Happy Friday!

Have a great weekend and a wonderful Mother’s Day!

Amanda

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Happy Friday!

Pipe cleaners and beads were put out at the art table this morning. This attracted many friends! We made a plethora of necklaces and bracelets. Some friends used specific colors to make a pattern while some children chose their favorite colors!

Our younger friends become extremely proud and excited when they complete a task that is brand new! While making art, we strengthened our fine motor skills along the way.

The sign in board focused on the awesome weather that we have today and the different activities that are made available outside. Friends signed in under what they were looking MOST forward to!

We did ALL of these activities this morning.

The art table was a popular place to start off our outside time. Our older friends reminded their younger peers that the done paper goes into the DONE box .

The log house was used for many things today.

First, it was used as a climbing house where our gross motor skills were put to the test!

Then later in the morning, it became the primary place where rollie pollies were being taken to. (Insert BUGS!) A searching group was formed to collect pebbles and grass for the rollie pollies to live on. A conversation was had about what the rollie pollies would feel most comfortable on!

The little people vehicles were put into a line as friends put one little person into each vehicle. We had a clear cut vision of what we wanted to do.

Of course, running to exert energy as well as using our imagination in the sandbox was a given on a beautiful day like today.

BIKES! You mean we can get out bikes?! Friends focused (we tend to stick out our tongues were extremely concentrated.. ) while using the green balance bikes which are by FAR our favorite.

We had a lovely end to our week.

Hope everyone has a great weekend, especially our AWESOME moms! We appreciate you!

-Mindy

Breakfast– rice cakes with no-nut butter and pears.

Lunch– tortillas with hummus, apples, and green beans/carrots.

PM snack– colby jack cheese and pretzel crisps.

Wee Sprouts– carrots and red pepper.

Link to pictures: WF 5/6

Enjoy the photos!

Breakfast was English muffins with sweet pea butter and bananas. Lunch consisted of whole grain brown rice with shredded beef, peaches, and peas. Afternoon snack was quinoa cakes with refried beans.

Have a great night!

Amanda

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Good Afternoon!

When each child comes in every morning, they usually have a routine that they follow. Predictability in the morning can be a good thing! Some friends do the sign in board with their mom or dad while some others sit and read a story. Almost every child heads to the table to serve themselves breakfast.

There is an activity that is made available on the table most every morning as a way for children to come into their day!

This morning was full of art table creations, puzzles with peers, and finally…

SUNSHINE! We were beyond ecstatic about the weather. Friends made sure to take advantage of their outside time by interacting with their peers and running to exert some energy whenever they felt the need!

“This is what happens when you play with wet sand and dirt..”—Yes..yes it is .

In Kindergarten today..

Friends enjoyed poetry day! After we read a few poetry excerpts from ‘It’s Raining Pigs and Noodles’, we came up with our own poem. We’re working on coming up with a title and maintaining the theme throughout. Each child came up with a line to put in our poem.

One of the poems we read was about food that we DON’T like. Children raised their hands to give their ‘I DO NOT EAT’ food examples. A few that friends shared were vegetables, brussels sprouts, and broccoli/cauliflower (multiple times)!

…so basically just vegetables even though the Wee Sprouts we offer each day are gone by 10:30!

Breakfast– Corn squares and banana.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded beef, PPC watermelon/oranges, and corn on the cob.

PM snack– Pumpkin seeds, fresh PPC peaches, and crackers.

Wee Sprouts– Green beans and carrots.

Have a great evening!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 5/5

Good Afternoon!

Working in pairs was definitely the theme this morning. Day after day, relationships with peers are strengthened. One of the many benefits of multi-age classrooms is for children to build relationships with peers their own age as well as younger AND older friends!

We saw many examples of amazing friendship qualities today .

It was quite a dreary day today. Still, friends required movement! We put on music so children could move their bodies. Maracas and streamers were brought out as well! Lulu’s absolute favorite song as of late is ‘Let It Go’. When it came on, we all realized she knew ALL of the words . She said, “This is MY song!”

We have had a group of children who have requested sequins every day this week! Today, the patriotic stars were made available. Using small dots of glue, we put different sequins on the paper, which allows us to work on our fine motor skills!

It was a raincoat, run to keep yourself warm, type of day!

We didn’t complain though .

Today in Kindergarten:

We’re still learning about different jobs and the tools/skills needed for those jobs. After reading, “What Do You Do?” which referenced different jobs in the community, we had conversations about what we would do if those specific jobs didn’t exist! For example, doctors. Friends started raising their hands and commenting on what would happen if we didn’t have doctors! “What would we do if we got sick?!”, one child said with a scared face. We also talked about tools that different professions need. “A dentist needs tools to look in my mouth!”

(It was quite an active, discussion lead large group today! )

Plumbers were a topic that we talked about. The girls of the group started talking about how our hair clogs the drain in the shower which is where plumbers come into play! Elizabeth took this idea to her journal where she drew the drain and different items that get stuck! “See! We need a plumber at our house!”

Breakfast: Malt-O-Meal with banana.

Lunch: Homemade english muffin pizzas, broccoli, and watermelon.

PM snack: Blue corn chips and hummus.

Wee Sprout: Tomatoes and cucumbers.

Have a terrific night!

-Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 5/4

Our friends painted colorful artwork for us to admire and to brighten up this rainy day. They used their hands and brushes to spread the paint over the whole paper and made many beautiful paintings!

This afternoon a few of our friends played with the Montessori object permanence boxes together. While playing with these, they are developing fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and are practicing precise hand movements.

Breakfast was Chex and bananas. Lunch consisted of English muffins with marinara sauce and cheese, strawberries, and carrots. Afternoon snack was crackers with hummus.

Have a great night!

Amanda

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Good Afternoon!

Here are a few pictures from today!

For breakfast, children had kix and apples. Lunch consisted of sunflower seed butter on whole wheat bread, banana, and green beans. PM snack was cottage cheese and oranges. Wee sprouts were carrots.

Have a great night!

Link to pictures: WF 5/3

Enjoy the photos!

Breakfast was Kix with apples. Wee sprouts was carrots. Lunch consisted of whole wheat pasta with black beans, oranges, and carrots. 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!88522&authkey=!AAbvuLMMRFwnpZg&ithint=folder%2cJPG

Maggie, Ruby, and Franklin spent some time at the kitchen table doing activities together this afternoon. They started with animal puzzles and then moved on to puff balls. Franklin was very generous and handed puff balls from his own basket to Ruby. Ruby would then throw the balls or place them in her own basket. And then they would dump the baskets on their heads!

After snack we had music time! Our friends used the classroom instruments and played some lively tunes. Music inspires movement and a few of our friends showed off their dance moves!

Breakfast was whole wheat toast with butter and cinnamon and apples. Wee sprouts was peas. Lunch consisted of tortilla with refried beans and cheese, apples, and peas. Afternoon snack was organic whole milk yogurt and crackers. PM Wee sprouts was peas.

Enjoy the rest of the photos!

Amanda

Link to photos: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A58B8C61670EC2D4!88420&authkey=!AC13D0sJFZ61zu4&ithint=folder%2cJPG

Happy Monday!

Our Kindergarten FAB for the week is: K.4.2 Identify and describe different kinds of jobs that people do and the tools they use.

We started to ‘brainstorm’ (a word we’ve been discussing lately in large group) a list of different occupations that help out our community. Emerson suggested ‘soup kitchen’ which brought a few blank stares to our faces. Emerson let us know what a soup kitchen was and how it helps out the community.

We plan on discussing various aspects of our community and how different people contribute through their jobs.

Miss Melinda started a planting project this morning. She explained what ‘Peat Pellets’ are and how we use them. Every child at the table was given the opportunity to become involved. Each child took four pellets out of the box and placed them on the tray.

After we had all of the pellets out, we wet them and throughout the day, watched them expand! They should be ready for the next step hopefully by tomorrow!

Many friends requested puzzles this morning. Most children have their favorite, go-to puzzle that they do first!

Our outside time this morning centered around ‘loose parts’. Loose parts are materials that can be moved, carried, combined, redesigned, lined up, and taken apart and put back together in multiple ways. The outside environment allows friends to use loose parts in their play. For example, balls, wood, twigs, stones, logs, and stones.

We had two specific examples of how loose parts played a role in our morning. A group of peers gathered our logs and created a fire pit. They conversed with one another about how best to create the image they had in their mind. Later in the afternoon, they created a log house out of the logs.

Emerson and Addi used various items in the backyard including a twig, grass, and a few rocks to create a bug habitat for a rollie pollie that they found. They searched the backyard trying to find different items to “make the bug happy” as one friend put it!

We have numerous ‘open-ended’ materials in our environment that let children take their play in any direction that they wish!

For breakfast, children had whole wheat toast with hummus and apples. Lunch consisted of whole grain noodles with black beans, oranges, and cauliflower. PM snack was whole milk yogurt with apples. Wee sprouts for the day were carrots.

Hope everyone has a terrific evening!

Mindy

Link to pictures: WF 5/2