WF Daily Explorations Monday May 23

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On two occasions today, unprompted by the teachers, large groups of friends gathered together first for a game and then for a more complex task of scissor cutting. They played, worked cooperatively, and laughed and conversed all the while. A few younger friends enjoyed shaking, rolling and studying plastic tubes, filled with different liquids.

MG 9407Wee Friends gobbled up the delicious birthday snack Taylor brought last week: bananas on a stick, dipped in strawberry yogurt and rolled in graham crackers-then frozen!!!!!!! Thank you Taylor!

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Waiting to load up and head to the Farm.

Kid Quotes:

When asked “What has been the best part of your day?”  here’s how your children responded:

Jane: “Helping Addi (her lunch buddy) and I like to be in the front for naptime.”

Jacob: “I was at the Farm with Tami and I was doing fishing.”

Alexandra: “I like my mommy and candy.”

Kai: “Catching a crayfish-it was a baby.”

Addi: “I like Kai and Jane and Annie.”

Taylor: “My best part was catching a baby fish.”

Simon: “Going outside!”

Owen: “Fishing!”

Isaac: “Going to the Farm.”

Macy: “I like my mommy.”

Oliver: “Stepping in mud puddles at the Farm.”

Check the blog later today for today’s farm adventures!

For lunch we served whole wheat pasta with tuna, pears and carrots/cucumbers.

Have a great day!

WF Daily Explorations Friday May 20

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SCISSORS!

This morning we practiced using scissors, cutting from a variety of different magazines. For our younger friends, we discussed how to hold scissors and practiced opening and closing them. For all friends, we talked about how to safely pass scissors to a friend. One friend created a collage with her cuttings.

Many of our child-driven activities have an improvisational quality to them. To support our doctor study, Laurie started to play “Mind Your Manners” and friends quickly gathered to dance and sing. Melinda expressed “Let’s use our new green mats!” So we paused our music and began singing “My space, my space, here I am in my space…..my space, my space, only me!” When friends had established safe spatial boundaries in which to move their bodies, we pressed ‘play’ to resume “Mind Your Manners”. Technical difficulty (bad disc!). Laurie turned around to see friends quietly waiting for the music on their mats. Melinda exclaimed “I see you all waiting patiently and happily!” As friends watched and listened, Laurie inserted “If You’re Happy and You Know It”. Friends clapped and stomped and shouted! From there, 4 friends at a time played a watching/listening follow the leader game called: “Troll Freeze”: one friend is the troll leader and whenever he/she turns around, the following trolls freeze and drop to the ground. Then, a friend who finished Troll Freeze rolled himself into the mat and said “Look! I’m a hot dog!” Other friends joined in, going nuts over being hot dogs with green buns. More singing ensued and it was time to go outside. Melinda then guided our friends as they rolled their hot dog buns up and placed them into the basket.

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This all lasted 25-30 minutes and while it reads with a frenetic quality, the transitions were terrifically smooth and logical with teachers and Wee Friends watching and listening closely to one another for the next inspired spark.

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Now, what to do with the instant, exuberant (accidental?!) interest in hot dogs? Any ideas?!

Have a great weekend!!! MG 9426

WWF Daily Explorations, Thursday 5.19.11

Another very busy day at WWF! Our morning began with an interesting and brand new art project. Lisa prepared some bowls with paint and gave the children long pieces of string and a sheet of paper. They dipped the string in the paint and dropped it on the paper several times making very interesting curvy lines. They also tried rubbing and rolling the string on the paper getting different effects.

Some children spent time outside planting tomatoes with Amy. They dug up the dirt using shovels and gently placed tomato starters in. These plants grew out of the seeds we had planted with the children earlier in the spring. Our garden is starting look like one!

While outside today we made lots of music. This week we have added a new song in Spanish that goes like this:

Dos manitas, diez deditos,

Dos manitas, diez deditos,

Dos manitas, diez deditos,

Dos manitas, diez deditos son.

Uno, dos y tres deditos,

Cuatro , cinco y seis deditos,

Cinco, seis y siete deditos,

Ocho, nueve y diez deditos son!

(to the same tune of “one, two and three little fingers”).

Today we had our first try to have a lunch helper. We are hoping to have one child per week who would like to help us setting up the table and preparing the food for their friends. Today and tomorrow will be Umi’s turn. We are excited!

Among the teachers we have been discussing about our role as teacher in “learning through play”. As teachers it is essential to be able to recognize a “teaching moment” and approach it the right way. We are excited about a new tool we have found, and would like to share with you.

When children play we want to watch and look for signs that will tell us we are being invited to play with them. Sometimes these are as subtle as a gentle gaze at you or as clear as taking your hand and saying “come play with me”. The key here is to do it with respect and honoring the intentions and level of sophistication of their play. We have found the following acronym to be helpful.

Approach play with SOUL”

Silent

Observe

Understand what is going on, and

Listen

Have a wonderful day!!! We? We have SOUL!!!!

Paulina, Lisa and Amy

P.S Sometimes technology gets us and Wednesday our blog post was saved as a draft and never posted!!! So here it is, better now than never!

Despite the clouds and light drizzle this morning, we made our own sunshine inside this morning. Miss Lisa did some fun farm cards with our friends. We identified the animal and the sound it makes, and did some discussion on our farm trip. We worked on individual collages this morning. As we picked different objects (tissue paper, gift
wrap, cotton balls, etc). We talked about the texture, its size and color.

Miss Amy had some avid gardners outside. Things are beginning to sprout! For lunch we had cheese tortillas, mixed vegetables, and

fruit salad. We look forward to more outside time this afternoon.

Have a great day! Regards, Lisa, Paulina, Marty and Amy

WF Daily Explorations Thursday May 19

Thursday May 19

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAYLOR!

Taylor turns 6 today!

Today both groups of friends went to tumbling class!

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Back at school, Tami read aloud several books and Melinda led a sculpture activity using salt dough. The recipe we use is as follows:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

7 tbls water

(add water and flour to achieve desired consistency)

Here are a few of the many benefits of children working with salt dough:

1)Working with salt dough helps to gain control over hand and arm movements which improves coordination.

2)Great for fine/gross motor muscle development.

3)Salt dough is a natural outlet through which children can express their emotions.

4)Cooperative play and dramatic play can be seen when children use salt dough.

5)Discussing what has been made helps build communication skills and develops imagination

6) Dividing it up can be used to help children learn about numbers and counting.

7)Playing with salt dough with others helps children understand the importance of sharing.

To foster independence, Tami designed a salt dough “station” that friends can access on their own. There are two different colored/sized measuring cups for each dry ingredient. A small glass is used for the water, with 7 tablespoons clearly marked in words and a black line. A large ceramic bowl and wooden spoon are available for mixing.

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Today nearly all of Wee Friends created with salt dough. They knew exactly the order of turn taking and waited patiently for their own turn!

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Today for lunch we served cucumber and cream cheese on whole wheat tortillas and fruit salad.

Have a great day!

WWF Daily Exploration, 5.18.11

Light rain and drizzle did not keep us from enjoying yet another indoor, pretend picnic. We also sang our picnic song. Feel free to check out the words on our board and sing it at home. It will be music to your ears!

Miss Paulina played the guitar for our music time today. We used our shakers and learned a new song in Spanish. We learned some new movements to this song. A special thank you to Jason, one of our parent´s for sharing his wonderful guitar and vocal talents during this time as well. It was a nice treat for all of us.

We enjoyed some outdoor time. We played run and stop with Miss Lisa to burn off some energy. We are enjoying riding our bikes, helping to push our friends on our bikes and swing when they need help. We have some real experienced climbers on our log cabin.

Lunch today was chicken and rice, corn, and bananas. We are working at using our table manners while eating. All of our friends enjoyed helping themselves on seconds. We are doing a great job using our sign language to signify ¨more,¨ and ¨please.¨

Miss Amy will be joining us tomorrow as Marty will have the next two days off. We will miss Marty, but always look forward to Miss Amy, and the talents she brings to us.

Enjoy the day.

Regards,

Lisa, Paulina, and Marty

WF Daily Explorations Wednesday May 18

Wednesday May 18

A small group of friends began the day singing a new song “Super Manners” (sung to the tune of “I’m a Little Tea Pot”):

I have Super Manners, yes I do!

I can say “please” and “thank you”!

When I’m with my friends I listen and share,

That’s the way I show I care!

We played a few rounds of our Body Part dice game, exploring and talking/singing about different body parts.

At the art table, we made individual thumb and finger prints, using a stamp pad. We talked about how our skin had unique lines and textures, but mostly just enjoyed getting purple ink all over our hands! F.3.7 Make patterns on their own.

Another read aloud of Dr. Meow’s Big Emergency led to an interest in hospital ID bracelets. Using masking tape, we created our own. F.1.39 Talk about action pictures of family, pets, or self.

MG 9374 F.2.1 Identify a favorite story. F.3.16 Describe features of familiar places (e.g., buildings, stores).

Melinda led an science/art experiment: “What happens when you draw with chalk on wet and dry paper? Furthermore, what will happen when you paint over your chalk sketch with water?” Friends examined how chalk color changed as they created and how the chalk felt different drawing on wet and dry paper. F.1.8 Engage in a scientific experiment with a peer or with small groups of children using sharing/turn taking skills.

We resurrected a Wee Friends Favorite song “Mind Your Manners”, singing, dancing and stretching our bodies. We ended our Creative Music time with a music meditation, talking about how fast our heart was beating and how to breath deeply to slow it down as we relaxed our bodies. F.2.5 Hum or sing along to tune playing on radio, tape/CD player, or television.

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Today for lunch, we served rice with chicken and corn, pears and salad.

Have a great day!

WF Daily Explorations Tuesday May 17

Tuesday May 17

Today began with an anatomy game/song! We created a large cube (dice) taping pictures of different body parts on it. We rolled the dice and when we landed on a body part, we sang:

“Eye, Eye, it’s the picture I see,

If you have an eye than blink with me!

Stand up, blink up and down,

And when you’re through blinking,

Sit back down.”

After interest in the song waned, we switched the game to identifying the letter that the body part started with (ex: What picture is this? SPINE! What letter does SPINE start with?”) MG 9361

After the swimmers left for the Y, younger friends continued exploring the caterpillars, putting them into a plastic tub and returning them to the wild. 🙂

Three older friends helped Amy Crosson plant vegetables. Yesterday, Amy brought in rhubarb bread made from the rhubarb on our playground! Thank you Amy!!

Friends trimmed the grass growing in plastic cups. They created art with the cut grass using white paper and glue.

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Enjoy this day!

WWF & WF 2yr olds Farm Trip, Monday 5.16.11

 

Hello!
Our Farm trip was simply fantastic!

The weather was perfect and the children got a good pick to what Charlotte’s farm is. First we saw, touched and held chickens and fresh eggs. After that we came inside the barn to see the horses from very close and feed, pet and brush the goats. We also saw and held beautiful soft baby goats! Some children took turns riding on the pony as we walked to the woods.

In the woods we were able get off the path and walk into an area where older children have built houses using old tree branches, we saw beautiful native plants and flowers and listened to the bird’s songs.

We came back at around 11:15 just in time for our lunch and nap. Today’s lunch menu included ricotta ravioli and tomato sauce, corn and cantaloupe.

It was a wonderful adventure and we would like to thank to all the parents who came with us for the extra hands and enthusiasm.

Have a wonderful day!

Paulina, Marty and Tami.

P.S: Check out Flickr  http://www.flickr.com/photos/weefriends/sets/72157626735209666/ (or the photos section on the blog) to view the pictures from today.

 

 

 

WF Daily Explorations at School Monday May 16

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After the two year olds left for the Farm, Melinda led an art exploration asking the question “What happens when you paint over crayon?” With different color combinations, friends first drew with crayons on paper and then painted over it studying the effect that different crayon/paper colors had when combined with red paint. F.1.6 Wonder about or ask questions about works of art. F.2.16 Demonstrate increasing skill in using different art materials. (e.g., paper, paint, clay, scraps, buttons)

Outside, friends discovered a sac of Eastern Tent caterpillars on the plumb bush. Friends hand picked them and put them in a plastic container. This afternoon we will study them up close! F.3.9 Observe and explore a variety of live plants and animals. F.3.12 Talk about different types of plants and animals that inhabit the earth.

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Beginning the Basics introduced “Mind Your Manners” this morning. Understanding the natural curiosity (and fun!) to experiment with “bathroom words”, we created a message board that listed Appropriate Words and Inappropriate Words for our school environment. We played “No! Teacher! No!”: a game similar to “Mother May I” where the teacher says a word and if it’s Appropriate, the friend can move forward one big step. If it’s Inappropriate, the friend exclaims, “No! Teacher! No!” We role-played what to say when a friend grabs a toy or book out of your hand. We will practice these life skills along with continued potty and hand washing reminders/activities. F.2.11 Pretend through role-playing. F.2.2 Express self in dramatic play

Enjoy this beautiful day!!!!!!