FIELD TRIP FRIDAY:

The Res in Mishawaka: www.mishawakares.org

9:45am –12noon

On Friday, all four Wee Friends teachers will be accompanying the entire classroom on a field trip to this privately owned nature reserve in Mishawaka. Wee Friend’s parent Amy Crosson will be our guide as we explore a small nature center and hike around this beautifully (and safely) wooded area, with a stream, campfire and other awesome natural gems. As always, feel free to join us! We’d love to have you.

We jumped into a wet, rainy, sandy mess of fun this morning! Wee Friends summer water play has begun!!

Wee Sprouts: Sweet Peppers. Breakfast: Whole wheat toast with peanut butter and bananas/blueberries. Lunch: Slices of ham and whole wheat bread, mixed veggies and applesauce. Snack: Celery sticks and peanut butter.

 

Happy Monday!

**Since the weather has been pretty consistent as of late, we’re asking that children have one swimming suit here at Wee Wee Friends. This is so we can go outside in the backyard and have water play time when the weather permits it. Also, make sure in your child’s cubby in the bathroom that they have multiple change of clothes for the warmer weather. Thanks!

On this Monday morning, friends listened to their favorite song that incorporates directions. The first part had friends dancing as fast as they could!

Then, they were instructed to freeze!

The last part of the song has friends putting their arms up high and slowly going down to the ground.

Our friends do a great job at listening to the directions throughout the song. We love listening to music to start our day.

For breakfast, children had whole wheat toast with cinnamon and bananas. Lunch consisted of hummus on tortillas, banana/pineapple, and peas. PM snack was string cheese and raisins.

Have a terrific evening!

-Mindy

We started our day looking intensely at the caterpillars and working at the art table to sketch them. We enjoyed our last day on the Blue Bus (and got a million stamps!). We welcomed Cassie for the summer. We read books and practiced fine motor skills with rubber bands. We explored tubes: how they feel, slide cars, and amplify sound. We hung Paper Mache caterpillars to our branch and began work on a mega caterpillar piñata. We ate Cheerios and blueberries for breakfast; mixed raw veggies for Wee Sprouts; Hummus on whole wheat, pear slices and spinach for lunch; goldfish and apples for snack. 

Have a great day.

 

FRIENDLY REMINDERS! By 8:45 most mornings, we are outside and will continue this through the summer as weather permits. If, when you drop your child off,  teachers and friends are outside, please come out and let us know that your child is here!  Our friends who are 6 and younger are not permitted to be in the classroom alone, unless coming in to go potty. Also, don’t forget to lock the door when you say goodbye! Thank you so much for your help on these things!

Today’s field trip took us to another River Park business, For Pet’s Sake. Proprietor DiAnn Becker has been hard at work grooming pets for 23 years (16 as For Pet’s Sake Owner) and she loves it. This was evident to us by the amazing welcome she and her staff gave us! First, friends witnessed the very rare cat shave.

Then DiAnn spritzed breath freshener in the cat’s mouth! Next, we went in the back of the shop to see dog tubs and dog’s having their hair blown dry!

Our trip ended with a puppy puppet creation!

Thank you, DiAnn, and your incredible staff for creating such a great experience for Wee Friends! River Park is lucky to have you.

And who did we see on the way back to school? Mail Carrier Kevin, of course.

Have a great weekend.

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Corn Chex and bananas. Lunch: Egg salad on whole grain flatbread, pear slices and romaine lettuce. Snack: Crackers and pear slices.

Lisa’s message board this morning asked the question “What is a pet groomer?” This began a long, multi-activity conversation about all things dog.

First, we found out who had cats and who had dogs….and their names. The Wee Pet family includes Bowman, Chloe, Nico, Hammy, Phoebe, Maggie, Rio, Belle, Mac, Camper, Zoe and Cocoa.

We talked about the sounds dogs make and created those sounds in patterns of 1-2-3. We scratched, begged, lapped water….and then we whined. This led to listening to a recording of whining puppies. A conversation began about how cute puppy whines are. Another conversation followed about how not cute the human whine is.  We sang “Twinkle Twinkle” and “Baa-Baa…” using a high and low bark. We talked about whining alternatives, and role played solutions.

We ended with our Osmond music meditation.

We realized we had created a litter. We talked about dog litters and cat litters. We read  Go, Dog, Go!.

All the while, friends worked with Mel at the art table, creating a thank you note for tomorrow’s field trip.

Breakfast: Cream-of-Wheat with fresh strawberries and bananas. Lunch: Roast beef on whole wheat bread, strawberries and broccoli. Snack: Goldfish and cheddar cheese.

Good Afternoon!

We welcomed back Lu-Lu who was with her family for the last two weeks on vacation! We’re so glad she’s back!

Friends Eren and Daniel sat for quite some time looking and observing the fish tank. They pointed out different rocks that they liked along with the multiple fish throughout the tank. Two fish started chasing one another and they both found that extremely funny .

Our newest fascination outside is the baby dolls. There are several baby dolls that friends are now able to play with outside. Children are involving the dolls in their play such as sand box and bikes.

For breakfast, children had cheerios and apples. Lunch consisted of whole grain tortillas with melted cheese, cantaloupe, and peas. PM snack was watermelon and pumpkin bread.

Have a terrific evening.

-Mindy

Happy Big 6 Ada! Today, we have been very busy celebrating Ada’s birthday! First, bday pumpkin muffins. Next, the traditional WF birthday card.

Baby Doll Mania persists, indoors and outdoors alike.

There’s an exercise we like to use in the early childhood classroom that encourages fine motor/coordination practice: Friends pick up cotton balls with tongs and transfer them from one bowl to another. Here’s a picture of what emergent curriculum looks like: Ben discovering that his pliers could transport fluff from one place to another. It looks pretty simple to the naked eye, and yet these are the moments early childhood teachers get excited about!!!!

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with cheese and pineapple. Lunch: Melted cheese on whole wheat tortillas, cantaloupe/watermelon fruit salad and carrot sticks. Snack: Pumpkin muffins and watermelon.

PS: Marta called us from Syracuse! She had “just caught the big fish!”

Happiness in your day.

Hello!

It’s always important to start our day off with a Wee Wee harmony! Friends sang/screamed at the top of their lungs. It was lovely!

When our favorite CD which is ‘Jim Gill Sings the Sneezing Song and Other Contagious Tunes’ comes on, we plop a seat on the floor and listen to all of the songs. We may stand up for more active songs such as a dancing song where you dance silly, fast, and slowwww. We have this song down! We do a great job at listening to the directions.

Our morning ended with coloring in our journals before we headed outside!

Throughout the coloring experience, it’s nice to have different conversations with friends. Daniel let Miss Mindy know that he was drawing an elephant. Our friends strokes and lines are starting to resemble letters and definite objects. We have a purpose. Sometimes it is freeing and refreshing just to draw lines with different colors!

For breakfast, children had whole grain bagels with cinnamon and banana/pears. Lunch consisted of whole grain tortillas with melted cheese, corn, and banana/cantaloupe. PM snack was crackers with soy butter and raisins.

Have a great evening!

-Mindy

 

*FIELD TRIP: Friday, June 21st, 10am: All of Wee Friends will walk to “For Pet’s Sake” dog groomers on Mishawaka Blvd. Permission slip up today in usual spot. Thank you!

Welcome back, Elizabeth!

Now that we have outdoor babies, we spent our early morning finding new adventures with them. We started with “The Dollies Go Marching One by One”, creating new lyrics and rhymes for our song. Then we rocked our babies in our tree. Friends explored different places to rock their babies and different ways of holding their babies.

Inside, we played cards and painted caterpillars.

We jumped around hot lava, both inside and outside.

And then hot do mania hit. First, a repeat of tying up a teacher and making her the hot dog. Teasing about what to put on the teacher hot dog created gut wrenching laughter. “Here’s some carrots!” cried one friend over and over. After the teacher got squished one too many times, we invited friends to the art table to create Play-Do hot dogs.

Another crazy summer day.

Hope your day is going well.

Wee Sprouts: Cucumbers. Breakfast: Raisin Bran and pear slices. Lunch: Taco salad, corn and bananas. Snack: Yogurt and raisins. 

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Our week started off with a little music time. Friends gathered using the shakers to go along to the music.

Before lunchtime, we head outside where friends usually dive into the sandbox first thing!

For breakfast, children had cheesy eggs and banana. Lunch consisted of noodles with kidney beans, banana, and peas. PM snack was hard boiled eggs and cantaloupe.

Have a terrific evening.

-Mindy