WWF an early Mothers Day!

The children were really engrossed in playing with their baby dolls this morning. It was so interesting to watch them, and truly amazing on what they observe and pick up on. Elizabeth and Marta laid on the floor with some pillows, propped their babies up and fed them their bottles. They also put them in the baby carrier, put a purse on their shoulders and headed to the door. Of course, they told us good bye, and when we asked them where they were going, most were going to work. It seems as though most of them are up on our technology, as they were talking on their cell phones, some even taking pictures.

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Later during outside time, the children went to the chalkboards & we discussed the airplane that was drawn on it. The children initiated conversation about the wings on the airplane and the windows. Elizabeth mentioned a butterfly in correlation with our discussion yesterday about how other things have wings and can fly. Marta made mention of a bird. We drew these on our chalkboard.

Today the children had a bear hunt, but we a little bit of a different twist on it. One of the children would hide a stuffed teddy bear, and the rest of us would close our eyes, then wait to go find it. Bubbles filled the air with lots of excitement as well.

Today we had couscous with navy beans, cantaloupe, and carrots for lunch. We had some very hearty appetites!

This afternoon we will make a runway with our blocks, and begin some discussion on how cars are also a way of transportation. Triangles are the new shape, and we will continue to explore looking for them in objects we explore and books. The children began exploring our new shape yesterday afternoon by using some new crayons that had triangles at the end of them. They were also able to get some painting in. PK enjoyed some new exploring with bubble wrap.

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Please note that breakfast is served until 9:00 a.m. daily. If you would like your child to have breakfast here, please keep this time in mind.

Enjoy the beautiful summer day!

WF Daily Explorations Tuesday August 16

Congratulations, Wee Friends Graduates!014 022

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With “Pomp and Circumstance”, we send Isaac and Oliver to Kindergarden and Taylor, First Grade! We will miss you!!!!!!!

Today began with a message board:032

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Tami provided us with (at least!) 16 stuffed bears to sing along and act out Hap Palmer’s “Teddy Bear’s Playtime”. Friends threw teddies in the air, balanced them on their tummies and toes and had the time of their life! We ended our creative music with friends standing up and in big bold voices introducing their bear to the group and telling us one thing about their bear. Many of our bears were great runners named Fuzzy!

Afterwards, we read and studied Bears, a bear fact book by Deborah Hodge. We learned about the three types of bears, details of their habitats and bodies. After learning about daybeds (daily resting spots bears create near food) friends filled the housekeeping and reading areas making their own daybeds for their bears.

048 We moved our bear study to the art room where we created a bear paw collage. After cutting the toes out of old socks, friends slipped their fingers into the sock, dipped it in paint and created bear paws! This sensory experience offered friends the opportunity to compare/contrast bear paws to their own human “paws”. Many friends made bear tracks.

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For lunch we served ham sandwiches on whole wheat bread, corn on the cob (thank you, Lisa!) and fruit salad. Have a great day!

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WWF Exploring Wings!

We spent the morning outside. The children spotted a butterfly, and we discussed how it has wings and can fly. We talked about the wings on a butterfly are different to that of the wings on an airplane. Shortly after that, we spotted a few birds. It is great to see the children observing nature and initiating discussions on what we have been talking about. Elizabeth, Finn, and Marta did some dramatic play.

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We took our “donut shop” outside today. Finn was extra creative and added sand to the top of his, and told us that they were his sprinkles! We read several stories outside as well.

Miss Laurie led us on a bear hunt! How exciting! The children spotted a brown and black bear, and a grizzly. They covered the log cabin house with a sheet and used it to hibernate. It was an adventurous morning at WWF.

For lunch today we had ham sandwiches on whole wheat buns, peas and bananas.

We hope Marty is feeling better, and will be back with us tomorrow. We sure do miss her.

Have a great afternoon~

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WWF Up, Up and Away!

The children were eager to start the day today with our “Donut Shop” color game. All of the children are really getting to know their colors. We have circles in an array of colors. We begin with clapping our hands on our legs and singing, “Down around the corner at the donut shop, where there are lots of pretty donuts with sugar on top. Along comes, (child’s name), all alone” and she/ he picks a circle and names the color. The children have had great fun at this.

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We welcomed our new friend to WWF this morning. Ozzie is 19 months old and we are glad to have him with us.

We read two books about airplanes, then we talked about different things we might put in our suitcase when we travel. The children had great suggestions. The children looked through magazines and we sought out pictures pertaining to what we might pack, cut the pictures out, and made a mural. The children enjoyed squirting the glue on the paper, and gluing down their picture. We looked at a picture of an airplane and how it looks inside. The chldren even picked where they would want to sit.

Boarding passes, please! Our “crew” boarded the WWF Airlines outside in our box airplanes. They checked in their luggage on wheels, handed Miss Lisa their pretend boarding passes, fastened their seat belts and tightened them, and enjoyed a pretend lunch on individual trays. They placed their drink orders, and some even requested dessert. After landing, the children went up to our roundabout, started their engines, and began to fly. Their arms turned into wings. Just as we were taking off, we saw a real plane in the air. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect!

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All of the children have enjoyed harvesting the garden. Today we picked some green beans, zucchini, and more tomatoes. The zucchini was added to some delicious pasta sauce for lunch. The children had whole wheat pasta, and bananas.

This afternoon we will explore outside and discuss things that do and do not fly. A few of the children spotted two butterflies this morning, and they were excited to see them flying. This opened up a whole discussion on how butterflies have wings different than airplane wings, but both can fly.

We are still searching for a pair of Stride Rite pink shoes and an outfit that went missing last Thursday. If anyone picked them up in a plastic bag inadvertently, please let us know.

We look forward to soaring to new heights this week with more discussion on airplanes and shapes.

Enjoy the day!

WF Daily Explorations Monday August 15

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Starting this week, Paulina will be joining the Wee Friends teachers on Monday and Thursday mornings. What began as a spanish lesson last week continued today with a large group of friends. Paulina describes: “This project really began reading Eric Carle’s Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See? and Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? in Spanish. Because it is repetitive and the children know it well, the targeted vocabulary was full of images and inspiration for the kids. We sang the books (in Spanish) and talked about animals and colors. Using paper, pencils, crayons, markers and twisties we created material that would help us explore and remember our new Spanish words.”

The plexiglass from our ball pit has reached its end! Melinda supervised a group of older friends as they used screwdrivers to safely unscrew and remove the broken pieces.

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In the last few days as we’ve explored bear natures, our abacus has become a berry bush. This morning, after listening to our musical bear track, a couple friends found the abacus and began eating berries! We then counted berries and discussed what types of berries they were (by color!) We ate our fill and moved on to find fish!

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021The potatoes are ready! Friends dug up several potatoes and we roasted them for lunch!024 026

034 We also served melted ham and cheese on whole wheat tortillas and clementines.

For snack we will serve blueberry/mango smoothies and honor each of our friends whose last day at WF is Friday!

Have a great day!

WF Daily Explorations Friday August 12

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Another week filled with exploring….creating….talking….singing….playing….learning….

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Wee Friends has lots to celebrate this time of the year! Friends are returning from vacation with great stories to share, new friends have joined both classrooms and the weather has cooled! It’s also the time we have to say goodbye to several friends who are moving on to new schools. On Monday Isaac will bring a special snack and we will celebrate with our friends as they start their last week at Wee Friends!

Enjoy your family time this weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

WWF Soaring to new heights!

This morning we started the day with our CD and book, “We all sing with the same voice.” It is a WWF favorite, and the children are learning about diversity, different parts of the world, yet how we are all the same. Finn knows the words by heart now, and is fabulous at leading us in song!

We read some more books about airplanes, and talked about boarding the plane, and boarding passes, as well as the air traffic controllers in the tower. It was a great day to take out some boxes from the basement, take them outside, and create some airplanes. We had a pilot, carry on bags (with no additional fees!), fastened our seat belts, and waited for the tower to tell us it was “all clear” for take off. We talked about gaining speed, and the wheels on the plane. Pretend snacks were served. One of the children said another plane was on fire. Fire fighter Finn to the rescue. Imaginations were running rampant. The children are quick to recite the words to our new songs about airplanes.

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For lunch today we had a Caelan favorite in honor of his last day, pizza, pineapple, and fresh cucumber.

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This afternoon we will make some airplanes and bid farewell to our little Caelan.

Please note that Tami has placed a payment box on the shelf near the cubbies. Please deposit all checks in it from this point foward.

Make it a great weekend!

WF Daily Explorations, Thursday 8-11-11

Today, initiated by Taylor, the children did another group “sticky” study. The children gathered at different times throughout the morning at one giant piece of paper and used a variety of sticky mediums on the paper. Ironically, Tami had a really difficult time getting the “sticky” study picture to stay stuck to the wall! However, it did finally get adhered to the wall in the science room so you may want “stick” around for a few minutes and take a look at pickup tonight.

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418KUyA-OPLWe all sing with the same voice
The same song, the same voice
We all sing with the same voice
And we sing in harmony

We introduced a WeeWee favorite book with song CD this morning called, We All Sing with the Same Voice. It is a beautiful song about diversity. The children liked it so much that I will be purchasing a copy for our classroom since WWF uses their copy everyday.

 

118Outside the children spent some time picking (and sampling) more vegetables that they were harvesting from our garden. Several children also husked some corn for the WF lunch.

For lunch we had parmesan rice, corn on the cob and cantaloupe.

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WWF Flying High!

We started our morning with some of our WWF wanting to try their skills again today with our peg shape board. They did a great job, and they sure were diligent, and high achievers!

We listened to yet another new CD with an airplane song on it. We had some instant dancers, and even Finn’s dad joined in the fun. We read several airplane books,and learned about our luggage and how it is stored on the plane. We also read, “Shoo-Fly.” We have been singing that quite a bit outside recently, and it was great to have the children join in. We also sang our airplane song, and have posted the words on our board. We encourage you to sing it with your child. It is to the tune of, “I’m a Little Teapot.”

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Our airplane collage is looking beautiful! Today we added circles in all colors. The children seemed to have a great time working on it.

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Another beautiful day, and another beautiful day of harvesting the garden. We are still harvesting tomatoes, cucumbers, and green beans. Our very own watermelon was served at luch today, with tuna on whole wheat bread, and peas.

Tomorrow will be one of our “WWF orginals” last day. Caelan and his family will be relocating to the Chicago area. We wish them all of the best in their future endeavors, and we will miss not only Caelan, but his beautiful family as well. We will have a small celebration for their new start tomorrow afternoon.

Enjoy the beautiful day!

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WF Daily Explorations Wednesday August 10

We’ll go walking through the park…

We’ll keep on walking ’til it gets dark!

We’ll see the leaves on the trees

And catch the bugs in the breeze,

When we’re walking through the park!

Today we had a picnic at Nuner Elementary! We gathered a big bag of food (pb on whole wheat buns, pea pods/cucumbers and raisins) three wagons full of kids, walking buddies, four teachers and went walking….

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We stopped and ate lunch on the soccer field, played red light/green light and then made our way to the playground.

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Our walking friends did an excellent job safely crossing the streets and holding onto their walking buddy!

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Before we left on our walk, many friends continued catching fish with their hands and in their nets. Melinda bought several new fish for today because we had to say goodbye to most of our fish from yesterday.

 

 

Our bear exploration continued today with a sensory experiment: in bowls, we put several foods we thought bears might eat. We closed our eyes and using three senses: smell, touch and taste, we guessed which food we were holding.

Paulina, who spent the morning teaching Wee Friends, recorded words from our sensory experiment in Spanish. She then moved friends to hopscotch for a Spanish lesson! Miel and Oso are two words we learned.

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Owen and Nate share their Family Tree leaves with friends today! We learned that they have LOTS of cousins in New York and New Jersey and that their Grandpa has a very unique name!!!!!

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Enjoy the day!