Good Afternoon!

The bin of colorful counters were put out on the table this morning. Friends moved the counters all over the table, sorting them and putting them into groups by shape and color.

Max helped his brother Jackson with the letter recognition box. Max let him know, “Jack, I’ll hand you the letters!”

We made ice cream today! When I say ice cream, I mean a HEALTHY ice cream concoction. We used a specific amount of blueberries and bananas for this recipe. After we measured out the bananas and blueberries, we transferred them to the blender where we watched as they swirled and moved all over! Our final product was a liquid substance that we put into the freezer!

This brought up conversations of what kinds of foods get stored in the freezer as well as where each child’s freezer is located.

Throughout the morning, it’s always nice to take a quick break from the hustle and bustle of the day and grab a quick veggie snack! Today’s veggie of choice: PPC broccoli!

This afternoon, we brought in snow in many tubs for children to explore! The first thing that came out of all of our friends mouths–“IT’S COLD!”

We added various tools to the snow for children to experiment with.

Breakfast– Cheerios and blueberries.

Lunch– Hummus on whole wheat bread/tortilla, pineapple/banana, and cucumbers.

PM snack– Homemade blueberry/banana ice cream and string cheese.

Wee Sprout– Broccoli.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 12/13

Please note: We are running out of hair rubber bands and would appreciate any hair band donations!

Our friends love the Christmas books we pulled out for the season. They always enjoy hearing new stories and ask to read them over and over.

Franklin requested to doodle so we brought out the personal journals. As children develop better control over the muscles in their hands and fingers, their scribbles begin to change and become more controlled. Toddlers may make repeated marks on the page—open circles and diagonal, curved, horizontal, or vertical lines. Over time, children make the transition to holding the crayon or marker between their thumb and pointer finger.

This afternoon we brought the tunnels out for some gross motor activity! Our friends love crawling through them together!

Breakfast was Cheerios and pear. Lunch consisted of whole wheat bread with hummus, peas, and pears. Afternoon snack was bagels and cream cheese.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulh4wMvuwlABotcaY5pQ

Have a great night!

Amanda

Today we used markers and dot paints to write in our personal journals…

Took turns on the new swing…

And played dress up together!

Lunch consisted of whole wheat pasta with cheese, bananas, and corn. Afternoon snack was pretzels with string cheese.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulh4suGJ4KhVm_bqEBAQ

Have a great night!

Amanda

Good Afternoon!

**Reminder: We need updated shot records (by the beginning of JANUARY) for all of our friends EXCLUDING the children who were enrolled this past fall. Again, if those families who just came in the fall would like to get an updated record for our file, that’d be great. Thanks!

**We are almost one week away (Tuesday, December 20th at 4:00) from our Christmas Concert. We’ve had a lot of families add their name to our attendance list. If any other families are going to be able to attend, please add your name and join us for all of the fun!

Within a shortened morning, friends adjusted accordingly. Without breakfast as an option, children came in and started right in on their play!

Almost every area of the house was occupied this morning. Daniel joined us for the day and enjoyed reconnecting with his friends! Housekeeping was full as children used many different tools within their play, including our holiday hats.

Breakfast- At home since it was a late start!

Lunch- Whole wheat pasta with chicken and butter, applesauce, and peppers.

PM snack- Whole milk yogurt with blueberries.

Wee Sprout- Peppers.

Have a great night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 12/12

Happy Friday!

We started our morning in the kitchen playing with playdough! Each friend had a handful of golf tees that they enjoyed poking into the dough. They also used their fingers to poke holes into the dough and pull it into little pieces.

We hung up a new swing to try out. Everyone had a turn and it was a big hit!

Breakfast was Kix and banana. Lunch consisted of chicken avocado sandwiches, bananas, and corn. Afternoon snack was cheese crackers and blueberries.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulh4o-3b65xh2ACrQSOw

Have a great weekend!

Amanda

Happy Friday–

**In the past two days, we’ve had a couple of illnesses going around: a case of vomit was reported yesterday and another child went home today with a fever. Hope everyone can rest up this weekend!

It was all about the stories today. As it was cold and snowy outside, we were getting warm and snug inside. We’ve read ‘How The Grinch Stole Christmas’ a couple times within the past two days and children are enjoying the character of The Grinch.

Children took to building to express their imagination and thoughts. Tate and Lucy built a sporting arena that housed different basketball teams, women’s and men’s respectively.

While we were waiting for lunch time to come around, children took that opportunity to get in some puzzle time. The apple pies and birthday cake have been used a lot within the last couple days. Activities like this allow for fine motor skills to be used as well as our imaginations!

Breakfast– Malt-O-Meal and blackberries.

Lunch– Homemade chicken avocado salad on whole wheat bread, banana, and cauliflower.

PM snack– String cheese, pears, and dates.

Wee Sprout– Cherry tomatoes.

Have a safe and warm weekend.

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 12/9

Good Afternoon!

**We’ve had several families sign up for our Christmas Concert! Thank you—Just a reminder, if you or anyone if your family is planning on attending, please sign up on our list by the morning sign in message. Thanks again!

Maddie and Lulu experimented with the letter recognition box this morning. Maddie initially got the box down and Lulu asked if she could help. Together, they worked to match the upper case letters to the lower case letters. After the box was complete, they named each letter.

The art table was turned into an ornament making station. Using glue and different colored sequins and glitter, children used these materials to make an original ornament that we’ll hang up in our classroom environment.

Our large group friends are still exploring the ‘map’ theme within their journal. We’ve expanded from the ‘map to a volcano’ theme and have made several different versions such as ‘map to the north pole’ and ‘map to a pet shop’. As friends draw their map, they become expressive, sharing special aspects of their current map.

Today, Maddie shared that there was a ‘lost path’ on her map that forces people to get lost and eventually takes them to a bear! Lulu builds bridges within her map and when friends are completely done, they tend to run their finger through the path, explaining their way of thinking.

Anna screamed to Rosemary, “Rosemary! Look it’s snowing.” (cue the excitement)—They stood at the window, watching the beautiful white flakes fall from the sky. They inquired about going outside. We made the final call and decided to camp out inside today. Brr!

Even with a lack of outside time this week, it hasn’t altered our overall attitude. We were quite content looking at the weather from inside a warm house today .

Breakfast– Brown Rice Crisps and mango.

Lunch– Brown, organic rice with cheese and chicken, peppers, and banana.

PM snack– Roasted chick peas and graham crackers.

Wee Sprouts– Broccoli.

Have a lovely night! Stay warm.

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 12/8

Enjoy the photos from our day!

Breakfast was Whole Grain Cheerios and oranges. Lunch consisted of whole grain brown rice with cheese and chicken, bananas, and peas. Afternoon snack was wheat crackers with sweet pea butter.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulh4h_OpDJo9zL1Vsp7Q

Have a great night!

Amanda

Here’s a refresher on our weather policy:

We ask each family to sign up for text notification for immediate communication of important or emergency information (closings, etc.). All weather related closings will be announced via this text service.  Be on the lookout for text communication if South Bend or School City of Mishawaka is closed or delayed as I will send confirmation that we are open or if we are delayed/closed.

Text this message: @weefr

To this number: 81010 (works like a traditional 10 digit phone number)

We started our morning decorating snowmen, candy canes, and Christmas trees with dot paints.

Later, we enjoyed putting ornaments on our felt Christmas tree. Emma and Ruby were identifying the colors and shapes of the ornaments. 

We spent most of our afternoon in the housekeeping area. We took turns playing with the stackers and then friends started pulling out pots and pans to cook with!

Breakfast was Cheerios and apples. Wee sprout was corn. Lunch consisted farm fresh eggs with cheese and flat bread, corn, and blueberries. Afternoon snack was corn chips and block cheese.

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulh4gxz8YI0kwWS8oMyA

Have a great night!

Amanda

Good Afternoon!

Just as a refresher, I’m posting the weather closing policy that we follow. Since this Indiana weather is often predictable (HA!), thought we could all use a refresher course. Here’s the highlighted version:

We ask each family to sign up for text notification for immediate communication of important or emergency information (closings, etc.). All weather related closings will be announced via this text service.  Be on the lookout for text communication if South Bend or School City of Mishawaka is closed or delayed as I will send confirmation that we are open or if we are delayed/closed.

Text this message: @weefr

To this number: 81010 (works like a traditional 10 digit phone number)

___________________________________________________________

Our welcome activity this morning was of the fine motor variety. Children had to take each popsicle stick that had the upper case letter on it and match it to the lower case letter that was written on the box. A few younger friends used it simply as letter recognition while asking, “What’s this letter?”. We would name the letter and then come up with words that were important to them such as ‘M’—‘Mommy’.

Addi took the popsicle sticks and placed them in the box by associating the lower case letters and the upper case letters. She also associated the letters with words that were important to her, just as her younger friends had done earlier in the morning.

Various materials were set out at the art table including holiday pipe cleaners, several beads, and straws. Our fine motor skills were used to carefully place the materials onto the pipe cleaners.

Tate asked to have the art easel open. A few friends joined him at the easel. When friends paint next to each other, they often have a conversation about what they’re painting. Rosemary said, “Where’s the white paint?!”

Our bundled friends went outside this morning to enjoy some fresh air since it looks like our white winter friend will join us the next couple of days. We loved having the sun on our faces for a little while.

Breakfast– Kix with PPC raspberries.

Lunch– Hummus on whole wheat tortillas and bagels, oranges, and PPC broccoli.

PM snack– Air popped popcorn and oranges.

Wee Sprouts– Cucumber.

Have a terrific evening!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 12/7