Enjoy the pictures!
Breakfast was whole grain oatmeal and bananas. Wee sprouts was corn. Lunch consisted of farm fresh eggs with cheese, whole wheat bread with butter, pears, and corn. Afternoon snack was wheat crackers with sweet pea butter.
Have a great night!
Amanda
Link to photos: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A58B8C61670EC2D4!92965&authkey=!ALPzTcp8-KkXXi4&ithint=folder%2cJPG
Good Afternoon!
**Nice weather approaching—>please make sure that your child has weather appropriate clothing (shorts and t-shirts) AND a swimsuit as we will be having water days in the near future! Thank you!
Today, we welcomed Emma and Sophia back! They are going to be visiting today and Friday! It was great to have them back at Wee Friends.
Clara and Addi requested the light table where they chose to manipulate colored shape pieces. They decided to try and put all of the pieces together to cover the entire surface of the light table!
The more they worked on it, the more friends ended up coming to help! We were able to use our trial and error skills along with our estimation skills. I heard things like:
“Do you think this piece will fit?”
“Look what I did here! The shapes fit together.”
“Oops. I don’t think that worked.”
Our finished product!
“It’s about the process; not the product.”
When we headed outside, we moved our bodies around quite a lot!
Miss Katelyn started a game where she used dice to determine the actions that friends had to do. For example, ‘run like a chicken’ or ‘crawl like a pig’.
Clara started up her own yoga class where she demonstrated how to stretch and do certain yoga moves. Her peers watched as she switched from move to move.
A few of our friends chose to do their own moves!
Our large group was LARGE today so we bypassed the large group area and headed outside to the bridge where we read two different stories. This way, everyone was guaranteed to have their own personal space. Plus it was gorgeous outside!
The second story that we read was titled, “Beach”. We closed our eyes and listened to the words of the book. We imagined what it would be like to be at the beach today. One child said, “I can hear the waves crashing!”
We each shared a ‘beach’ story that we wanted to tell. Numerous votes were taken such as, “Raise your hand if you go straight into the water? Raise your hand if you go SLOWLY into the water?”
It was nice to read stories and feel the sun on our faces.
Breakfast– Whole grain oatmeal with cinnamon and plums.
Lunch– Scrambled eggs with shredded cheese, whole wheat bread, oranges/apples, and cherry tomatoes.
PM snack– Air popped popcorn and PPC raspberries.
Wee Sprouts– Red peppers.
Have a lovely evening. Hope everyone is able to enjoy this weather!
-Mindy
Link to pictures: WF 6/8
We tried a new sensory experience today: sea foam! It’s made with water, dish soap, corn starch, and liquid watercolor. We combined all the ingredients and mixed them in a blender. All the kids stopped what they were doing to watch and listen to the blender. It was a new, loud sound in our environment!
Our friends were hesitant to touch the mixture at first, but once they did they really got into it! They all loved dipping their hands into the tub, seeing how the foam stayed coated on when they pulled them back out, and then rubbing their messy hands together. Franklin enjoyed clapping his hands together and watching the foam splatter out. When they swirled their hands through the foam, it became even bubblier. Sophia looked for big bubbles in the tub that she could pop!
Breakfast was Whole Grain Cheerios and blueberries. Lunch consisted of whole wheat tortilla with mozzarella cheese, blueberries, and carrots. Afternoon snack was toasted whole wheat bagels with butter.
Have a great night!
Amanda
Link to photos: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A58B8C61670EC2D4!92854&authkey=!ALV0205R3dUZoUg&ithint=folder%2cJPG
Good Afternoon!
Miss Melinda took a few friends out to see the caterpillars that have turned into moths! We took the lid off of our aquarium and waited to see if any of the moths would take off.
Later in the morning when children got back from swimming, a few of the moths flew into the air and landed on our hands!
When the swimmers were off enjoying their last swim day, the rest of us got to baking our afternoon snack! We prepared banana oatmeal bars with peaches. Everyone pitched it and helped me measure the ingredients that were needed.
After we got done baking, children went to different areas of the room and became involved in various activities. The art easel is a popular place as of late.
A math activity was made available at the table. Maddie and Miss Melinda worked on sequencing by using pieces of fruit. Maddie would talk aloud saying, “Banana. Grape. Apple. Banana. Grape. Apple.”
In large group, we continued to dissect stories. After we read our first story, we talked about the setting, characters, and problem within ‘There’s A Nightmare In My Closet’. Friends raised their hand to give their opinions and thoughts based on what they just read.
After reading the second story, we got into a discussion about nightmares. Eren asked, “What is a nightmare?” A few friends raised their hand to answer Eren’s question. Eren said, “Oh thanks! I have those sometimes.”
Breakfast– Kashi Blueberry Clusters and raspberries/grapes.
Lunch– Shredded cheese tortillas, pears/oranges, and tomatoes/carrots.
PM snack– Homemade banana oatmeal bars with peaches and string cheese.
Wee Sprouts– Cherry tomatoes.
Have a terrific evening!
-Mindy
Link to pictures: WF 6/7
Happy Monday!
*Tomorrow is the LAST day for swim!
A big welcome back to our friends Sloane and Owen, who are going to be with us for some of the summer!
Many activities were going on this morning. Our older friends played games such as Candy Land and Connect 4. The art table was full of sequins and friends took turns at the art easel.
Miss Katelyn sat with a group as they read a book about feelings and emotions. After she read the story, she started up an activity at the art table that focused on getting in touch with our own emotions.
There were many friends who pitched in to create our own emotion book!
Our finished product!
As we headed outside, we quickly found out that Miss Amanda had the bubbles out!
So, we got out our own bubbles! We explored blowing the bubbles as well as popping the bubbles! Children were surprised how high in the air the bubbles got before they popped.
In large group, we read a Henry and Mudge story. After the story was done, we talked about specific things in a story that we can look for, such as characters and setting. I accessed children’s background knowledge of these topics by asking, “Can anyone tell me what the setting of the story means?” A few friends shared the answers and helped our younger friends in the group to understand what these terms mean.
Then, we translated our understanding of these words to the story that we just read! Many friends raised their hands to talk about the characters and setting of ‘Henry and Mudge’. Finally, I asked if there was a ‘problem’ in the story. Sloane raised her hand and said, “Mudge ran away and got lost!” We had an open discussion as to what the solution was. The solution ended up being that Henry went and searched for Mudge and eventually he was found! We all love happy endings 
.
Breakfast– Whole wheat bagel with butter and grapes.
Lunch– Whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce and shredded cheese, pears, and green beans.
PM snack– Yogurt with PPC strawberries.
Wee Sprouts– Broccoli.
Have a terrific night!
-Mindy
Link to pictures: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A58B8C61670EC2D4!92582&authkey=!AORCA-s_BmsWdC0&ithint=folder%2cJPG
Enjoy the photos!
Breakfast was whole wheat toast with butter and apples. Lunch consisted of whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce, pears, and corn. Afternoon snack was organic whole milk yogurt and crackers.
Have a great night!
Amanda
Link to photos: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A58B8C61670EC2D4!92515&authkey=!AF0zQq2o4Irwi44&ithint=folder%2cJPG
Happy Friday!
We want to send a BIG Happy Birthday shout out to Miss Melinda! She celebrates her birthday tomorrow! We were quite busy today making her goodies to take home! We participated in a fun round of guess how old Miss Melinda is 
. She gave the clue, “It’s between 60 and 70.” Elliott hit it on the first guess!
In Kindergarten:
We read a book about trains which lead into a discussion about how we travel around our community. After learning about different places in our community this week, we talked about how we travel today.
The word ‘tally’ was brought into a discussion and Elliott explained to his peers what we do when we get to the fifth tally! “We swipe across the other tally’s guys. That’s the fifth tally mark.” As a group, we counted each group of tally marks and figured out that the car is used the most!
Here are a few more pictures from our day!
Breakfast– Oatmeal cakes and raspberries/blueberries.
Lunch– Refried bean and shredded cheese tortillas, oranges/bananas, and green beans.
PM snack– Colby Jack cheese and red grapes.
Wee Sprouts– Carrots.
Have a terrific weekend!
-Mindy
Link to pictures: WF 6/3
Maggie was cooking up a storm in housekeeping! She had food going in and out of the oven all morning long. If only it were real food, we would have had a feast!
Sophia loves playing with the pebbles outside. While in the log house this morning, she grabbed handfuls of the pea gravel and placed them along the window ledge. Then she discovered that the log house is a great place to climb and play peekaboo!
Franklin and Maggie enjoyed reading stories to themselves and with Miss Rebekah this afternoon. Row, Row, Row Your Boat was sang many times!
Breakfast was toast with butter and cinnamon and bananas. Wee sprouts was corn. Lunch consisted of English muffins with mozzarella cheese, pears, apples, and corn. Afternoon snack was string cheese and cheese crackers.
Have a great weekend!
Amanda
Link to photos: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A58B8C61670EC2D4!92355&authkey=!AO4Cwcet7i5Szhg&ithint=folder%2cJPG
Enjoy the pictures from our day!
Breakfast was Whole Grain Cheerios and peaches. Lunch consisted of whole grain brown rice with shredded beef, pea, and bananas. Afternoon snack was pretzels and pears.
Have a great night!
Amanda
Link to photos: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A58B8C61670EC2D4!92297&authkey=!AMYFTh-aA9znB0Q&ithint=folder%2cJPG
Hello!
* We’re asking for plastic grocery bags for dirty diapers. Our stock has run out! Thank you 
.
We traveled out of the house today to explore the area around us. Before we ventured out, everyone gathered in the reading area to talk about our FAB for the week, becoming familiar with our community and the businesses that are present.
Miss Melinda read “What Do You Do?: Job’s in Our Community”. After learning about several jobs that are occupying most communities, we made a possible list of businesses that we could possibly see on our walk through River Park.
We filled wagons and a stroller and headed off! Every child got a piece of paper full of different businesses, a pen, and a clipboard. This was for documenting what businesses that we actual saw!
As we walked along Mishawaka Avenue, we looked in the windows to see if we could get any clues. There were many different types of local businesses such as a gas station, laundromat, pet groomer, fire station, and bank! We also saw a few that we had to add to our list including a vet and a church. When we walked up toward the church, we realized it wasn’t on our list. Elizabeth asked, “Could I add it to my list?” As a group, we spelled church so that children could add it if they wanted.
To find the business on the paper, we worked with friends to look at the first letter of the word. For instance, we came upon a bank. Children looked at their list and looked for a word that started with the letter ‘b’.
Once we got into the neighborhood section of River Park, we observed our surroundings. We had friends point out different flowers, many kinds of mulch, and vehicles such as a work truck and a school bus!
As we started heading back to school, a friend spotted water flowing in the street! We looked ahead to see the hydrants getting flushed out! He explained to us what he was doing and why he was cleaning the drains out.
Both small group and large group used our exploration of the city for our focus.
In large group, we read two different stories that displayed businesses that are present in communities. The first story was about police officers. We talked about how police officers are similar to fire fighters. We saw a police car on our walk today which friends noted. The second story was about the dentist! Friends shared dentist stories that they had along with comments about how they help people!
For our group discussion, we revisited our walk and talked about businesses that are around us here at Wee Friends. Children recalled the places that we saw. When we talked about the police officers as well as the fire station, I had asked about the number that we call in case of an emergency. We referenced the police officer story that we were reading. The number 9-1-1 was brought up and we talked about how its only used in case of a serious emergency.
We had a terrific day exploring our small area of South Bend.
Breakfast– Whole grain cheerios with peaches.
Lunch– Brown rice with beef, banana, and cherry tomatoes.
PM snack– Whole grain crackers with pumpkin seeds.
Wee Sprouts– Red pepper.
Have a great night.
-Mindy
Link to pictures: WF 6/2