Happy Friday! Enjoy the pictures from our day!
Breakfast: Brown rice cakes with peanut butter and fresh pears
Lunch: Ham on whole wheat bread with fresh carrots, peppers and cantaloupe
PM Snack: pretzels, mozzarella cheese and pears
Wee Sprouts: Fresh carrots and cucumber
Link to Photos:2023-12-01
Enjoy the weekend!
~Wee Friends Teachers
Good Afternoon!
** Wee Friends will be closed for our winter break starting Monday, December 25th through Friday, January 5th. We’ll reopen on Monday, January 8th.
*** To give everyone a early reminder, Wee Friends will be closed on Friday, February 23rd for Parent Teacher Conferences.
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We’ve been diving into maps and globes this week in PREK1 group and this morning, we identified the direction symbol that was located at the bottom of our map. We talked about the four directions after children wrote their name under what ‘N’ stands for which is North!
Social Studies: K.3.2 Identify maps and globes as ways of representing Earth and understand differences between a map/globe.
This morning we engaged in some water play, experimenting with water movement. This activity was very popular and many friends spent the entire morning trying different water movement tools. Some of the tools we used were: a syringe, a turkey baster, a squirt bottle and a pump bottle. We set up the sensory bin and a couple of trays that each had something different to try. There were several friends who realized that proposing a trade was a great solution for trying all of the different tools. Many realized the mutual benefit here, and were eager to trade spots many times. It was a good lesson in cooperation and awareness that what benefits “me” can also benefit “you”.
PREK2: Today during group we practiced the new deep breathing techniques that we learned yesterday. The favorite seems to be Rainbow breath. We read the story “Kittens first Moon” and practiced recalling events from the story. At the end of group we each tried to remember one way the Kitten tried to reach the moon.
Breakfast: Chex cereal with fresh bananas.
Lunch: Brown rice with turkey, fresh pears/cantaloupe, and carrots/cucumber.
PM Snack: Whole wheat crackers with peanut butter and seeds sprinkled on top.
Wee Sprouts: Fresh bell peppers and carrot slices.
Link to Photos:2023-11-30
Enjoy the rest your the day!
~Wee Friends Teachers
*Please bring or keep snow pants, snow boots, winter coats, hats and gloves/mittens in your child’s cubby for outside play every day. Please label them with your child’s name or initials. Thank you.*
Happy Thursday!
This morning, our friends engaged in the front area with stepping stones and liquid squares. They also did flips on the ladder or sat on it like “a train” as Ben described it. Our friends also went up and down the Habi-trail slide.
Eden explored the animals inside the cube. She shared a big smile while standing in the cube!
Our friends enjoyed using colorful beads to stack and putting together the wooden trains.
We finally made our way outside for the first time this week. We played in the sandbox, worked on our balance skills, and walked around the play house with a truck.
Breakfast: Whole grain Cheerios with fresh apple.
Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with red beans, corn, and watermelon slices.
Afternoon Snack: Sunflower seeds with Triscuits crackers.
Wee Sprout: Red bell pepper.
Have a wonderful evening!
Tina and Rebekah
Link to pictures: 2023-11-30
Happy Wednesday!
Today we explored a gigantic sensory bin filled with snow. Many were eager to play with snow this morning so we decided to bring it inside. We offered mittens to keep hands warm and to add a novel challenge to the activity. Making snowballs with the ice cream scoops was a favorite activity in the snow. Many friends noticed that as the snow was played with in the warm environment, it began to change. It was observed that the snow was getting “smaller”. It was interesting for our friends to watch how the snow transformed as it slowly melted.
In the art center we enjoyed some new snowy white playdough with added silver and white sparkles. A variety of sensory experiences at this age keeps young children engaged and at the same time promotes brain integration. When all of the senses are stimulated simultaneously, the brain learns to function as one. This will improve attention and focusing abilities though out life.
William played project manager today overseeing and designing a new obstacle course. He added an L shaped balance beam, stepping stone blocks, stairs and bridges to hop or balance across. It was a great social lesson in developing the skills needed for leading, using kind words and encouragement as a prompt to get others to willingly participate in a project.
Breakfast: Oatmeal with cinnamon and fresh watermelon
Lunch: Farm fresh boiled eggs with fresh bell peppers, cucumber, bananas and orange slices
PM Snack: Popped corn with cheddar cheese
Wee Sprouts: Fresh cucumbers and sliced carrots
Link to Photos:2023-11-29
Have a Lovely day!
Wee Friends Teachers
Good afternoon!
This morning we engaged with a few of our musical instruments. We enjoyed making beautiful sounds from our pianos and xylophones together.
We then headed into the kitchen for a sensory experience with kinetic sand. We each had a cookie cutter, half of a plastic egg, plastic caps, and a salamander or bug to explore with in it. Several fiends told the teachers what their cookie cutter was when they made the imprint of it in the sand. Our 1 year old friends explored playdough using a craft stick and an animal.
We then dressed up in dress up clothes and accessories.
Eleanor enjoyed playing Peek-a boo with Eden with her silk blanket.
Breakfast: Overnight Oatmeal with cinnamon/sugar mixture and fresh watermelon.
Lunch: Farm fresh scrambled eggs, bananas, whole grain wheat bread and carrots.
Afternoon Snack: Refried beans and white corn chips.
Wee Sprouts: Cucumbers.
Have a wonderful evening!
Rebekah and Tina
Link to pictures: 2023-11-29
Good afternoon!
This morning, we brought down the snowballs for us to play with since its snowing outside. Our friends enjoyed exploring the texture of the balls and tossing them into the plastic blocks.
We then made our way to the kitchen to draw and color with markers on our paper canvases. The babies even joined us and tried drawing with markers for the first time!
Eden and Eleanor engaged with some of the cooking tools from housekeeping to make food.
Breakfast: Corn Chex cereal and fresh pear slices.
Lunch: Refried beans and shredded Colby-Jack cheese on whole wheat flatbread, apple slices, and cucumber.
Afternoon Snack: Whole grain wheat bagel with peanut butter and fresh watermelon.
Wee Sprout: Red bell pepper.
Have a great evening!
Tina and Rebekah
Link to pictures: 2023-11-28
It was a busy day at Wee Friends! With the wind-chill keeping us indoors, we had to get creative to for fill our gross motor needs! First, we enjoyed moving our bodies in an obstacle course. We experimented with moving our bodies in untraditional ways. After walking across the balance beam we tried other ways of crossing it, slithering like a snake and scooting backward. We tried bunny hopping and crab walking to move our bodies back to the beginning. After the obstacle course, we danced and played a variety of body moment musical games. We brought back a calm body with some yoga after all that movement. We practiced breathing deeply with each pose and moving our bodies in a slow controlled manor. A story got us ready for lunch time and some much needed rest!
We explored table activities today as well. We were invited to practice our sorting and counting skills at the round table. There was plenty of building on the building rug. We also explored a “snowy” sensory bin since we couldn’t play in the snow outside. As always there were many ways we could grow our minds and bodies at Wee Friends!
Breakfast: Cheerios with fresh bananas.
Lunch: Peanut butter on whole wheat bread/tortilla, cheddar block cheese, fresh watermelon/pears, and fresh cucumber/pepper.
PM Snack: Whole wheat cinnamon and raisin bagel with cream cheese.
Wee Sprouts: Fresh bell peppers.
Link to Photos: 2023-11-28
Enjoy the rest of the afternoon!
~Wee Friends Teachers
Reminder: Wee Friends will be closed for our winter break from Monday, December 25-Friday, January 5, 2024. Thank you!
Happy Monday! We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday weekend!
This morning, Dax took out the bean bags and asked for a dancing song. We used our bean bags to dance to the song by Greg and Steve called the Beanie Bag Dance. We followed the directions and placed our bean bags on the body part as we danced.
We then headed into the kitchen to engage in a loose parts activity with pom-poms and dominos. We could use a spoon, cup and bowl while exploring with them. The friends were interested in the dots on the dominos, so Miss Bekah used her finger to show how we can count them, using one-to-one correspondence as she recited the number. Hannah worked on her patterning skills and stringing with her beads.
Eleanor enjoyed climbing on the habi-trail, exploring doctor tools and walking down the length of the fish tank while watching the fish swim.
Breakfast: Whole grain wheat bread toast with butter and cinnamon/sugar mixture and fresh apple slices.
Lunch: Whole grain wheat penne pasta with red beans, fresh pear slices and broccoli.
Afternoon Snack: Whole milk yogurt and graham crackers.
Wee Sprouts: Cucumbers.
Have a wonderful evening!
Rebekah and Tina
Link to pictures: 2023-11-27
Good afternoon. We hope everyone had a relaxing break!
To start off our week, PREK1 friends had to option to come sign in where we looked at the map of the United States. First, they wrote their name under the state that they live in. Then, we worked together to identify the state of Indiana. For those that didn’t know, we found Michigan first since it’s a very identifiable state since its the shape of a mitten! We looked directly under it to find Indiana.
Social Studies: K.3.2 Identify maps and globes as ways of representing Earth and understand differences between a map/globe.
This morning a loose parts activity inspired imaginative thought and building ideas. We set out trays that contained a range of materials like clothespins wood pieces and puff balls. Our bright young friends got right to work. Asher created an airplane with his parts using the sticks and clothes pins. He showed off how it could fly through the air! Albert created a “car wash” with the parts he had on his tray. We got down some cars and trucks to add so that the car wash idea could grow into some imaginative play. After that several other friends wanted to add cars and trucks to their trays as well:)
In the art center we offered an engaging painting technique using paint, eye droppers and colored glitter. We gave a choice of holiday colors or a red, blue and purple alternative. Most chose holiday colors since, as they shared with us they had been decorating at home. Others were quite decisive about wanting to use more color variety and waited patiently for the blue purple and red painting tray.
PREK2: During group time today we read the story “My Many Colored Days” which several friends shared that they enjoy at home as well. We talked about how sometimes colors might make us think of certain emotions like they did in the story. We thought of how different colors made us feel when we looked at them. We practiced “hot chocolate breath” which is a little exercise in using our imaginations to act out making hot chocolate while practicing calming breathwork. After the story we practiced some name recognition matching our name sticker with our name written on the board. .
Breakfast: Whole wheat toast with butter and fresh bananas.
Lunch: Whole wheat pasta with black beans, fresh pears/banana, and bell peppers/carrots.
PM Snack: Whole milk yogurt with granola.
Wee Sprouts: Fresh cucumbers and carrots.
Link to Photos:2023-11-27
Enjoy this wintery afternoon!
~Wee Friends Teachers
Good Afternoon!
This weekend our last infant friend turns a year old! We hope you have a great 1st birthday.
With today being pajama day, it was also hair day! Miss Tina put a pony tail or 2 in everyone’s hair.
We engaged with a variety of musical instruments. We all enjoyed making beautiful sounds together.
Breakfast: Overnight Oatmeal with cinnamon/sugar mixture and fresh watermelon.
Lunch: Hummus on whole grain wheat tortillas, fresh pineapple and sweet potatoes.
Afternoon Snack: Pretzels and mozzarella cheese stick.
Wee Sprouts: Cucumbers.
We hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy the long weekend!
Rebekah and Tina
Link to pictures: 2023-11-22