This morning we did a search find count sort activity.  We searched for sea shells and stones in the sand using excavation tools like paint brushes, tweezers, and various scoops.  We are all in various stages of learning to write and using these tools prepares our fine motor muscles for success in our developing writing skill.  Once we found shells and stones we separated them into jars.  We tried counting them.  we were encouraged to look for the  matching number cards and some of us did this as well.  Of course we all enjoyed the part were we got to use our imaginations and play with our materials.  Many of us really liked filling the jars with sand and practicing screwing on lids (another fine motor skill) .  

There were so many areas of play going on this morning. We had friends in housekeeping taking care of their animals/babies. Some of our friends made a giant volcano with the kinetic sand and decorated it with their shiny blue rocks. Some of our friends came to the table and worked with the geoboards. It is always amazing to see what kind of designs come from this activity.

Fun in the sun! We are going to soak up as many days of sunshine while we can.

Breakfast: Whole wheat bread w/ PB & apples

Lunch: Whole wheat spaghetti w/ shredded cheese, cucumbers/green peppers, & pineapple

PM Snack: Whole milk yogurt & granola

Wee Sprouts: Cucumbers & green bell peppers

Link to photos 2023-02-20

Have a fantastic rest of your Monday!

Ms. Linsey & Ms. Kim

Today we created a class collaborative painting to send to Ms. Mindy who we miss so much!  Everyone was excited to help make it.  We used many different kinds of paint rollers with a variety of textures to create our painting.  We mixed primary colors with our rollers as we went creating interesting effects.

         

We all enjoyed the idea of collaborating because afterward many friends spontaneously chose to make more collaborative art using drawing materials.  They made banners and pictures with either a partner or a group of friends.  They proudly walked around the house to show off their banners to all of their friends.

Breakfast: rice cakes with peanut butter, fresh apples and pears

Lunch: lunch meat (turkey) sandwiches, bananas, carrots and green beans

Snack: pretzels with block cheddar cheese

Link to photos https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIullpsthe5hiLtH5qKeWA

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ms. Linsey and Miss Jena

Happy Friday!  Enjoy the pictures from our busy morning!

Breakfast:  Whole grain brown rice cakes with cream cheese and fresh oranges.

Lunch:  Ham lunchmeat on whole grain wheat bread, fresh orange bell pepper slices and bananas.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole grain Ritz crackers and Colby-jack block cheese slices.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Rebekah

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIullpp8feK_TZ07QjfG8Q

Today we all got a chance to practice our hand writing dexterity in a fun and interesting way.  We could choose a capital or lower case letter sheet, or both.  Then we used a Q tip to trace the letters with paint.  We had all primary colors in our pallet.  As we worked,  a number of us asked for green or orange and we were reminded that we had primary colors so we could make those colors ourselves.  We had a wonderful time mixing interesting colors sometimes different for each letter as we practiced hand writing.  Our older friends used their work as examples to show the younger kids how to trace the letters.  They were quite proud of their abilities.  Afterward, many of the kids chose to stay and make free paintings with the q tips.

We also enjoyed a variety of other activities including a loose parts table and a little time outside.  When it started raining we came inside for some music.  We played instruments, then we did a music beats activity to help train our ears and bodies to musical synchrony…keeping a beat.  We moved our body high and with the beat as the tones went up and down with the beat when the tone went low.  We also paid attention to slow and fast tempos.

PreK/K: In group today, we read “Tortoise and Hare”. During the the story, we took breaks to see who they would rather be like (fast like the hare, slower like the tortoise), or who they thought would win the race. As the story progressed, their answers changed! Afterwards, we had a group discussion about how it’s okay to not always be “a lot” of one thing, but rather several parts.

Breakfast: whole grain cheerios with fresh cantaloupe and strawberries

Lunch: Brown rice with turkey, fresh pears, and wee sprouts

Snack: Wheat thins with a mixture of raisins and peanuts

Wee Sprouts: fresh carrots, cucumbers, and green beans

Link to pictures:

https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIullpo18zQ0ONKBFkUS_w

Have a wonderful afternoon!

Ms Linsey and Ms Jena

Good Afternoon!

This morning we were busy using our imaginative and building skills with Magna-Tiles.  The friends were very focused as they created their structures.  They added Little People to expand their play.

Dax was engaged in housekeeping and dressed up using a hat and scarf.  Eliza was working her fine motor and hand-eye coordination skills to put her piece of bread into the toaster to make herself some toast.

We then went into the kitchen with Miss Tina to work with pegs.  We worked to fill our peg boards up using a variety of colors and some of us stacked them together to make towers.

Breakfast:  Kix cereal and fresh pear slices.

Lunch:  Whole grain brown rice with shredded cheddar cheese, fresh apple slices and orange bell pepper slices.

Afternoon Snack:  Sunflower seeds and whole grain Triscuit crackers.

Have a terrific evening!

Rebekah

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIullpoK_-Hs0WHRBF4O4g

Good Afternoon!

Today we engaged with a variety of musical instruments.  We began by playing our own music using the xylophone, shakers and bells.

Miss Bekah then got down the drums.  We used our hands to make fast and slow beats on them.  When we were finished with the drums we used the rhythm sticks to tap as we marched around the front circle.  Miss Bekah then found a song by Hap Palmer called Tap Your Sticks and we had to follow along with the song to where it wanted us to tap our sticks.  For example, we were told to tap them on the floor.  We enjoyed making lots of music this morning with a variety of different instruments.

Breakfast:  Overnight Oatmeal with cinnamon/sugar mixture and fresh pineapple.

Lunch:  Farm fresh scrambled eggs, fresh carrot chips, pineapple and toasted whole grain wheat bread with butter.

Afternoon Snack:  White corn chips with refried beans.

Have a wonderful evening!

Rebekah

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIullphOfDCwBEgvX4AKqw

This morning we enjoyed a barge building challenge.  We were given a truck, a piece of cardboard with holes in it, string and rubber bands.  The challenge was to build a barge and attach it to our truck using some type of connector.  Our teacher helped us make knots if needed.  Next we tested our work in the science center.  We loaded up our barge with materials of our choice like blocks, pieces of wood or magnetic tiles.  We tested our project to see how much it could pull.  Some of us found that the rubber band was not strong enough to pull as much as we wanted to pull but the string was.  Most of us played with our creation all morning!

Hannah had the idea to make her barge bigger.  She asked for another piece of cardboard to attach.  As she worked she realized she would need another set of holes in the back so it could be attached on both sides.  I added the holes and she completed the project.

FAB: Identify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group.

PreK/K: After reading “Be Kind” for our story time, we worked on identifying which groups of objects were less than, greater than, or equal to. We took objects such as shells, tokens, and coins and put them in different groups. Then we went around the circle and had each friend count the number of objects in each group, then say which one was greater, lesser, or equal. Afterwards, friends had fun journaling about various pictures such as cobras and volcanoes.

                             

Breakfast: Oatmeal with cinnamon sugar and orange slices or strawberries

Lunch: Eggs, fresh cantaloupe, tortilla, and wee sprouts

Snack: Corn chips with hummus

Wee Sprouts: Fresh snap peas, fresh bell peppers, and fresh cucmbers

Link to photos: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIullph32b2oj8cvIs9Ujg

Have a great evening!

– Linsey and Jena

We were all VERY excited to pass out our Valentines to our friends today! We each took turns placing our Valentines in our  friends bags..  The kids can’t wait to see what treasures they got when they take home their bags!

We enjoyed a “Loose Parts” Valentines activity at the round table today.  We used red colored gravel, wood hearts, gems, bowls, spoons and cups of different sizes to create any imaginative play ideas we could think up…

We also got to do a “Valentines Love Potion” science experiment using baking soda, pink vinegar and eye droppers.  As we dropped the vinegar into the baking soda we got to see a chemical reaction creating festive pink foam. 

PreK/K: Today before journaling we read “The Tale of Two Beasts”. We talked about how there are two sides/perspectives to each story and to try to see things from different points of view.

Breakfast: chex square cereal and orange slices

Lunch: heart shaped peanut butter sandwiches, pineapple, and wee sprouts

Snack: heart shaped whole grain english muffins with butter and cinnamon, strawberries, and string cheese

Wee Sprouts: carrots, snap peas, and bell peppers

Link to Photos https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIullpd_SvGfkXHfjM9BeA

Have a wonderful Valentines Day!

Ms Linsey and Ms Jena

Happy Valentine’s Day, Friendship Day or “Hearts Day” as Paige shared with us.  There are many different terms that fit for today.

We had a very busy morning.  We made a new batch of playdough.  All of the friends helped to pour the ingredients into the pan, stir them together and squeeze red food coloring into it to make it red.  We learned the names of the different ingredients and practiced saying some of them.  Miss Bekah had to then cook it, and afterwards showed us how our mixture turned into our playdough when it was finished.

While our playdough cooled, we took turns passing out our Valentine’s cards to all of our friends.

We then headed back into the kitchen to play with the playdough we made.  We loved it.

We then headed outside for a bit to engage in our favorite activities.

Breakfast:  Whole grain Cheerios and fresh pear slices.

Lunch:  Peanut butter on whole grain wheat flatbread, fresh apple slices, red bell pepper slices and 1/2 a mozzarella cheese stick.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole grain wheat English muffin in the shape of a heart toasted with butter, fresh heart shaped strawberries with a sprinkle of cinnamon/sugar mixture.

Hope everyone had a great Valentine’s Day!

Rebekah

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIullpckOReHF8R-nn6KaQ

Good Afternoon!  It is so great to see the sunshine so often lately.

This morning we were all engaged in the habi-trail area.  We laid under it, went down the slide, teetered on the rainbow mats and sat or stood in the plastic blocks.

Arthur, Dax and Paige sat down on the floor to build with Duplos.  They all were busy building their own towers.

We then headed into the kitchen to use markers to decorate our bags for Valentine’s tomorrow.  We filled our bags with a variety of colors.

We then headed outside to enjoy the beautiful sunshine.  We were all engaged digging in the sandbox, playing with trucks and in the rocks with our sibling.

Breakfast:  Whole grain wheat toast with peanut butter and fresh bananas.

Lunch:  Whole grain wheat pasta with black beans, fresh oranges and

Afternoon Snack:  Whole milk yogurt and graham crackers.

Wee Sprouts:  Cucumbers.

Have a marvelous evening!

Rebekah

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIullpYbAZhrZnQQN8hE5Q