*The new swimming session begins next Tuesday. Same time.

* It’s time to bring in winter gear for Wee Friends! Heavier coats, hats and mittens. Thank you!

Today the pumpkin pound made way for the pumpkin pull. Friends worked those fine motor hand muscles as they pulled all the golf tees out! A few friends created golf tee patterns with Melinda.

Other friends pushed golf tees into Styrofoam, covered in construction paper. Later, we held them up to see the light pass through the holes.

Max asked to hear Robert Munsch’s “50 Below Zero”. It gave us a segue to incorporate Math FAB K.5.1 Make direct comparisons between warmer and cooler materials. We read the book and then found the coldest thing we could find in our classroom: a bag of ice from the freezer. We hunted around the classroom for things that were warmer and cooler than the bag of ice.

Afterward, we filled four sensory bins: two with ice and two with warm sudsy water.

When the swimmers returned we bundled up and headed outdoors. We found the thing whose temperature was nearest to the ice: the wind!

Have a great day!

Wee Sprouts: Carrots and cucumbers. Breakfast: Raisin Bran and pear slices. Lunch: Whole wheat tortillas with cheese, peas and grapes. Snack: Yogurt and pear slices.

Happy Monday!

Burrr it was cold this morning! We bundled up and put on our hats. Even with the chilly temps, friends had fun playing in the sandbox and running around the backyard.

For breakfast, children had kix and apples. AM snack was peas. Lunch consisted of homemade beef and noodles, mixed vegetables, and pears. PM snack was cottage cheese and animal crackers.

Have a great night.

The annual Pumpkin Pound began today. With kid hammers, friends pounded golf tees into a pumpkin and then, with pliers, pull them out. It’s one of the big hits of the Wee year!

Hair Hugs have become popular with our Wee Friends. Hair Hugs are hair styling sessions that, ideally,  don’t pull hair, yank heads or hurt in anyway. They’re just like big happy hugs. They often result in pretty cute dos. And maybe most importantly, they leave the cheeks free and clear for good nose blows!

Lisa brought in a other passel of puzzles for friends to explore.

Literacy FAB: K. 4.7 Identify pictures and charts as sources of information…..

Before we headed out into the chilly morning, we invited friends to think about this question: “Where in our classroom (or another place) can you find information about pumpkins?”

Later, in Lisa’s small group, she asked:

If you have pumpkins on the brain, here are a few fun farms to explore!

www.thistleberryfarm.com, www.lfcornmaze.com, www.matthysfarmmarket.com

Wee Sprouts: Cucumbers. Breakfast: Corn Flakes and bananas. Lunch: Homemade beef and noodles, mixed veggies and orange slices. Snack: String cheese and apple slices.

If your ever in a jam, here I am
If your ever in a mess, SOS, If you ever lose your teeth and your out to dine, borrow mine

It’s friendship, friendship
Just a perfect blendship
When other friendships have been forgot, ours will still be hot
Lah-dle, ah-dle, ah-dle, dig, dig, dig

-The Late Great Cole Porter

The Face of Friendship in an early childhood classroom is a thing of beauty. It’s the pursuit of meaningful friendships that make up our Wee days. We started thinking about it today when Leo shared with Mel where each of his friend’s cubbies were. Leo is two and doesn’t read yet.

Lea started a word book, choosing friend’s names to trace. Soon, a table full of friends were surprising each other by choosing to write their friend’s names.

A large group of friends made music together as Mel guided them in a rhythm stick exploration.

This gross motor/music work morphed into a yoga session, with Max offering to lead his friends in stretching their bodies.

Friends gathered and with one voice sang out to wish our dear Mindy a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Friendship. The Great Spice of life. And some times, it gets pretty spicy in an early childhood classroom as we guide our young friends through the countless social situations they find themselves in each day. But…….

It’s friendship, friendship!
Just a perfect blendship.
When other friendships have been forgot, ours will still be hot!
Lah-dle, ah-dle, ah-dle, dig, dig, dig!

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Cheerios and bananas. Lunch: Hummus filled whole grain flatbread, green beans and pear slices. Snack: Tami’s pumpkin bread and cottage cheese.

Have a great weekend.

Happy Thursday!

As we headed outside with our friends, we walked along the logs to try and keep our balance. Emma got done and cheered along her friends!

 

The rain headed into our area and raindrops started falling. We tried to bare it but eventually had to come in. Children sat at the table where they worked with crayons.

For breakfast, children had cheesy eggs and apples. Lunch consisted of egg casserole with hash browns, pears, fresh bread, and corn. PM snack was homemade pumpkin bread and string cheese.

Have a great evening.

Today Lea is four! Happy Birthday, Lea! We love you! And her first stop…..the workbench!

Cassie has been beginning her day with floor puzzles.

Magna-Tiles draw people into the classroom and are always out first thing in the morning!

Our older friends often start their days with word books. They draw their inspiration for writing from lots of sources.

Lisa helped friends make cotton ball ghosts and then invited them to the music rug for “Pass the Ghost”.

“Pass the Ghost” morphed into “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” which morphed into a ghost and spider musical improvisation. Literacy FAB “Identify and use the terms: inside, outside, between, above, and below” were incorporated into the language and movement.

We created a masking tape spider’s web and after we followed the leader, we invited friends to fill the spaces with Magna-Tiles.

“It’s Fall again, leaves are falling on you…and if you get to catch one….you’ll feel it too!” is the song we sang as we added orangey fall leaves to our tree.

Happy Oct. 17th.

Wee Sprouts: Tomatoes. Breakfast: Corn Flakes and bananas. Lunch: Farm fresh egg casserole, mixed veggies, pear slices and homemade wheat bread. Snack: Lea’s special birthday treats!

Hello!

**If parents could bring in a pair of gloves and a hat for their child that’d be great! We have spares but it’s not guaranteed that we have enough for everyone or that we have a pair that will fit your child. It’s been cool in the morning and we want to guarantee that our friends are bundled and warm . Thanks!

Our friend Eren started off our day talking about our new fish along with making his famous fishy face!

Our baby friends enjoyed a whole lot of floor time today. They’re finding it way better now since they’re starting to become mobile .

It was chilly outside this morning! Friends bundled up in their jackets and hoods and spent time outside. Once we became active, we warmed up!

For breakfast, children had malt-o-meal and banana. We LOVED the malt-o-meal!! For lunch, we had ham, cheese, tortillas, pears, and corn. PM snack was soy butter on graham crackers and raisins.

Have a great night!

INDOOR CLASSROOM: Literacy FAB K.4.3 – Identify and use the terms: inside, outside, between, above and below.

Leap Frog was the game friends used to explore the above FAB.

This FAB was also integrated into conversations while friends created with Magna-Tiles and Little People.

After singing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”, friends created their own spider web.

OUTDOOR CLASSROOM: Persimmons, Pears and People Piles. It was a quick but fruitful farm trip! We began by snacking on pears plucked right off the tree. We helped Farmer Charlotte pick up persimmons and tasted this delicious and unique fruit. Then we set out to the prairie to find Max’s brother’s water bottle. We never found it but we sure had fun piling up in the soft and wet prairie grass.

And the philosophical pondering of our Wee day: When WILL the chicken cross the road?

Wee Sprouts: Cucumbers. Breakfast: Pancakes and bananas. Lunch: whole grain tortillas, ham and cheese, bananas and corn. Snack: Homemade (hot from the oven!) wheat bread.

Good Afternoon!

Friends headed to the kitchen where they painted this morning. For our friends Eve and Eren, painting is a regular activity that they’re familiar with. However, for Lu-Lu and Saskia, it was all about the experience today. Feeling the paint on their hands was a big event! They become more and more accepting of this material that was ooey and slimy on their hands .

Paint-1  Eve and Eren-0 (we were a little messy) . However, that means that we dove into the paint today and fully divulged ourselves in the process!

For breakfast, children had kix and apples. AM snack was peas. Lunch consisted of homemade ham and bean soup (veg. were carrots and celery), grapes, and bread. PM snack was cheddar cheese and crackers.

Have a great night!

FARM WEDNESDAY: Finn, Max, Ellie, Elizabeth, Sophie, Elliott, Aislinn and Owen.

Today Lisa reported that, at the Y, friends in both groups worked their swimming arms, swimming kicks and got comfortable with their heads going all the way under the water, after a dive.

Back in the classroom, there seems to be Puzzle Mania brewing! Our puzzle library is extensive and is divided into four levels, arranged by difficulty. We both honor our Wee Friends developmental levels as well as challenge them to work through the puzzles.

The blocks under the habitrail (large and small) are life-sized puzzle pieces that are being constantly arranged and re-arranged through the whole space.

When the swimmers left, Melinda organized a sensory experience with two bins: one filled with bird seed and the other rice/macaroni. They measured, poured, sifted, squished and worked side by side.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating: When one friend masters writing another friend’s name.

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Cereal and grapes. Lunch: Homemade ham soup with buttered wheat bread and grapes. Snack: Peanut butter yogurt and apple slices.