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This Week at a Glance:

Tuesday—swim class at the Y

Wednesday—trip to the farm for Group A [Elizabeth, Elliott, Emerson, Daniel, Jackson, Clara, Addi, Eren]. This is potentially our last trip to the farm, dependent on the weather next week!

*Next Friday (October 30th)—the WF Halloween Parade! Next Friday we will have our Halloween parade at 4:00 pm (outside, weather permitting). Parents are welcome to join us as we showcase our costumes and perform a short Halloween song! If children would like to dress up, they can bring their costumes to school and the teachers will help them get dressed before the parade.

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Hello! This morning we began to work with the corn kernels we popped off the corn cobs last week. Friends used glue and popsicle sticks to make a design with the kernels. The complexity of friend’s designs varied with age, but everyone was very focused in this fine motor skill work.

Habitrail was a busy area today as friends worked with cars and explored a toy from the basement, our wooden fire station!

Several large creations were made today as well, including a car track and swimming pool complete with a “kiddie pool.”

Today for snack the Purple Porch brought us a unique fruit known as a “Jujube”! We learned that the jujube has a small pit and tastes very sweet. After hearing a teacher spell “jujube” out loud, Clara declared, “it has a pattern! J-u-j-u!”

Reactions were mixed with some friends refusing to try, others disliking the taste and some loving the sweet flavor!

Kindergarten: For kindergarten today Elliott and Elizabeth decided to start a “stocking project.” Today we chose the color felt we wanted to work with, drew a stocking shape and cut it out. Future steps that the two decided on include sewing the stocking together, stuffing it and then taking it home. We will see where this project takes us!

Have a wonderful Monday! –Jessica

Wee Sprouts: Broccoli. Breakfast: Whole wheat bread with butter and fresh apples. Lunch: Whole wheat pasta with a homemade cheddar cheese sauce, fresh cauliflower and oranges. Snack: Organic whole milk yogurt and jujubes from the Purple Porch!

Happy Friday! Our day has been fabulous.

We worked with our new balancing scale:

Created patterns with the Connect 4 game:

Painted:

Listened to stories:

And rode bikes!

In addition, I (Jessica) may have inadvertently sparked a renewed interested in knitting/crocheting after bringing in some of my personal crochet projects to work on during my break. Today friends were very dedicated in learning (or relearning) how to finger knit! They have all sorts of projects planned for next week.

Other friends also got in on the yarn action by making some braids.

We got really excited about our finished products!

Kindergarten: Today the kindergarteners worked on math FAB K.M.1: Make direct comparisons of the length, capacity, weight and temperature of objects and recognize which object is shorter, longer, taller, lighter, heavier, warmer, cooler, or holds more. We started with three different containers and made a prediction about how many cups of water we thought they would hold. Next, we poured water into the container and then the measuring cup. We had to look very close to see what line the water came up to! Then we recorded the actual capacity in our journals.

At the end, Elizabeth and Elliott were able to identify which containers held the most and least, and have a lot of fun while doing it.

Have a wonderful weekend! –Jessica

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Brown rice cakes with almond butter and grapes. Lunch: Whole wheat tortillas with hummus, fresh green beans and oranges. Snack: Cheddar block cheese and pretzels.

Rosemary and Anna asked to play with the pianos and xylophones this morning. Ruby saw what they were doing and decided to join.

Then everyone bundled up and went outside, where David lead a long line of bikes around the track! Rosemary caught a ride on a trailer of a Wee Friends’ bike.

Breakfast was Kashi Wheat Squares with bananas. Lunch consisted of whole wheat bread with hummus, oranges, bananas, and green beans. Afternoon snack was mozzarella string cheese and pears.

Have a great weekend!

Amanda

Rosemary and Anna asked to play with the pianos and xylophones this morning. Ruby saw what they were doing and decided to join.

Then everyone bundled up and went outside, where David lead a long line of bikes around the track! Rosemary caught a ride on a trailer of a Wee Friends’ bike.

Breakfast was Kashi Wheat Squares with bananas. Lunch consisted of whole wheat bread with hummus, oranges, bananas, and green beans. Afternoon snack was mozzarella string cheese and pears.

Have a great weekend!

Amanda

Today, our friends were interested in playing with the stacking rainbow blocks. They loved looking through the colored inserts and giggling at each other. Rosemary did a great job of stacking them back in order of biggest to smallest when they were done.

Breakfast was Whole Grain Cheerios and pears. Lunch consisted of whole grain brown rice with chicken, grapes, and peas. Afternoon snack was wheat crackers with cheese.

Have a good night!

Amanda

Today, our friends were interested in playing with the stacking rainbow blocks. They loved looking through the colored inserts and giggling at each other. Rosemary did a great job of stacking them back in order of biggest to smallest when they were done.

Breakfast was Whole Grain Cheerios and pears. Lunch consisted of whole grain brown rice with chicken, grapes, and peas. Afternoon snack was wheat crackers with cheese.

Have a good night!

Amanda

Hello! Yesterday friends who went to the farm brought back a HUGE pile of corn. Thus this morning was a corn shuckin’ and kernel poppin’ extravaganza!

First, friends shucked the corn. Next, they experimented with different ways to get the kernels off the cob. For example, Jackson used a twisting motion, Elliott pushed the kernels off, and Maxwell pulled each kernel off individually before placing it in a pile.

Popping the kernels off corn cobs is a time-consuming and messy process, but we loved the end result: lots and lots of corn kernels! We already discussed the many things we want to do with the corn, such as put some kernels in a sensory bin, glue the kernels and make corn husk dolls.

Expect to see some corn creations coming home in the upcoming week!

Kindergarten: In kindergarten today, we played a version of Halloween bingo that focused on hearing/recognizing the beginning sound of words. Elizabeth helped create a spinner for the game and then the two friends spun away. After landing on a letter, they figured out its sound and searched their bingo board for an object that started with that sound. For example, after landing on “S”, Elizabeth and Elliott found a “ssssscarecrow” and “sssskeleton” to put their bingo markers on! This was a fun way to practice phonological awareness, a foundational skill for reading.

Have a wonderful afternoon! –Jessica

Wee Sprouts: Cucumber. Breakfast: Kix and grapes. Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with chicken, fresh broccoli/cauliflower and apples. Snack: Pistachios and wheat thins.

Rosemary, David, and Anna drew lovely pictures with sidewalk chalk this morning. Anna couldn’t decide which brightly colored chalk she liked best and kept running back to the bucket to switch pieces.

Franklin and Ruby had the classroom to themselves while the older kids were napping. They played with shakers and balls, and then read stories!

Breakfast was whole grain oatmeal with pears. Lunch consisted of farm fresh eggs, whole wheat flatbread, strawberries, and cucumbers. Afternoon snack was wheat crackers with cream cheese.

Have a great night!

Amanda

Good Afternoon!

Today, we welcome our newest friend, Luke! We’re so excited to have you here at Wee Friends!

While our younger friends stayed back at Wee Friends, our older group headed to the farm.

Once we arrived at the farm, the decision was made that we were going to pick ears of corn. However, the corn was ALL the way towards the back of Miss Charlottes property. We came to the conclusion that this particular group was capable of making the trip.

When we started off on our walk, we immediately switched our mindset to the amazing creatures that are at the farm. We spotted numerous frogs of all sizes along with Wooly Bear caterpillars. As a group, we had a discussion about how we have to wait our turn to look at the current focal point. Of course, all of these creatures caused great excitement!

 

Friends made sure to use gentle touches when they did find creatures along our walk.

Once we got to the corn fields, children were instructed to pick the corn and the best method to do so. Friends had to use their strength to pull the ear of corn off of the stalk.

It’s amazing to see children push themselves past their comfort zone. Throughout our entire walk, we walked about two miles. Friends did a great job at monitoring themselves, especially when they lent a hand with the corn on the way back to the farm! While on the walk, you could hear friends encouraging one another or asking if they needed assistance. It was a GREAT (and extremely active) morning at the farm.

Here are a few pictures of our younger friends who enjoyed their morning at Wee Friends!

Wee Sprouts– Carrots.

Breakfast– Malt-o-meal and pears.

Lunch– Farm fresh scrambled eggs, PPC tomatoes/peppers, and banana.

PM snack– Air popped popcorn and pears.

Have a terrific evening!

*Farm Tomorrow: Group A [Elizabeth, Elliott, Emerson, Daniel, Jackson, Clara, Addi, Eren] will be going to the farm tomorrow, Wednesday 10/14. Please dress warmly!

This morning while some friends were at swimming lessons, we got out magnets, washers and a variety of glass jars for friends to experiment with. Friends used the materials in a variety of ways. Some dropped washers into the jars and poured them from jar to jar. Others delighted in the way the magnetic wands picked up the washers!

Some friends chose to string their washers onto the magnets. Throughout this exploration friends had discussions with each other about what the magnets were doing. Here Lulu and Maddie discover that two magnetic wands sticks together!

Today in large group we worked on one of our literacy FABs for the week: K.RL.2.4: Make predictions about what will happen in a story. We talked about how a prediction is what you think is going to happen (in both a story and in real life) and connected the idea to how meteorologists predict the weather. As a group, we practiced using phrases such as “I think…” “I predict…” and “I bet…”

Next, we enjoyed a reading of The Umbrella by Jan Brett and used her detailed drawings/clues to predict what animal would appear on the next page!

Kindergarten: While kindergarten work is often completed through a direct teaching activity or game, it also occurs daily as an extension of the kindergartner’s own play. A teacher observes what the kindergartener is engaged in and then challenges him or her to extend or stretch his or her learning in some way.

For instance, while outside this morning, Elliott was interested in covering up the hole in a cardboard box so he could use it for collecting leaves. He tried a number of objects (a basket, ice cube tray, bark) but found none that fit. A teacher encouraged Elliott to keep thinking and he eventually came up with paper and duct tape!

After some trail and error, Elliott discovered that the paper ripped. The solution? Cover the whole thing in duct tape. Other friends got involved and soon it was a great leaf collecting box! Elliott learned that he is capable of solving problems and practiced perseverance to find a solution that worked for him.

Have a wonderful Tuesday! –Jessica

Wee Sprouts: Tomatoes. Breakfast: Kashi’s Cinnamon Harvest cereal and fresh pear slices. Lunch: Homemade whole grain macaroni and cheese, cauliflower/tomatoes and apples. Snack: Toasted whole wheat bagels with cream cheese.