Boy, did we make the most of this rainy day! Our morning began with a rehearsal: Jane practiced being a bird “for my recital tonight with my Dad.” Our breakfast eaters were a captive audience, watching and listening closely.

After breakfast, a small group of friends moved to the truck room where we read about another bird, Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman. Umi, in particular, has asked us to read this book several times in the last few days. The kids know it so well that they asked the question “are you my mother?” every time it came up in the book. At one point, I stopped reading the words and they told the story, describing what they saw in the pictures. We found two other books about animals searching for their mothers, Little Baa (Kim Lewis) and Are You My Mommy (Carla Dijs) and compared and contrasted the three. We discussed where our own mothers are today. Afterwards, we acted out the story, blindfolding the baby bird who was searching for his/her mama.

The mother and child reunions were a little slice of heaven with big smiles and big embraces.

We introduced a new math game called “Flatware Fun!” Using butter knives, forks and spoons, friends sorted, counted, sketched, wrote corresponding numbers and adapted/created the game according to their developmental understanding.

Melinda read Macy’s book Good Dog Carl by Alexandra Day. The book is about a dog and has no written words. Melinda guided friends as they shared ideas about what was happening, based on the illustrations.

 

 

Friends have been playing a lot with waffle blocks this week. At one point this morning, a huge group was in the truck room playing and building collaboratively.

Melinda led a music lesson describing the concept of a note. She demonstrated which instruments played notes and which did not (piano/tambourine). She played her accordian and had musicians play a four count rhythm, encouraging them to count aloud and play on the beat.

For lunch we served whole wheat tortillas with melted cheese, fruit salad and black beans.

While lunch tables were set, Melinda and Wee Friends stretched out!

Enjoy your day.

PS: Your child’s art has been collected and placed in bags in their cubbies to take home today!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This morning Kai, Jane, Macy and Simon went swimming. Kai reported that they worked on mermaid kicks, the elementary back stroke and they jumped off the block.

We worked in two math games before the swimmers headed out: Leaf Matching and Pumpkin Bingo.

We resurrected two of our favorite Halloween songs: “Dem Bones” and “Stirring Our Brew.” We bent, stretched, stirred and identified many of the bones in our body as we sang.

When the swimmers left, we set out trays of shaving cream and invited our friends to choose a color and mix it in. We sang ooey gooey, squishy squishy and patting the cream songs as we explored the feel, smell and evolving colors of our creation.

Today for lunch we served the four varieties of apples that were sampled yesterday in our apple taste test. We heard several friends comment on the apples as they served themselves. Ada expressed “This is a Honeycrisp Apple.” Melinda asked “How do you know?” She replied “Because it’s a little bit red and a little bit green.” For teachers in Early Childhood, these moments are like winning the lottery! We are able to assess that the Apple Taste Test offered Ada a relevant connection to her own life! These moments happen all day long and affirm our WF Mission: to cultivate a love of learning.

Along with our delicious apples, we served turkey on whole wheat bread and corn.

THE FARM TRIP HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR TOMORROW.

Have a great day.

Friday’s apple pie was finger lickin’ good! Wee Friends gobbled their project/creation down with apple cider.

Miss Jennifer arrived at 9am for gymnastics. Today they worked on the Climbing Ladder and Incline Mat. They used a rope ladder to climb to the top of the bus (inside!) and touched the ceiling. They learned glide and tuck swings, and rolled forward and backwards on the incline mat.

In housekeeping, we added witches hats, pumpkin pails, rubber snakes and other halloweenie materials.

After gymnastics Kai, Ada, Arleigh and Macy played a milk bottle math game. Using rubber bracelets and plastic spiders, they tried to toss them onto the neck of the bottle. They counted to 7 (7 milk bottles) as they tossed and then sorted the materials, by color, placing them onto/into the bottles.

We conducted an apple taste test using Granny Smith, Red and Golden Delicious and Honeycrisp apples.

We began by reading “Apples, Apples, Apples” by Nancy Wallace in which the main character is named Minna!

Our Minna showed Wee Friend’s each different variety. They discussed the color of each apple. She offered a small taste of each talking about sour and sweet.

When everyone had a bite of each apple, Tami gave each child a sticker with his/her name on it. They stuck it on a message board, under their favorite apple.

Alexandra and other friends played a matching pumpkin bingo and Alma and Umi worked on writing their names.

For lunch we served Tuna casserole, mixed veggies and WWF Lisa’s homemade applesauce. Thank you, Lisa!

Have a terrific Monday!

 

 

 

 

 

Mixers…Shakers…Pie Crust Makers!!!!!!

We spent the morning making apple pie!

In various small groups, Wee Friends completed all the steps it takes to make apple pie. Jane, Kai, Ada, Annie and Macy measured and mixed the sugar and spice!

Alma and Umi prepared the crust by rolling it out, patting it, crimping the edges with a fork and painting egg white all over.

Everybody had a chance to core/peel the apples.

We combined the cut apples with the dry sugar mixture and scooped it into two pie shells.

Annie and Ada added created a lattice dough design on top, painted on more egg white and turned it over to Kai and Jane who sprinkled a bit of sugar all over.

It’s cooling on the stove and ready for snack!

Tami added Fairy Tale templates to our Shadow Puppet Theatre!

Melinda taught everybody “The Chicken”!

The gymnastics bus will be here Monday at 9am ready for the first group and 9:30 for the second!

For lunch we served PB/honey on whole wheat bread, peas and craisins.

Have a great weekend!

 

 

 

 

Today was filled with a variety of small group activities.

Our apples were finally dry enough to finish our apple dolls. Using google eyes, pipe cleaners, yarn and felt two small groups took turns adding hair, arms, legs, eyes and clothes!

In housekeeping, another small group acted out selected scenes from Beauty and the Beast. We first looked at the book and a few friends turned to the pages that illustrated the scenes they were interested in exploring.

Addi was one of several chickens who were fed by Belle. We used this moment to stretch and exercise our gross motor muscles.

At first princesses Alma and Umi told the Beast to “go away!”. They soon relented and invited the Beast to be their friend. Today, the improv was guided with provoking questions such as “The Beast isn’t leaving the castle, what should we do?” or “I see the Beast is smiling, what does that say to you?”

The imaginative play morphed into Snow White (per Annie’s request!) in which Annie made an appearance as the princess who eats the apple and falls instantly. Annie has mastered this dramatic, graceful, tragic (yet totally safe!) fall. Kai snuck into the Beast costume and we were suddenly back in the castle where a tired and “kind on the inside” Beast was comforted by his friends!

We created a replica of the rose in the vase whose petals slowly fall. We counted the petals and will watch them fall one by one, counting as we go.

Melinda is playing several WF songs on her accordian and friends are singing along! Today she explored 4/4 time, counting to four and then teaching the singers to “sing now!”. They clapped this rhythm out and then used instruments to practice keeping the beat.

Be on the lookout for information for our WF Winter Concert!

Special Note: You may find some time black seeds on the floor in our science center. Rest assured that we do not have any little visitors, these seeds are from inside the bean pods in our sensory bin!

Also, we do have a cold being passed around the classroom. Symptoms include a runny nose, heavy coughing and chest congestion, plugged up ears, and post nasal drip. No fever reported so far.

For lunch we served cream cheese/carrots on whole wheat tortillas, roasted potatoes and applesauce.

Hope you are having moments of rest in your day.