Happy Birthday, Tami Barbour! Today Tami turns um..uh……..much more than three today!

We all worked together to mix, stir and bake delicious brownies!

With our friends already at the table, we introduced a three bean tasting experiment. We passed out kidney, garbanzo and northern beans and Melinda recorded “Which bean did you like best?”

Wee Friends ate the beans up, asking for second helpings. The favorite bean was the red kidney bean. Friends described it as creamy and soft.

A few friends brought in their favorite book. Melinda read Color Kittens and afterward, invited friends to the art table to experiment with color combinations. Using tempera paints and popsicle sticks, friends mixed colors and discovered new colors in doing so.

A small group of friends took turns sequencing Jack and the Beanstalk pictures into the order in which the action occurred.

We sang and danced…..

Read books…..

Studied and sorted money….

Played cards….

Meditated to “Puppy Love” with something/someone we love…..

Sang along with Melinda’s accordion, soaked pinto beans and made sure Tami felt very well loved on this, her Special Day!

Wee Sprouts today are green pea pods and cauliflower. Breakfast was whole wheat toast and apple slices. For lunch, Tami made her delicious farm fresh egg casserole, mixed veggies and whole wheat toast….her Bday brownie was served for an ever-rare dessert! For snack, we will serve homemade rice pudding.

Have a Happy Day.

Bridges and beans were the excitement of the morning! Using popsicle sticks, glue and scrap wood, Lisa guided Wee Friends in a bridge building exploration.

In another part of the classroom, a small group of friends gathered to sort black beans, red kidney beans and black eyed peas.

We looked at a picture of Jack’s beans in one of our several versions of the story. We studied how the beans were alike and different. We learned the names for each variety and studied the shapes and colors of the beans. Friends filled miniature pie tins with beans and when they fell to the floor, they imagined they were picking berries.

After this sensory exploration, Melinda led a science experiment. First, she examined the many different illustrations of beanstalks in our Jack books. They further studied the the shape, size, color and names of the beans. She asked “Do you think these beans will grow?” Each friend chose one of the three variety of beans and went outside to plant the bean in a small pot. Over the coming days, friends will watch to see if their beans will grow.

While friends were waiting for their turn to go outside, we created drama with our hula hoop/fabric tunnel and a tambourine. A WF became a seed hidden deep in the ground. As the tambourine shook, the WF Seed grew and grew….the tambourine stopped, and the WF Seed popped up and out of the earth! We sang our Jack song and practiced echoing:

“Jack and the Beanstalk, what a story, Jack and the Beanstalk, what a tale!

There’s a mom, (there’s a mom) and there’s Jack (and there’s Jack)!

There’s a cow (there’s a cow) and a duck (and a duck)!

(together) There’s a Giant and His Wife, Jack runs for his life in

Jack and the Beanstalk, what a story, Jack and the Beanstalk, what a tale!”

Our Wee Sprouts today are organic carrots. Breakfast was oatmeal and clementines. For lunch, Tami prepared chicken and brown rice, romaine and raisin salad with balsamic vinaigrette and bananas.

Tomorrow is “Bring Your Favorite Book to School “Day! Please encourage your child to bring a book!

Have a great day!

Today began with Chess. Kai has been promising his buddies that he would bring a set in and teach them the principles of the game. When he showed them the “Ponds”, Melinda got a piece of paper, drew a picture of a pond, spelled the words ‘pawn’ and ‘pond’ on a sheet of paper, and they discussed the differences.

Meanwhile, Fabrezio gave a small group of Wee Friends a dental floss tutorial. He showed them how to floss gently and expressed that it’s even more important than brushing teeth! He also gave the teachers information on the most effective brands to use.

While the swimmers were away, Lisa continued the Bridge Study by reading more books about bridges. They discussed who engineers were and where different bridges are located. They recorded their discoveries on a message board. In hopscotch, friends have been creating bridges with large carpet tubes. While Melinda read aloud, she also discussed the “Three W’s” of the story: Who, Where and What. Laurie read three different versions of Jack and the Beanstalk to a small group of friends and they compared/contrasted the Three W’s.

They played a math game using colored ice cubes. They started by asking the question “How does it feel?” Alexandra, Arleigh, Stephen and Elliott all agreed “It feels cold!”. Then, starting with two cubes, they created a group of cubes by adding two until they reached 12. They further explored the symbol for addition.

This morning ended with a Spring Concert rehearsal. We are still mapping out the details and will share them as soon as plans solidify!

And here are your swimmers…..

FABS – Week of 3/5 Literacy: K.3.3-Identify characters, settings and important events in a story. K.3.4-Identify favorite books or stories. Math: K.2.1- Model addition by joining sets of objects (for any two sets with fewer than 10 objects when joined). K.2.3-Describe addition situations (for numbers less than 10).

Parent/Child Conversation Starters:

• In the story Jack and the Beanstalk, what did the funny little man trade for Jack’s cow?
• What is your most favorite story?
• Are ice cubes hot or cold? What happens if you put an ice cube in the sun?
• What do your arms do when you are doing a ‘front crawl’ in the swimming pool?
• I noticed in the pictures, you are holding a friend’s hand. Why are you holding a friend’s hand when you are walking into the Y to go swimming?

Wee Sprouts today are cucumber slices and carrots. For breakfast, we had Cheerios and bananas. For lunch we served peanut butter sandwiches on whole wheat bread, corn and applesauce.

Have a great day!

This morning got away from us without many photos!

As usual, the Blue Bus came and today, friends worked on an obstacle course. They ran circles around the octagon, crawled under the bridge and swung over the hot lava pit. They had a forward roll contest and practiced their jumps.

While groups took turns on the Blue Bus, the classroom was abuzz with counting, cars, coins and conversation! On the oval rug, friends gathered to count cars, two at a time. Lisa introduced the ‘+’ addition sign. Simon brought in a coin counting math game. Friends identified, quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies and talked about which president’s face is on each coin. Kai and Vivian learned what a yardstick is. They chose five items, measured them and charted their findings. Books about bridges were read aloud and conversations followed about the details of the bridges being studied. Friends learned a new Jack and the Beanstalk song and talked about ideas for a J in the B Study. With droppers, spoons and basters, friends worked with warm sudsy water. While singing character variations on “This is the way I toss the beans, toss the beans, toss the beans…this is the way I toss the beans…right out the window!” we explored different voice registers and pitch: Giant/deep and low, cow/Moo!, mom/high and Jack/middle.

Wee Sprouts today are carrots. For breakfast we served whole wheat peanut butter toast, pears and bananas. Lunch was whole wheat penne pasta with marinara, mixed veggies and fruit salad. For snack, we will serve fruit with goldfish.

Have a great start to your week!

Wee Friends has become the House of Singing Syllables.

This morning, Lisa brought in an array of hand mirrors. She guided the children in an exploration where they watched their mouth move as they created the sounds of multi-syllabic words. Among the many words sounded out were firetruck, ninja, pizza, Paulina, pouches, soccer, and basketball. This experience of sounding out syllables spread throughout the house and we heard whispered murmers of words as friends played together.

We’ve observed a growing interest in bridges over the last couple days. At breakfast, Finn and Marta created bridges across their cereal bowls using a spoon. In the hopscotch area, a small group of friends created another bridge today, this time using rectangular wooden flats. Another linear creation was laid out using large stacking blocks.

Many friends made felt pouches for their painted rocks. After sewing yard through holes, they filled their pouch with rocks and wore them throughout the morning.

A small group of friends worked collaboratively at the art table sorting, shuffling and counting poker chips. Friends practiced sharing, negotiating turns and compromising when choosing which color chip to work with.

Owen and Simon constructed various ships and planes out of the interlocking translucent plastic shapes. They also spent time at the art table creating the same ships and planes using pipe cleaners, straws, paper and glue.

Wee Sprouts today are cucumber slices and green peas. For breakfast, we served Cheerios and bananas. For lunch, we ate ham rolls stuffed with cream cheese, green peas and mandarin oranges. For snack, we will serve Tami’s homemade granola and yogurt.

Have a terrific weekend!