Enjoy the photos and have a great weekend!
Breakfast was Chex and bananas. Lunch consisted of whole wheat flat bread with cheese and refried beans, grapes, and cauliflower. Afternoon snack was cheese and homemade banana muffins that Brycen brought in as a birthday treat!
Have a great night!
Amanda
Link to photos: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A58B8C61670EC2D4!90857&authkey=!ALttKG_Yk-k4nBY&ithint=folder%2cJPG
Good Afternoon!
Here is a letter from Miss Katelyn who is our current student teacher from IUSB:
Dear Wee Friends families,
I will be working alongside the staff at Wee Friends. I am currently a student at Indiana University South Bend pursing a career in elementary education specializing in early childhood education. In the past, I have worked with children ages 2-5 at early childhood development centers. I currently live in Elkhart with my husband and our 2 year old daughter. I have always loved working with children and have participated in different mentoring programs as well as volunteered in different classrooms. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my family and playing outside with my daughter. For the next four weeks, I will be assisting staff members through morning activities and free play. I will be focusing on the importance of early childhood education as I interact and learn more about childcare and the development of children. I am very excited to be at Wee Friends and I know these next four weeks will be full of fun! I look forward to working with you and your children.
Sincerely,
Katelyn Baldwin
________________________________________________________________________
Our Thursday morning consisted of choosing different stories that interested us! Reading stories with a group of friends or a teacher is always such a relaxing way to start off each day.
As I started to make the rice, it sparked quite an interest. A couple children joined me in measuring the rice and choosing different spices to add to the rice. This group of children is always so eager to learn and anxious to help with anything in the classroom!
Before heading outside, Miss Melinda gathered friends in the science area where we started talking about the caterpillars that are in our aquarium. A few friends had put a couple of leaves in the aquarium two days ago and the leaves are GONE! So, the book ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ was read which gave us some good insight into the caterpillars mindset 
.
Children were actively engaged as they listened and asked questions that they had.
A science book was retrieved to use as a reference. Children were able to see what the caterpillars are going to look like eventually.
We headed outside and enjoyed the absolutely beautiful day.
Children are enjoying taking advantage of the new bug containers that we got! There were a few caterpillars found this morning with a TON of rollie pollies. At this point, I’d say most of us would be considered experts…
In Kindergarten today:
We read ‘My Many Colored Days’ which incorporated feelings and emotions into the FAB for the week. After discussing how each of us felt, each child was given a certain day. After looking at the calendar and dissecting the days of the week, we got into order! If a child wasn’t quite sure, their peers did a great job at figuring out what came next in the chain.
Journaling involved a lot of colors today! At this time during the day (among others), children are allowed to voice or write how they’re feeling, what they’re thinking, or maybe expressing a ‘favorite’ that they have. Not only do I get to know them on a deeper level but the conversations that they have with their peers during this time allows for the connections between one another to become that much stronger.
Breakfast– whole grain cheerios and PPC peaches.
Lunch– brown rice with shredded cheese, banana, and cauliflower.
PM snack– pumpkin seeds and ‘Simply Fit Baked Crackers’
Wee Sprout– cauliflower. 
Have a lovely evening and hope everyone can enjoy this weather!
-Mindy
Link to pictures: WF 5/19
Please note: We are almost out of plastic bags for dirty diapers. Please bring some in if you have extras!
Today we played with the musical instruments…
Developed our visual perception and fine motor skills while playing with pegs and puzzles…
Admired some nature that caught our eye…
Played dress up…
And had some silly time in the gross motor section!
Breakfast was Cheerios (we tried Raisin Bran, but it was not a hit) and mixed fruit. Wee sprouts was peas. Lunch consisted of whole grain brown rice with cheese, mixed fruit, and peas. Afternoon snack was pretzels and string cheese.
Have a great night!
Amanda
Link to photos: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A58B8C61670EC2D4!90488&authkey=!AAk_B77A8m-Cqs0&ithint=folder%2cJPG
The teeter totters are quickly becoming our favorite activity to do outside. Most of our friends have learned how to climb onto it on their own. They love to rock on it by themselves or with a friend!
This afternoon we pulled out the ball baskets. All the balls are different sizes, colors, and textures that our friends always enjoy throwing and chasing after. Today they enjoyed trying to toss the balls back into the baskets. We all cheered and clapped when they made one in!
Breakfast was Cheerios and pears. Wee sprouts was peas. Lunch consisted of homemade French toast casserole, bananas, and peas. Afternoon snack was mixed fruit with graham crackers.
Have a great night!
Amanda
Link to photos: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A58B8C61670EC2D4!90434&authkey=!APal1xbHQblXaMk&ithint=folder%2cJPG
Good Afternoon!
While the small group was at the farm today, our older friends stayed back and helped plant our seeds that have sprouted! After obtaining knowledge about planting, friends headed to the backyard to figure out where to plant our veggies.
Everyone pitched in and were GREAT helpers!
Rosemary, Tate, Anna, Max, and Lucy were so excited to ride in the wee-hicle! They did fantastic. Rosemary was the song leader on the way down to the farm.
We greeted Miss Charlotte once we arrived and discussed proper farm etiquette. Children found out that we have to be quiet around the animals so we don’t frighten them. Anna put her fingers up to her mouth and motioned for “quiet”.
Our first stop was the goat! We LOVED being able to feed the goat. A couple children said, “Ohhh! Tickly!”
After we were done feeding him, we were able to watch Miss Charlotte milk the goat! Once she was finished, we got to see the result!
We were given the opportunity to go into the fenced area where the chickens were. A few children noticed that the feathers were different colors. Our friends were so gentle when given the chance to pet an animal!
We were ECSTATIC about getting to ride the pony. When someone said, “horse”, Lucy corrected them because of course it was a pony!
Max opted not to ride the pony but he was a fabulous observer and asked all of his friends how they liked it! Rosemary got off and said, “I ride again?”
Our group headed to the barn where we saw a bunny and small chicks! Miss Tami showed us how to correctly pet animals at the farm: starting at their head and going down their body.
We also noticed that there were small sheep that were available to interact with! They were quite vociferous! 
We spent the rest of our time at the farm admiring the beautiful nature that was around us. Children headed to the pond where we pointed out different things that we saw.
As we walked, a couple friends asked to pick dandelions which lead to..
Dandelion bouquets!
Breakfast– whole grain oatmeal with banana.
Lunch– homemade french toast casserole, fresh PPC watermelon and cantaloupe, and cauliflower.
PM snack– blue corn chips and refried beans.
Wee Sprout– carrots.
We all had a lovely day! Hope you did too!
-Mindy
Link to pictures: WF 5/18
Good Afternoon!
*Just a reminder, that GROUP B is going to the farm tomorrow which includes Tate, Anna, Rosemary, Lucy, and Max. We’re aiming to leave around 9:45 so please have your child here prior to that! Thanks!
*I’ll send out another reminder next week but we’re planning to have a PAJAMA DAY on FRIDAY, MAY 27TH.
We want to send a BIG Happy Birthday shout out to Tate! All the way from being three months at Wee Wee to now turning three years old! Wow how fast time flies.
The welcome activity that was made available for children this morning was marbles and ice cube trays. There were many different ways that friends manipulated this open ended activity.
Maddie shouted, “Look! I sorted them all by color into the right place!”
Jackson and Eren helped Miss Melinda this morning retrieve some tent caterpillars that had taken up residence in one of our small trees outside. We brought them in and they are currently in an aquarium up in the front science area. We’re looking forward to watching them grow!
While the swimmers were off at the Y, the rest of us made homemade frozen yogurt cups with fresh fruit!
Everyone was a big help. Friends enjoyed contributing to our afternoon snack, which was a big hit!
In Kindergarten today:
We continued to dissect the calendar. Specifically, we talked about the days of the week. We split the days up into ‘at home days’ and ‘school’ days. Of course, the exception was brought up such as when we have a three day weekend!
Our journaling time is beneficial on many levels. Lately, friends have been trying their best to use kid spelling which allows children to build the skills they need to decipher between consonants and vowels.
Breakfast– kix and blueberries.
Lunch– hummus on tortilla, PPC grapes, and cherry tomatoes/cucumbers.
PM snack– homemade frozen yogurt cups with fresh blueberries and strawberries.
Wee Sprout– cherry tomatoes.
Have a terrific evening!
Link to pictures: WF 5/17
Enjoy the pictures from our day!
Breakfast was Kix and pears. Lunch consisted of whole wheat tortilla with hummus, grapes, and corn. Afternoon snack was toasted whole wheat bagels with cream cheese.
Have a great night!
Amanda
Link to photos: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A58B8C61670EC2D4!90086&authkey=!AICPwKWol8zqw60&ithint=folder%2cJPG
Our friends loved the sunny weather this morning!
Sophia started off scooping and pouring in the sandbox, but then decided to go exploring!
Maggie loves the little bikes! She loves to pull and push them around the yard with her. Then she likes to sit and watch the kids go by!
Franklin hung out in the pebble area. He found some logs to climb over and checked out what the older children were doing inside the log house. Then he and Miss Marty played on the slide!
Ruby looked inside all of the buckets in the sandbox to see what was in them. She found quite a few buckets with rain water that she splashed her hands in! Then she joined her friends in playing on the teeter totters and bikes!
Breakfast was whole wheat toast with butter and cinnamon and pears. Lunch consisted of whole wheat pasta with red beans, oranges, and broccoli. Afternoon snack was organic whole milk yogurt and grapes.
Have a great night!
Amanda
Link to photos: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A58B8C61670EC2D4!90002&authkey=!AFVq-YstrIAeBbU&ithint=folder%2cJPG
Happy Monday!
Hope everyone had a great weekend!
**Thanks to Tate’s family for our afternoon treat today! His birthday is tomorrow but we were able to have his birthday treat today! (yummy applesauce that was a hit!)
As a child said this morning, it was a “teacher extravaganza!”
Miss Rebekah started at Wee Friends today! We enjoyed getting to know her and for her to get to know us!
Miss Katelyn started her summer practicum this morning. She’s a student at IUSB and is going to be with us through the middle of June!
This week’s fab is as follows: K.1.5 Explain that calendars are used to represent days of the week and months of the years.
During large group, we read ‘A Child’s Calendar’ which introduced the months of the year. We started out by becoming familiar with calendar language. Throughout the week, we will dive deeper into why we use a calendar and the important information that it tells us!
Puzzles were requested all throughout the morning. There were varying degrees on difficulty with each puzzle and our older friends were great at lending a hand if needed.
Feathers were of interest this morning so Miss Melinda set up an activity where children could come to the art table to paint with the feathers. We experimented with different parts of the feather as well as using the feathers in our artwork!
Breakfast– whole wheat bagel and grapes.
Lunch– whole wheat pasta with red beans, oranges, and carrots.
PM snack– Tate’s birthday applesauce with block cheese.
Wee Sprouts– carrots, broccoli, cauliflower.
Have a lovely night!
Link to pictures: WF 5/16
Emma has discovered a love for the teeter-totter! She was laughing and saying “Weee!” the whole time she was on it!
Franklin got a game of peek-a-boo started this afternoon! He and his friends all giggled together when he popped out from the other side of the curtains. Ruby and Sophia each grabbed their own curtain and joined in on the game!
Sophia spent a lot of time in the dress up section this week. Today she found a scarf she liked and tried it on a few different ways!
Breakfast was Chex and pears. Wee sprouts was broccoli. Lunch consisted of whole wheat tortilla with hummus, grapes, and broccoli. Afternoon snack was mozzarella and cheddar cheese, blueberries, and grapes.
Have a great weekend!
Amanda
Link to photos: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A58B8C61670EC2D4!89867&authkey=!AJZzOC2SOuh5Gy0&ithint=folder%2cJPG