Happy Friday! We hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Breakfast was Cheerios and bananas. Wee sprouts was peas. Lunch consisted of whole wheat bread with hummus, bananas, and peas. Afternoon snack was string cheese and pears.
See you Monday!
Amanda
Link to photos: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A58B8C61670EC2D4!86125&authkey=!AF4UOp6NQhw_ebE&ithint=folder%2cJPG
This morning, a large poster of the solar system that a friend found in a book captured the attention of many children! The colorful poster sparked discussion about which planets were which and other spaced related questions.
Speaking of space, another friend realized it had been awhile since we had worked with moon sand! This being true, we promptly set out to make a fresh batch. First, friends gathered on the music rug to answer the question, “What color should we make the moon sand?” Green was the winning color with 6 votes. Clara was especially pleased with this outcome as she argued, “It should be green like grass in the summer!”
Next, we gathered around the art table to measure and pour our ingredients: flour, baby oil, and tempera paint powder.
“What colors do we use to make green?”—“Blue and yellow!!”
And voilà! Moon sand green like summer grass.
We were also super active in the habitrail today. Luckily the beautiful sunshine today meant lots of outside time.
Before heading outdoors this morning, I passed out a special goodbye gift to each friend: a homemade heart-shaped crayon. Thank you so much for letting me be part of your lives—I will miss each and every one of you! I’ll still be in South Bend so please keep in touch. 
Wee Sprouts: Pea pods. Breakfast: Brown rice cakes with cream cheese and bananas. Lunch: Whole wheat bread with hummus, fresh broccoli/cauliflower, and bananas/oranges. Snack: Special homemade chocolate cake in honor of my last day and kiwi/mango.
Link to the photos: WF 4/15/2016
Have a wonderful weekend! Love, Miss Jessica
I hope you all had a great day! Enjoy the photos!
Breakfast was toast with sweet pea butter and bananas. Wee sprouts was mixed vegetables. Lunch consisted of whole grain brown rice with cream cheese, bananas, and mixed vegetables. Afternoon snack was crackers with cream cheese.
Have a good night!
Amanda
Link to photos: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A58B8C61670EC2D4!85966&authkey=!AJZKjArd2BTQYro&ithint=folder%2cJPG
*Reminder: This upcoming Saturday (4/16) is the WF Garden Work Day. We will be working on tilling the garden and preparing it for planting. All families are welcome to join! We will be starting around 10 am. Please enter/exit through the side gate so as not to track dirt through the house. Thank you and hope to see you Saturday!
This morning started off with a seed sort exploration. Friends were given a tray with four different types of seeds: pea, sunflower, cucumber and pepper. Their job? Sort out all the seeds! Besides working fine motor skills, this activity invited children to ask lots of questions about the seeds and encouraged them to look at the similarities and differences between them. Many friends recognized the sunflower seeds as seeds we sometimes eat!
The easel was also open for painting!
Outside we had a blast writing with chalk all over the sidewalks. Many friends practiced writing their names while others drew pictures. We’re absolutely loving this sunshine and warmer weather.
Kindergarten: Today Elliott discovered the flip books we have where the ending of the word stays the same (-ill, –ox, etc.) while the beginning of the word changes (p-, b-, dr-, etc.) He did a great job sounding out the words by blending the two parts of the word. It was a little extra challenging because all the letters were lowercase!
Wee Sprouts: Tomatoes. Breakfast: Kix and fresh pears. Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with quinoa and mozzarella cheese, bell peppers, and apples. Snack: Whole wheat Triscuits and no-nut butter.
Link to the photos: WF 4/14/2016
Have a great day! –Jessica
Today’s kitchen activity was sensory paint bags! Each bag was filled with two different paint colors. Our friends loved squeezing and smooshing the bags and watching the colors move around and blend together! They also enjoyed the cool, smooth texture of the bag. Friends rubbed their hands over it’s surface and some picked the bag up to feel against their cheek.
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Breakfast was whole grain oatmeal and bananas. Wee sprouts was mixed vegetables. Lunch consisted of chicken avocado on tortilla, pears, and mixed vegetables. Afternoon snack was crackers with hummus.
Have a great night!
Amanda
Link to photos: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A58B8C61670EC2D4!85807&authkey=!AEKCP7vm55uMq6Q&ithint=folder%2cJPG
This morning we put away our Easter-themed materials and brought up some new activities and toys from the basement, including this bunch of artificial plants. Children created their own bouquets using the plethora of flowers. At this sensory bin, one friend remarked, “I’ve seen this flower outside!”
Later, we took out the sand sensory bin. Children were immediately drawn to this activity with the introduction of funnels. Much time was spent pouring, scooping, measuring and watching the “sinkholes” made by the sand running through the funnel.
In keeping with our FAB for this week, K.4.2: Observe plants and animals, describing how they are alike and how they are different, Miss Mindy brought in a beautiful bouquet of flowers. (Have you noticed a plant theme this week?!) Friends were invited to the island to work on a still life drawing of the flowers from their perspective. This was a calm and focused project for all our preschoolers. However our kindergartners demonstrated a great attention to detail—Elliott observed and drew the lines on the jar and the specific water level in his drawing.
We had some gorgeous sunshine for our outside time this morning. Rosemary explored our bin of dirt using her hands. She pretended it was soap and said, “Look, I am washing my hands!”
Elliott found some unique seating:
Per friends’ request, we also brought out the bubbles today!
The WFs did a good job waiting for their turn with the bubbles. It’s a little easier to be patient when you can run after and pop bubbles while you wait!
Wee Sprouts: Cucumbers. Breakfast: Whole grain oatmeal and fresh pears. Lunch: Chicken avocado salad on whole wheat flatbread, tomatoes/snap peas, and strawberries/bananas. Snack: Blue corn chips with refried beans and homemade guacamole.
Link to the photos: WF 4/13/2016
Have a wonderful Wednesday! –Jessica
Our friends were exploring colors today with the rainbow stacking cubes and bright tissues. They love making funny faces from behind the blocks and tissues. They also enjoy watching how the tissues move when they use their bodies to wave them around and toss them into the air.
Enjoy the rest of the photos!
Breakfast was Whole Grain Cheerios and apples. Lunch consisted of whole wheat flatbread with cream cheese and turkey, pears, and cucumbers. Afternoon snack was toasted whole wheat bagels with cream cheese. Wee sprouts was corn.
Have a great night!
Amanda
Link to photos: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A58B8C61670EC2D4!85528&authkey=!AGMCwRJjsXRgzPA&ithint=folder%2cJPG
Good Afternoon!
Our Tuesday started with variations of music! Rosemary and Maddie sat at the piano and played a song together! In tandem, they used their fingers to play many keys!
Miss Melinda turned on music which allowed for our friends to move their bodies. Children followed directions as they danced!
Apples, oranges, limes, and lemons filled our classroom this morning! Literally, it smelled like lemons in our environment 
.
The fruit was cut into halves and the first thing we did was a smell test!
When friends closed their eyes, a fruit was put up to their nose. Using the sense of smell, they guessed what fruit it was! We found out that limes and lemons smell very similar!
After the smell test was complete, we moved to the art table where every child was given the opportunity, if they so chose, to create art using fruit. We matched the fruit to a specific color so we knew what fruit made what print!
Some friends made specific prints with the fruit while others smeared the paint around their paper.
We saw patterns that were made by fruit or color.
A friend even commented, “Hey, my paper smells like fruit!”
Once our art project was complete, there was leftover fruit. Since we’ve all tasted apples and oranges before, the lemon and lime were cut up and shared with friends who wanted to try!
To our surprise (!), friends in general liked the lemon and lime.
Some of us expressed our feelings through our facial expressions .
We went outside this morning. It was gorgeous! Children ran around to release some of their energy.
We hope you had a great day!
-Mindy
Wee Sprouts– Pickled beets.
Breakfast– Kashi’s Sweet Potato Flakes with kiwi.
Lunch– Whole wheat flat bread with turkey and cream cheese, strawberries/grapes, and cucumbers.
PM snack– Toasted whole wheat bagel/english muffin and cheddar block cheese.
Link to pictures: WF 4/12/2016
Good Afternoon!
Our Tuesday started with variations of music! Rosemary and Maddie sat at the piano and played a song together! In tandem, they used their fingers to play many keys!
Miss Melinda turned on music which allowed for our friends to move their bodies. Children followed directions as they danced!
Apples, oranges, limes, and lemons filled our classroom this morning! Literally, it smelled like lemons in our environment .
The fruit was cut into halves and the first thing we did was a smell test!
When friends closed their eyes, a fruit was put up to their nose. Using the sense of smell, they guessed what fruit it was! We found out that limes and lemons smell very similar!
After the smell test was complete, we moved to the art table where every child was given the opportunity, if they so chose, to create art using fruit. We matched the fruit to a specific color so we knew what fruit made what print!
Some friends made specific prints with the fruit while others smeared the paint around their paper.
We saw patterns that were made by fruit or color.
A friend even commented, “Hey, my paper smells like fruit!”
Once our art project was complete, there was leftover fruit. Since we’ve all tasted apples and oranges before, the lemon and lime were cut up and shared with friends who wanted to try!
To our surprise (!), friends in general liked the lemon and lime.
Some of us expressed our feelings through our facial expressions .
We went outside this morning. It was gorgeous! Children ran around to release some of their energy.
We hope you had a great day!
-Mindy
Wee Sprouts– Pickled beets.
Breakfast– Kashi’s Sweet Potato Flakes with kiwi.
Lunch– Whole wheat flat bread with turkey and cream cheese, strawberries/grapes, and cucumbers.
PM snack– Toasted whole wheat bagel/english muffin and cheddar block cheese.
Link to pictures: WF 4/12/2016
Today our friends showed us their favorite animals…
Blew and chased after bubbles with their big kid friends…
Played a game of peek a boo…
And brightened our day with their big smiles!
Breakfast was whole wheat toast with butter and apples. Wee sprouts was corn. Lunch consisted of whole wheat pasta with chicken, apples, and corn. Afternoon snack was organic whole milk yogurt and crackers. PM Wee sprouts was green beans.
Have a great night!
Amanda
Link to photos: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A58B8C61670EC2D4!85351&authkey=!AAb8QZ0mmTat6JM&ithint=folder%2cJPG