Good Afternoon!

We kicked off our Thursday by matching rhyming words for our PREK1 sign in activity. Children came to the board where they chose a yellow card from the bottom of the board. We worked together at finding the matching rhyming word. Once they were able to identify the match, each child wrote their name next to the match!

K.RF.3.1: Identify and produce rhyming words.

Later on in PREK1 group, we continued working on rhyming words by reading ‘The Shape Of Me And Other Stuff’ by Dr. Seuss. There were seven cards up on the chalk board, all waiting for their rhyming word match! Each group member got to choose one card from my hand and work at finding the match. They came to the board where they taped their card to complete the rhyming word puzzle piece or as one friend stated, “Hey! That makes a rectangle.”. (Can you tell we’ve been working on shapes this week?! )

K.RF.3.1: Identify and produce rhyming words.

This morning we offered a pegboard, pegs, and rubber bands to explore, allowing our kids to experiment and figure out what to do with them.  The kids quickly realized they could make shapes like triangles and squares.  As they continued tinkering, several friends wanted to connect their creations to make a long “maze” that went all the way around the board.  One friends said he was pretending to make water, so I offered to add some boats.  After that friends began making roads and airports for cars and airplanes.  We always love watching activities evolve as groups of kids apply their imaginations and creative problem solving skills!

At the art area friends explored with shapes, moon sand and beads.  Some worked together to make volcanoes while others worked by themselves to create mosaics with their materials.  There were many ideas about what to make with the materials offered.

PREK2 During group we read ‘When A Line Bends, A Shape Begins’.  On each page we took a moment for two friends to look and find a shape in the picture.  After the story we tried to recall what shape we had found and what the shape was in the picture. 

Breakfast– Toasted oatmeal squares cereal with fresh pineapple.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded turkey, fresh kiwi/pears/pineapple, and fresh green beans/pepper/broccoli.

PM snack– Trail mix with pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, raisins and granola.

Wee Sprout– Fresh green beans/broccoli.

Have a wonderful night!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-01-23

Good afternoon!

This morning, a friend asked Miss Bekah to read “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” We pulled out the plastic blocks and BounceBlocks to sit in while we listened to Miss Bekah read. Cece joined our friends from her chair.

We then made our way to the kitchen to make a white collage using tissue paper, coffee filters and pipe cleaners. Our older friends practiced their fine motor skills to squeeze the glue from the bottle onto their papers. Our younger friends used sponge brushes to dab glue on their papers. We then worked on placing small pieces of the white items onto our blue papers.  The collages look like the snow we had falling outside.

Breakfast: Whole grain Oatmeal squares cereal with  fresh cantaloupe slices.

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with shredded chicken, fresh pineapple and peas.

Afternoon Snack: Whole grain wheat Ritz cracker with peanut butter and 1/2 mozzarella cheese stick.

Wee Sprout: Red bell pepper.

Have a wonderful evening!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-01-23

Happy Wednesday!

This morning we engaged with the finger puppets.  We worked at placing our finger puppets onto our fingers and Miss Bekah turned on a song for us called Put Your Finger In The Air by Greg and Steve.

We then headed up to the front of the classroom to roll, toss and kick balls.  Several of us rolled our textured balls down the incline of the slide.

We then got out our textured ramps and hollow block ramps to roll our cars down.

We then gathered with Miss Bekah and worked on patterning with the Duplos making an ABAB pattern.

We then wore our BounceBlocks as hats as we ran around the front circle.  We also worked on our balance skills while sitting in them.

Breakfast:  Oatmeal with cinnamon/sugar mixture and fresh kiwi.

Lunch:  Farm fresh scrambled eggs, fresh cantaloupe, cooked broccoli and whole grain wheat bread.

Afternoon Snack: Round yellow corn tortilla chips and hummus.

Wee Sprout:  Cucumber/Red bell pepper.

Have a wonderful evening!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-01-22

Good Afternoon!

PREK1 friends came to the sign in board where they found a shape sorting activity. They had a bowl full of various shapes that they sorted onto laminated shapes of different colors. As they sorted each shape, they identified the shapes that they could. One of our oldest children sorted through the bowl of shapes, finding all of the squares first. Once she placed the squares into the correct group, she searched for the triangles next and so on.

K.4.1: Identify and describe geometric objects: circle, triangle, square, rectangle, diamond, trapezoid, hexagon, octagon, parallelogram, sphere, and cube.

This morning we explored different ways to put shapes together using stamps in the art center.  We found we could put two squares together to make a rectangle, two triangles together to make a diamond and a square/triangle combination could make a house!  Katherine said, “I can draw one just like that!” and she did!

We learned about all of the three dimensional shapes that could be made with a circle at the round table this morning.  We talked about how stacking circles makes a cylinder, bringing a circle to a point makes a cone and spinning a circle makes a sphere.  We explored what we could build using these three dimensional shapes. 

PREK2 At group today we read the story “Triangle”.  We enjoyed a group calming activity slowly drawing different shapes in the air, counting their sides as we went until we got to a circle with no sides.  At the end of group, we drew a card with a shape on it.  We identified the shape and placed it on the board.  If we didn’t know, we asked the group for help.

Breakfast– Overnight oatmeal with cinnamon and fresh pears.

Lunch– Farm fresh scrambled eggs with whole wheat bread/flatbread, fresh grapes/oranges/kiwi, and fresh cucumber/green beans/snap peas.

PM snack– Hummus with tortilla chips.

Wee Sprout– Fresh pepper/cucumber/green beans.

Have a wonderful night.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-01-22

Good afternoon!

Miss Bekah created a path for our friends this morning with the textured stepping stones. We all took turns walking down the path and feeling the various patterns under our feet.

We then made our way to the kitchen to play with loose parts. Our trays consisted of a variety of wooden arches, canoes, animal cutouts and rectangles. Some friends worked on stacking their pieces and trying balance them. Other friends noticed that their arches were tall enough to fit an animal or their canoe through it.

Miss Bekah brought out the trampoline for our friends as well. We took turns with one other friend to jump on the trampoline together. We held hands or held onto the rails of the Habi-trail while we jumped.

Breakfast: Whole grain Cheerios cereal with fresh oranges.

Lunch: Refried beans with shredded mozzarella cheese, whole grain wheat flatbread, fresh kiwi and cucumber.

Afternoon Snack: Homemade Vegan chocolate chip muffins and fresh pear slices.

Wee Sprout: Green bell peppers.

Have a wonderful evening and stay warm!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-01-21

Good Afternoon!

To kick off our Tuesday, PREK1 group members came to the sign in board where they chose a laminated shape. They took their shape and turned to the board where they matched their shape to the correct outline. They identified the shape before writing their name next to it!

K.4.1: Identify and describe geometric objects: circle, triangle, square, rectangle, diamond, trapezoid, hexagon, octagon, parallelogram, sphere, and cube.

Later on in PREK1 group, we dove into rhyming words by reading ‘Hop on Pop’ by Dr. Seuss. Before we began, a few friends gave rhyming word examples such as ‘vest’ and ‘nest’.

This morning we sorted shapes at our welcome activity.  We picked a tray then inspected it, deciding what shape we thought our tray might be for.  Next, we collected all of the corresponding shapes from the middle of the table to add to our tray.  We tried a circle, square and hexagon tray.

In the art center, we experimented with color mixing.  We filled different shapes with hues of color we mixed using eye droppers and watercolor.  We made interesting new colors like lime green, turquoise, maroon and blue/violet.   

PREK2: In group today, we listened to the story, “Ten Animals in the Antarctic”.  We counted the animals on each page together as we learned what kinds of animals we may find there.  One of our friends was asking about animals that live in cold places, so we had some interest around that earlier.  After the story, we picked a shape from the tray and sorted it on the board.  We counted how many shapes were in each category as we went. 

 Breakfast– Corn Chex and fresh pineapple.

Lunch– Refried beans and shredded cheese quesadillas on whole wheat tortilla/flatbread, fresh pears/pineapple, and fresh cucumber/snap peas/green beans.

PM snack– Homemade muffins with string cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/snap peas/green beans.

Have a lovely night!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-01-21

Good Afternoon!

This morning we filled the sensory table with water and ice cubes.  We then added bears and polar bears, trucks, scoops and tongs to use to explore in the table.  The friends worked with the tongs to pick up the ice cubes.  We also talked about how polar bears like the cold.  One of our friends, touched an ice cube and said, “cold.

We then all sat on the reading step together to look at a book independently or sit with a baby doll.

Several of the friends played in the front area with the Little People, car hauler, airplane and bulldozer.

We the built with the waffle blocks, connecting them together like a puzzle.

Breakfast:  Whole grain wheat bread toasted with peanut butter and fresh blueberries.

Lunch:  Whole grain penne pasta with shredded chicken, fresh orange bell pepper and pear slices.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole milk yogurt and graham crackers.

Wee Sprouts:  Cucumbers.

Have a wonderful evening, stay warm and go Irish!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-01-20

Happy Monday!

As we looked around our small class today, we noticed that children were constantly using their fine motor skills! Drawing, painting, and building activities occupied our morning. Within a multi age classroom, we see a varying level of development of our fine motor skills. Our five year old’s have more control and precision of their motor skills than their two year old peers.

Children are asked to use their fine motor skills everyday such as holding a fork for their pasta or holding scissors to cut their paper at the art table. Offering different activities each day that engages those muscles and movement are vital for fine motor development. 

I’ve attached a few articles below that dive into fine motor skills, what they are, activities to offer at home to strengthen motor skills, and what milestones are appropriate for specific ages. It’s always so amazing watching kids learn new skills and attempt to do activities that challenge their mind and ability!

https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/help-your-child-build-fine-motor-skills

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/25235-fine-motor-skills

Breakfast– Whole wheat toast with butter and banana.

Lunch– Whole wheat pasta with shredded chicken, fresh pineapple/banana, and fresh snap peas/cucumber/pepper.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with graham crackers.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/snap peas/pepper.

Have a lovely night! Stay warm!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-01-20

Happy Friday!

PREK1: During group today, we read the story “Stick Man” which one of our friends found yesterday while leafing through the book shelf.  Everyone loved the story so much that several kids chose to journal about it!

This morning we explored some natural objects for our welcome activity.  The kids have been interested in the shark teeth and bones on the science shelf, so we got some out to explore.  We used flashlights and magnifying glasses to investigate.  We found that some of the bones have a lot of interesting holes to peer into!

Paige came into class this morning with a drawing she had done.  She had accidently gotten it wet in the process  and was interested in the shapes the water had made.  We decided to do some experiments with markers, water and paper in response to curiosity she had.  We tried regular paper, water color paper and coffee filters.  Paige liked the way the markers looked on the coffee filters after adding water.  Several other friends wanted to try so we spent much of the morning exploring this interest.

Breakfast: Brown rice cakes with cream cheese and fresh cantaloupe

Lunch: Humus on tortilla with fresh apples/banana, cucumber/snap peas

PM Snack:Cheddar cheese, pretzels and blueberries

Wee Sprouts: Fresh bell peppers and cucumbers

Have a great weekend!

~Wee Friends Teachers

Link to Pictures:2025-01-17

Happy Friday!

Today we celebrated our friend, Charlotte/s birthday as she will be turning 2 years old this weekend.   Look how much she has grown the last year in our classroom.  We enjoyed celebrating your birthday with you.

This morning we filled a table full of snow!  Miss Tina added miniature animals, spoons and cups for us to use to scoop the snow.  We talked about the different animals we found and the colors of them.  We noticed the longer we played in the snow, it began to melt and turn into water.

We then were busy in the housekeeping area dressing up in hats and carrying accessories and walking to the door to go “bye”.  A friend also played with a baby doll and caring for her by covering it up with a blanket to keep it warm.

Breakfast:  Whole grain brown rice cakes with peanut butter and fresh oranges.

Lunch:  Hummus on whole grain wheat tortillas, fresh cucumbers, oranges/blueberries.

Afternoon Snack:  Organic Whole milk Strawberry/Banana Yogurt pouches and fresh blackberries/strawberries (Charlotte’s birthday snack)

Wee Sprout:  Cucumbers/red bell peppers

Have a great weekend!

WWF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2025-01-17