios and banana. Wee sprout was peas. Lunch consisted of farm fresh eggs with cheese, whole wheat bread, banana, and peas. Afternoon snack was wheat crackers and block cheese.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulh-cOzKhehTVyQS-09g

Have a great night!

Amanda

Hello!

**As a reminder, please clean out your child’s cubbie and art cubbie. Thank you! (There are plastic bags available in a spare cubbie)

**Please take home your child’s snow pants as we’ll most likely no longer need them.

Our process art project continued today as we checked to see if our paintings were dry: they were! Children took their painting and carefully pulled the tape off, leaving a design on the paper. Various questions were asked:

“What do we do with the tape now?!”

“Why is there no paint under the tape?”

We talked about the questions that were raised and talked about the steps we took throughout this project.

Miss Melinda had brought in a homemade game for children to explore! First, the dice is rolled. If the dice is rolled on a ‘2’, then friends went ahead two spots. On that spot, there would be a statement or activity that person had to do. For instance, one of the spots says, “sing a song”.

We continued our puzzle exploration. It increased when Miss Tami brought us in MORE puzzles! Four ‘Melissa and Doug’ 24 piece wooden puzzles were added to our collection.

Breakfast– Whole grain oatmeal with honey and pears.

Lunch– Scrambled eggs with shredded cheese, whole wheat bread, banana, and carrots/cherry tomatoes.

PM snack– Triscuits with hummus.

Wee Sprout– Carrots and cherry tomatoes.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 4/5

Good Afternoon!

**Parents: Tonight at pickup, please clean out your child’s cubbie as well as their art cubbie. Thank you!! (There are grocery bags available in a spare cubbie for you to use if needed)

The welcome table top activity this morning focused on several skills: counting (1 to 1), sorting by different characteristics, and distinguishing which is more and less.

Jackson took his gems and sorted them by color. While he was counting to see which color had the most, we worked on addition and subtraction. I put three blue gems into a space along with three yellow gems. I asked him how many total gems were in that given space. He counted each gem and voiced, “There are six gems!”

A few friends eventually joined and we brought subtraction into this equation! (no pun intended..)

K.CA.1-2: Solve real-world problems, objects, or drawings that involve addition and subtraction within 10. Demonstrate the equation (e.g., 5= 2+3 and 5= 4+1)

Addi’s creation at the art table gave me an idea for an extension using paint!

An art sensory activity was made available, starting at the island. Children used colored tape to place on their paper. Some children placed their pieces of tape randomly while others tried to create a specific design.

After their tapping was done, they transferred their paper to the art easel where they covered the paper with various colors of paint.

NOW, we wait for the paint to dry. Once it dries, we’re going to gently peel the tape off to see the design that is left behind.

It’s all about the PROCESS.

Jackson and Addi sure do take their role as kindergarteners seriously. After the art project was done, they asked if they could clean the easel AND the wall as it was covered with paint. They enjoy helping teachers with classroom tasks and set a great example in the process.

 

The rest of the morning consisted of music time as well as building with blocks in the habitrail.

Our music session prompted Maddie and Lulu to become curious about keys on the piano. Miss Melinda sat with them and put the notes (using a marker and tape) for ‘Twinkle Twinkle’ onto the piano. Then, she wrote the notes for the song on a piece of paper.

Maddie read Lulu the notes for her to play and vice versa. Towards the end of their piano experience, Maddie was playing ‘Twinkle Twinkle’ almost by heart!

We LOVE watching our friends express themselves in any and every way possible.

Breakfast– Whole grain Chex and pears.

Lunch– Shredded cheese and refried beans on tortilla, mango/pears, and green beans.

PM snack– Whole wheat bagels with cream cheese and apples.

Wee Sprout– Cucumber and green beans.

Have a lovely night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures:

WF 4/4

Enjoy the pictures from yesterday and today!

Breakfast was Kix and pears. Wee sprout was corn. Lunch consisted of whole wheat tortilla with refried beans and cheese, pears, and broccoli. Afternoon snack was toasted whole wheat bagels with butter and cinnamon.

Link to 4/3 photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulh-UrBeFx44ye_-I7vg

Link to 4/4 photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulh-VdJ8yf5jG-NXfcMg

Have a good night!

Amanda

Good Afternoon!

In kindergarten:

Jackson and Addi got to work as they created their own book. We used the fairytale ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’ as our inspiration. First, we made sure we had enough pages for the story. Next, by working together, we created our own story using specific details and events that we recalled. I wrote the words as Jackson and Addi said them.

Once we had all of the words, Jackson and Addi put their illustrator caps on as they drew illustrations to match the words. After they were done with their illustrations, we numbered the pages so that they’d be in order.

Before lunch, we read everyone the story that they created!

K.W.1: Write for specific purposes and audiences.

During kindergarten sign in, Addi and Jackson focused on hearing vowels that they used in their writing.

Journal time today consisted of a few older friends trying to hear vowel sounds when they started to describe their drawing. Maddie drew her family during journal time. Kid spelling is a crucial part of the writing process. She heard a few vowels in ‘Mi Famale’ and while it isn’t ‘teacher spelling’ as we call it, she’s hearing various vowel sounds which will allow us to continue working on what she’s hearing and translating that to paper.

This is where we insert the topic of developmentally appropriate practice. Here’s a short article about developmentally appropriate practice and how it fits into the early childhood setting.

http://www.naeyc.org/DAP

K.RF.4.3: Recognize the long and short sounds for the five major vowels.

We ate our afternoon snack and headed outside to squeeze in some running time. That’s exactly what we did: RUN!

Breakfast– Toast with butter and apples.

Lunch– Whole wheat noodles with butter and shredded chicken, oranges, and carrots.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with apples.

Wee Sprout– Cucumber and carrots.

Have a great evening.

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 4/3

Enjoy the pictures from our day and have a great weekend!

Breakfast was Whole Grain Cheerios and banana. Lunch consisted of whole wheat toast, farm fresh eggs with cheese, bananas, and peas. Afternoon snack was cheese crackers and string cheese.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulh-QFKZbLV98MLbys0Q

Have a good night!

Amanda

Happy Friday!

Our Friday morning consisted of:

Nail polish accompanied by the drying station.

A runway show to display our newly painted nails and pajamas.

Books and puzzles..two Wee Friends staples!

With today being pajama day and all, here’s a little Friday humor:

“What did the slice of toast wear to bed?”

-“JAMMIES!”

(Shout out to a fabulous Wee Friend parent for sharing!)

Have a great weekend!

-Mindy

 

Breakfast– Rice cakes with no nut butter and pears.

Lunch– Scrambled eggs with shredded cheese, whole wheat bread, pears/banana, and cucumbers.

PM snack– Pretzels and string cheese.

Wee Sprout– Cucumber.

Link to pictures: WF, 3/31

Good Afternoon!

**JUST A REMINDER: TOMORROW IS PAJAMA DAY!

In kindergarten:

The light table was made available in the science area. Addi, Maddie, and Lulu started out by using various manipulatives including rocks, seashells, and gems.

We brought math into the equation by asking a question similar to the following: “If I have five rocks, how many more would I need to have if I wanted ten total rocks?”

Various methods were used to find the answer including using fingers to count, counting with the manipulatives, and counting inside of our head.

K.CA.4: Find the number that makes 10 when added to the given number for any number from 1 to 9 (e.g., by using objects or drawings), and record the answer with a drawing or an equation.

Next, we got the seashells down. Besides using descriptive words to describe the physical aspects of the seashells, we also listened to see if we could hear the ocean!

Miss Tami bought us new foam puzzles! (THANK YOU!) We had a fantastic morning exploring the various foam puzzles that were added to our collection. All morning AND afternoon, the circle table was full of children completely puzzles. The puzzles vary in difficulty, allowing us to test ourselves and challenge our thinking.

Most children completed every new foam puzzle, commenting on their favorite one!

The art table became full as friends created with markers and scissors.

We extended the kindergarten FAB to the art table.

“There are two purple markers in the block. How many more purple markers would I need if I wanted ten total markers?”

“Eight more markers!”

A few of our younger friends used their fine motor skills to practice cutting using scissors and paper. Children worked on holding the scissors correctly and making slits along the outside of the paper.

Breakfast– Raisin bran with strawberries.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded beef, cantaloupe, and peppers.

PM snack– Pumpkin seeds and goldfish.

Wee Sprout– Peppers.

Have a lovely night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 3/30